PC stuck at a blurry login screen

Anonymous

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?

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Anonymous

***FIX***

Initial Steps (Enter Recovery Environment):

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").
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):

Click "Command Prompt".
Change directory to your boot drive if necessary (for example, type c: and press <ENTER>)
Type "CD %windir%\system32\config\systemprofile\appdata\local\microsoft\windows\caches <ENTER>
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.
Type "DEL *.* <ENTER>"
Reboot and test

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

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

Anonymous

2019-08-26T00:31:31+00:00

Sorry but I'm almost positive that the terms of service and/or license agreement for Windows means that they're not liable for any down time unless you have a regular service contract with them.

This is not the easiest problem to explain to a customer let me tell you. I just got off the phone with them and I can't even tell them if a clean install on a new drive is going to fix this in the long run until the patch comes out. You could clean install windows on your machine you just replaced and postpone windows updates until a fix comes out. The amount of people that found their way here to this thread with the exact same problem they're going to fix it It just might not be the highest thing on their priorities list.
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Anonymous

2019-08-26T00:22:37+00:00

John, had to buy a new computer today to replace the one taken down by 1903 update. It was too critical of a machine and no longer stable as I described in my post. How may I request reimbursement for the replacement since it was clearly the result of 1903 update? I realize the week I lost in time trying to repair can't be reimbursed but hopefully Microsoft can find a way to reimburse for the new computer.
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Anonymous

2019-08-25T22:10:02+00:00

Add me to the list of victims for this issue with the blurry screen coming up while trying to get to the user log on. Like many others this machine is Adele Inspiron 17 that was recently updated to Windows 10 filled 1903. I first got a text from the customer on August 15th the same day everyone else had this issue appear. The machine will food in the safe mode it will start up into the windows recovery environment from an installation media.

Fortunately I already planned on replacing the hard drive with an SSD but I'm a little afraid that this is an incompatibility with the newest windows update and these specific Dell notebooks. So far I have every reason to believe that as soon as I update the machine after a clean install, I'll be back at this same problem. I'll report back what happens.

Somebody else mentioned that this is a confirmed bug from Microsoft and that they were working on a patch. Does anyone have a source for this info?
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Anonymous

2019-08-24T21:47:29+00:00
Hi John!

I'm experiencing the same problem where I get a blurry screen after I try to logon to Windows 10. I can't even manage to load windows via safe mode as the "Startup Options" feature doesn't even appear when I try to boot the computer from a recovery USB drive which I've made using a different computer that has Windows 10.
- My make/model is: Dell XPS One 2710.
- I do not have Hello Face or Fingerprint Login enabled.
Waiting for a fix for this problem anxiously :)
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