Taken from
Tips 4 PC (not my work, but I thought it would be useful).
Some common causes of a computer black screen in Windows:
I have to be honest, there are literally hundred’s of reasons why
your computer might have a black screen. Hopefully your problem will be
something relatively basic.
If you see the screen that tells you your computer had an error, do
not choose to start normally, choose to start in safe mode now. See
what is safe mode.
This is your chance to go the safe way. Many people rush and press to
start Windows normally and sometimes this causes a serious problem.
Where is your Monitor plugged in? “My computer screen is black”
The first and most obvious reason for a computer appearing to run but
you cannot see the video is the monitor. A common mistake is to plug
the monitor into the on-board video plug when you actually have a PCI or
AGP video card installed. Trust me I have done this myself. Simply move
the plug to the correct position. If you see two blue monitor plugs at
the back of the computer or even a blue plug and a HDMI port then try
using a different plug.
Obviously you should also check to see if the monitor plugged is
actually in firmly. It could have been knocked out if it was not
correctly positioned in the first place. This is the simplest computer
black screen you can get.
Failing Display adapter or video card can cause a black screen in windows:
Most of the time you can tell if your computer video
card is deteriorating by seeing little tell tale signs. Lines appearing
or flashing can sometimes occur, however sometimes nothing happens at
all. You might turn your computer on and have the dreaded black screen.
You can try removing your video card and using onboard video, or
replacing the video card to see if that is the problem.
People often also see a computer black screen when they
have plugged their computer into a different monitor or even a TV where
the screen resolution is not compatible. If it is a simple black screen
on your computer it can also be a simple problem to fix, but
unfortunately people do not realize this problem and start
troubleshooting, which actually gives the computer are serious black
screen. When I know that my computer is showing a black screen
on my Windows computer and I know that I have just connected it to a
different monitor, I immediately restart and press F8. This will take me
to the the menu where I will choose enable VGA mode or something
similar.
The next reason the computer will not boot up is RAM…or memory:
This can be the cause when your computer has a
black screen in Windows.
If your memory is not seated properly (not in), is damaged, or even absent altogether, this can cause a black screen.
- If you have no memory installed at all, some computers make no sounds and just show a black screen on startup. Other computers go crazy and beep their head off. I am an expert at this one, as I build so my computers.
- When your computer gets a black screen only sometimes, it usually
means your ram is on the way out..For example if you boot your computer
and it doesn’t work, then go back an hour later, and it does work, your
memory is playing up. You can try taking the ram out, gently cleaning it
with an antistatic cloth, and replacing it. This may solve your
problem. If it does not, then you should try running your computer with
another compatible stick of ram installed.
If you plan to open your computer case and remove the ram please read these articles on how to
open computer cases safely and
Upgrade Memory
Black screen on startup with an amber flashing light
A flashing amber light along with your black screen on startup can be a few things.
- Not enough power getting to the motherboard.
- A dead power supply.
- A bent pin or shorted out USB port causing a problem.
Computer black screen after installing new hardware
Often when computer users install hardware in order to upgrade their
own computers they run into problems. If you have just performed an
upgrade and then get a black screen, the answer is obvious. Some
hardware components may not be compatible with the others in your
system. And of course there is always the risk of static electricity
damaging your components when you are not an experienced computer repair
person.
You might just be installing a new piece of RAM but the best way to
troubleshoot this is to go back to where you started from. Always start
from the beginning. If your computer was working and you installed
something, then take it back out. Think about what you are doing and try
again.
This has nothing to with getting a black screen in Windows, as
sometimes you have not even installed Windows yet. The hardware must be
compatible together and also must be installed correctly.
Leaving a bootable usb flash drive connected to your computer
Yes this can confuse your computer and it won’t know where to boot
up. When your computer has a black screen on startup from doing this and
you realize this is the problem and remove the USB, the computer just
continues to boot normally..this sometimes happens because a computer
sometimes recognizes a USB as a CD drive and tries to boot to it. This
is the easiest cause of a black screen in Windows as you can simply just
take it out and restart your computer.
Corrupting the Boot Sector
A
black screen on startup can be so many things! I have
learned this lesson the hard way. Never turn off the computer when it is
half way through the boot procedure. Even when it is taking forever, or
having a major problem you must let it run through if possible.
Interrupting it once may be ok, but twice or three times is a no no.
After you have carelessly restarted and shutdown a few times the black
screen may appear. But this time it may be beyond repair for the average
computer user.
How to repair a damaged boot sector by replacing the master boot record (MBR) in Windows XP
Black screen on startup – Your CPU is not correctly seated
If your computer has a black screen after transporting one place to
another, this is the first place I look. Transporting a working
computer, and then not working with a black screen = dislodging the CPU.
You can fix this easily by removing the CPU fan and carefully replacing
it back in its spot. You may also have to replace some thermal paste
between the cpu and heat sink as it stops the cpu from overheating. Be
very careful not to bend any pins when dealing with your computer CPU.
Keyboard Faulty
This one surprised me because when there is a problem
with the keyboard the computer still boots and says that there is no
keyboard detected on the screen. Well this didn’t happen for me. I had a
keyboard with a bent pin on the cable, so when it was plugged into the
computer, it just plugged in normally. Then the computer black screen on
startup appeared, you could here it starting up but no posting beeps,
no display, nothing. I even swapped monitors around until finally I
tested the keyboard and found the bent pin. I never thought to look
there because of the usual default message that appears on the screen
when there is something wrong with your keyboard. This is why having a
black screen in Windows as a crazy amount of causes and solutions. I
really did not expect this one to come out of the woodwork.
Corrupted User Account – Computer Boots to Black Screen
If you have logged into Windows, so you actually saw the login
screen, then logged into Windows, this can mean a few different things.
One is that it can be a corrupted user account. In this case it would be
handy to have another user account to login to. Then you would be able
to tell straight away if that was the problem or not. If you can log
into another account you will be able to access the corrupted user
account through the main hard drive which is usually called C: drive.
You will see a folder called “users” and then there will be another
folder for the actual username.
If you are using windows XP than the files are in the Document and Settings section.
Notes relating to your computer black screen in Windows:
More options when dealing with a black screen:
Buy the Ebook “
Recover Your Computer From a Black Screen” only $7..
We also have a
Tips4pc forum where you can chat with others that have the same problem.
If your
computer has a black screen, please research your possible problem and be patient as fixing this error is usually left to the experts.
I really hope that your
computer black screen has been caused by something simple and is a problem that you can fix quickly without too much stress.
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