PC stuck at a blurry login screen

Anonymous
2019-07-31T17:27:31+00:00

I recently updated my PC and now it is stuck at the login screen. It boots up normally to the lock screen, after pressing any button or using the mouse it goes to the next screen for the login but does not load the password box and the screen remains blurry. I can use the power, network and easy of access buttons but that is it.

Safe mode will not start, restarting 3 times does not take me to the repair screen, ctrl+alt+delete does nothing, I even tried using ctrl+F8 and nothing has worked. Anyone have any ideas on how to fix/bypass the login screen?

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Windows Hello, lock screen and sign-in

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Anonymous
2019-09-05T01:28:41+00:00

***FIX***

Initial Steps (Enter Recovery Environment):

  1. Enter Recovery Environment (If you are unable to get into the recovery environment via a menu, you can turn off your system during the initial boot when the Windows logo is on the screen and the dots are circling. Do this at least twice and you'll see the message "Starting Automatic Repair").
  2. Once the recovery environment loads select "See advanced repair options", then "Troubleshoot", then "Advanced options".

Method #1 (Via Command prompt - assumes basic command prompt knowledge):

  1. Click "Command Prompt".
  2. Change directory to your boot drive if necessary (for example, type c: and press <ENTER>)
  3. Type "CD %windir%\system32\config\systemprofile\appdata\local\microsoft\windows\caches <ENTER>
  4. Type "DIR <ENTER>" and make sure you are in the right path. You should see one or more .db files -- usually just cversions.3.db. If there are no files in this directory see the addendum below.
  5. Type "DEL *.* <ENTER>"
  6. Reboot and test

Method #2 (Via Safe Mode and File Explorer - may require adjusting permissions):

  1. Click "Start-up Settings" and "Restart" to reboot the system and get the option to enter Safe Mode.)
  2. At the Startup Settings screen press "4" to boot in Safe Mode.
  3. Log into your administrator-level account.
  4. Open File Explorer and browse to**%windir%\system32\config** (example: c:\windows\system32\config)
  5. Gain access to systemprofile (you may be able to just double-click it to gain access)
  6. Drill down to**%windir%\system32\config\systemprofile\appdata\local\microsoft\windows\caches**
  7. Delete all files inside caches
  8. Reboot and test

Addendum

Some have reported that it is necessary to clear the caches folder of the local user account also or instead of the systemprofile account. If the above procedure does not work for you, delete the file(s) in the local user cache folder (located in %localappdata%\microsoft\windows\caches) using either Safe Mode or the recovery environment command prompt.

Good luck!

Special thanks to John_E_M for first suggesting the localappdata caches folder, and to Artaeos who also narrowed down the problem to the systemprofile caches folder at the same time I did. Great job guys!

**Edited 9/6/2019 to add command prompt method, local account provision, and acknowledgements**

-Forjo

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  1. Anonymous
    2020-02-08T11:08:53+00:00

    Forjo, I removed all .db files from that location and similar local user accounts without success. It appears something is copying them back in on each boot.

    Any advice would be much appreciated. I'm pulling my hair out!

    Regards,

    Tim GJ

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  2. Anonymous
    2019-08-28T22:48:16+00:00

    Working in PC repair for nearly 20 years now I have to say this type of issue is fairly common. The odds of it happening to a single person aren't great but there are so many variables to take into account when testing the compatibility of new updates. Considering that something like 10% of PC sales are Macs, I see more than their fair share of broken ones coming to the shop. Often times they end up having hardware issues that are significantly more expensive to repair. Both platforms have their pros and cons so don't believe that they're easier to fix or immune to viruses. Most common reason I see for people to switch between OSX and PC is for software available on one and not the other especially audio and video production.

    I know we're still waiting on a patch but this problem is pretty textbook in that it affected very specific machines on the same day. That's pretty easy troubleshooting.

    A lot of the in-depth technical stuff I posted was to help others that are still investigating this out of curiosity. For any home gamers out there with this problem I'd say it's a moderate challenge to fix as long as you don't have very specialized software that reinstalling would prove challenging.

    If you're going to attempt fixing this yourself (which I suggest at least trying if you've gotten this far and you're reading this thread) make data backup your first priority. Everyone with this issue should be able to get into safe mode with networking support. From there you can move your documents and data files to an external drive or another machine on your local network. The trickiest part is navigating through the menus in the windows recovery environment to get into safe mode.

    The directions for getting into safe mode in Win10 are here: You're going to follow the directions for the third example "starting from a blank or black screen." https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/12376/windows-10-start-your-pc-in-safe-mode

    Once you get into safe mode I recommend everybody enable the F8 menu to make life easier in the future. This will just let you press F8 during startup again to bring up the old familiar boot menu. To enable F8:

    -Open a command prompt (type 'cmd' into run bar or right click start menu)

    -type this command:

    "bcdedit /set {bootmgr} displaybootmenu yes"

    If you're concerned typing in commands from a stranger online: https://www.opentechguides.com/how-to/article/windows-10/103/enable-f8-safe-mode.html

    Remember that you can only back up data files and not applications (except in some very limited cases). You may have to dig out emails receipts or product keys for office, Adobe applications etc.

    If you're confident you have everything backed up and want to proceed further with the repair, the next thing you're going to need to do is either find your windows installation disc or preferably use the media creation tool to make a bootable flash drive. It takes a bit of time to download and create a bootable flash drive but I prefer that method. This will install the most recent version of Windows and spare tons of time installing updates on an older build that you may have lying around.

    Directions for creating/downloading Windows installation media:

    https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/15088/windows-10-create-installation-media

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  3. Anonymous
    2019-08-22T02:41:52+00:00

    Same issue. hitting any key goes to blurred screen but no user login to enter password.

    Mine will start in safe mode but locked out on a normal restart.

    No idea how to correct this. Started on the July 2019 update. 

    Restarting twice just before screen is tricky timing but manage to get to restore mode, after the (Dell restart diag's complete..) it took 4-5 tries to get to this.

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  4. Anonymous
    2019-08-16T02:39:21+00:00

    Update:

    I was able to perfrom the startup repair - but this didnt improve it. 

    (Go to Troubleshoot - Advanced Option - Startup Repair 

    See if Windows startup can repair itself )

    I also did a system restore to a point 3 days earlier (pre-update) but this did not improve it either.

    (Go to Troubleshoot - Advanced Option - System Restore 

    Check to see if you have a restore point you can go back to)

    Following some forums online I have managed to start in safe mode but don't know what to do from here... any advice?

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