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
    2019-08-24T11:23:47+00:00

    Do not have Hello Face or Fingerprint Login enabled.

    Dell Inspiron 5748 with Windows 10 Pro, originally Windows 8 Pro.

    This PC runs a particular critical application and after losing an entire week of productivity I ran the reset late yesterday and started fresh and reinstalled the application to get up and running again.

    Now I'm left with being stuck in the computer thinking it is in airplane mode.  Getting stuck in airplane mode also occurred during the update (even though I've never even used airplane mode on this device) and I was only able to access Internet via Ethernet cable.  I followed all of the troubleshooting for being stuck in airplane mode and finally I was able to get wireless to work again although I can't get the airplane off the toolbar.  The only way I was able to get wifi working was going into services manager and disabling radio management service.  This leaves me with being able to turn on wifi after a reboot although the airplane stays on the screen instead of the wireless icon.

    First time a Windows update has broken my computer.  A very scary thought that this could happen.  What if everyone's computer broke during a Windows update?

    I can't have this application running on an unstable computer caused by the Windows update so I'm now computer shopping to get a new system in place by Monday.

    Really, really disappointed and frustrated by this experience.

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  2. Anonymous
    2019-08-24T20:57:12+00:00

    Had the same issue as this thread.   Frustrated like everyone else. As I was sitting at my desk my login name just popped up.  I was able to login and it took a bit but everything came up.  I do not know the reason why but after an hour I was pretty livid.  Good luck to all.

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  3. 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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  4. 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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