I've been having this odd issue where after POST and while trying to load windows all I get is a blank screen. When I say blank I mean the monitor is powered up but the screen is black. The HDD light does show activity. This only happens once in a while. And even less frequently than this I'll get the same issue but Windows will finally load after 3-5 minutes.

 

It's been an odd year for me so far argh!

Today I got a gray screen after POST....  I guess I'll try a Windows Repair... maybe something is corrupted.  Last night though while flying FSX my screens briefly turned off, I got a nvidia display driver stopped working message, and then everything seemed fine!

Anyone have any ideas? Last night I got a black screen and then rebooted, ran Windows startup repair - it couldn't fix anything. It's odd though. When I get a black screen, everytime after it, I can reboot and load into Windows like normal...

 

Ugh

 

Prolly need a format ugh

sounds like a hardware problem, not software.

 

If you have another disc available you could test it by installing windows on it and c how that runs.

 

See I figured it would be software since it gets past POST fine - it's after the windows loading logo that it typically happens. Hardware could mean anything. I don't have a spare HDD but hopefully I'll get a SSD soon and reinstall anyway.

You could even install it on a USB key if you make it bootable.

How many USB drives do you have hanging off of it?

I've got no USB drives on it.  I do have a ton of USB peripherals though.

I've got no USB drives on it.  I do have a ton of USB peripherals though.

Unplug all of them that you can and see what happens to your start up time.

I can try but this doesn't happen all the time...  it's random.  I guess the best I could do is unplug all and if it happens I know its not the USB ports.

is there anything in the event viewer?

There's a lot of stuff.... What an I looking for exactly?

Make sure your video card is properly seated and the connections to your monitor are tight.  It sounds like Windows is not seeing your video card.  In the event viewer look under Custom Views>Administrative Events.  Look for anything that relates to your video card.  It should at least show a Red exclamation mark for Windows taking so long to start up.

 

Best regards,

I've got none in event viewer for custom views

 

Windows logs has thousands

 

Application and service logs: only for Microsoft Office

 

GPU I had recently cleaned it but its tight and the DVI-D and VGA connections are good.  I do have a second monitor that is not the same size or resolution as my primary...

Well I was really hoping it was the OS but my new SSD arrived and now the occurrence is still happening.. Two different drives same issue. Gotta be board or GPU is guess.