I’m installing Windows 8.1, and after a reboot, it has a black screen.

Anonymous
2013-10-29T18:13:23+00:00

I’m installing Windows 8.1, and after a reboot, it has a black screen, with just a cursor. How do I solve this?

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Anonymous
2013-10-29T18:14:57+00:00

This may be an issue with your display drivers. Try entering Safe Mode and updating the drivers:

  1. When you boot your PC, try hitting the F8 key. This may take you to the Startup Settings that include Safe Mode.
  2. If hitting F8 doesn’t work, and you have media for Windows 8.1 (such as a DVD or USB), you can boot from media using the instructions here. Further instructions about Safe Mode can be found here.
  3. If you do not have media, use the power button to restart your computer during the boot process three times (do not let it get to the end of the boot process) . This should bring up the Windows Recovery Environment.
  4. Once you have started in Safe Mode with Networking, check for updated drivers:
  • Swipe in from the right edge of the screen, tap Settings, and then tap Change PC settings.

(If you're using a mouse, point to the upper-right corner of the screen, move the mouse pointer down, click Settings, and then click Change PC settings.)

  • Tap or click Update and recovery and then tap or click Windows Update.
  • Tap or click View details, and tap or click Check for updates. (If you don't see View details, there aren't any optional updates available.)
  • Under Optional, tap or click the update that you want to install, then click Install.

If no updated drivers are available through Windows Update, check the website of the manufacturer of your video card to see if they have updated drivers available.

If this does not resolve your issue, post in this thread.

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  1. Anonymous
    2014-02-08T15:51:48+00:00

    I hear you about Microsoft and Nvidia.  I've heard that one way Microsoft is going to deal with the 8.1 black screen issue is to......launch Microsoft 9 in 2015!   That's one way to solve 8.1 problems.

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  2. Anonymous
    2014-02-08T16:54:46+00:00

                one way Microsoft is going to deal with the 8.1 black screen issue

    While experimenting with Networking trying to get a Home group working I have run into both symptoms.   For Black screen (during Restart) I had to (carefully) use the Power off switch to force my Tablet into Sleep mode.   Then on power up I saw my boot menu again (as expected) and continued normally.  More interesting was when trying to (apparently too quickly) force a reboot I saw the dreaded Starting Automatic repair.  I got out of that with Ctrl-Alt-Delete.  (That was a surprise.)   YMMV.  Both episodes made me even more convinced of the value of having a boot menu instead of trying to have a promptless boot.

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  3. Anonymous
    2014-02-09T00:04:15+00:00

    I  guess I feel a bit better about the black screen issue. It's not just me??? Sorry to here everyone else is having same problem. We just need Microsoft to get something done to fix problem and would be nice if they let us know

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  4. Anonymous
    2014-02-10T17:48:40+00:00

                everyone else is having same problem.

    I'm not sure the symptom description is clear.  For example, is it intermittent?  Is the complaint that boots are taking a long time, confusing the user into making unwise and unrecoverable interventions?  Because of my experiments with network configuration my boots are taking an inordinately long time, especially Restarts going from W8 to W7.  Sometimes there are no clues about what is happening, e.g. no drive light flashing, no extra fan noise, and no response to keyboard or mouse (both wireless because the machine's real keyboard and mouse are hidden while it is in slate mode) so then, as mentioned, I have risked trying to tap the power switch to see if I could get the machine into a Sleep state and that isn't always successful, e.g. when the OS finally does start it signals that an unexpected shut down had been detected.  Fortunately in W7 that procedure is a manual choice, not automatic, so I can ignore it and let the boot proceed otherwise normally.  As a result of such experiences, I am now waiting with the blank screen state for the restart to eventually complete. 

    Who knows what it is doing?  My impression of the W8 boot process is a troupe of trapeze artists which sometimes takes a long time to get into synch so they can complete their act.  Having a boot prompt is my safety net I guess in case they never do get done before I lose patience with them.

    There is a diagnostic tool which people can try to help understand their boot times.  Do a Microsoft search for  xbootmgr  xperf   to find references and discussions about that option.

    FYI

    Robert

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