Black screen when logging into Windows 8.0 or Windows 8.1

Anonymous
2014-08-30T04:45:41+00:00

Earlier this week some of our users reported seeing only a black screen or black screen with a moving cursor when logging into their Windows 8 or Window 8.1 device. The root cause appears to be a known issue with versions 2.16.31.75, 2.17.1.22 and 2.17.0.324 of Search Protect, a product which can be installed on Windows devices as part of a web download made available by ClientConnect Ltd. ClientConnect Ltd has posted a notification on the following website:

http://info.trovi.com/searchprotect/support_center_notifications

Some customers have reported resolving the problem using these steps:  

  1. Boot your device into the Windows Recovery Environment and enter safe mode
  2. Launch control panel and select Uninstall a program
  3. Remove the program with “Search Protect” in the name

If these steps do not help, please contact ClientConnect’s support center using the above link for support as described here.

As Microsoft continues to investigate this issue, updates will be posted here.

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Performance and system failures

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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  1. Anonymous
    2014-09-01T14:40:03+00:00

    Thanks Scott--it worked!

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  2. Anonymous
    2014-09-01T19:32:26+00:00

    Thanks a million, after 8 hours of attempts to fix this it worked!

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  3. Anonymous
    2014-09-01T20:30:51+00:00

    Hi there,

    Is it possible this could be some hackers that have hacked into the actual Windows 8 database, if more than one users are receiving the same black screen error?

    Search Protect is by Conduit, which is a well known virus that has been going around. Is it possible for you (or someone else) to get Microsoft to check for a breach in their database?

    I would recommend anyone who is having the issue to follow this steps after managing to boot into their computer.

    Remove Conduit Toolbar and search.conduit.com.

    **http://malwaretips.com/blogs/remove-conduit-apps-search-and-toolbar/**

    Thank you.

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  4. Anonymous
    2014-09-01T20:41:52+00:00

    How to start Windows 8 in Safe Mode

    http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/start-windows-8-in-safe-mode/

    You can access the recovery console/safe mode menu by:

    Depressing the Shift Key while clicking on Restart at the Login Screen (Bottom right corner).

    Manually shutting down (forcibly) three times in a row will bring you to the same screen.

    How to perform a clean boot in Windows

    http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929135/en-au

    How to perform a clean boot to troubleshoot a problem in Windows Vista, Windows 7, or Windows 8

    http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/929135

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  5. Anonymous
    2014-09-02T02:06:37+00:00

    Hi,

    I tried following this step, but my first problem is I cannot boost my device to safe mode or acces to control panel. I tried to start a new task from task manager and I couldn't.

    Consequently, I contacted technical support on internet as you suggested, but they asked for 99$ for service. I considered that I don't have to pay because this is problem was caused by an automatic Microsoft updated.

    I look forward to getting an answer.

    Regards,

    Alexandra

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