The appearance of a black screen when you turn on a Windows computer on board is a very common phenomenon. The reasons for this behavior of the system can be found quite a lot, as well as methods for eliminating such problems. But in order to choose the most suitable solution, first you need to figure out what exactly such failures may be associated with.
Why, when I turn on the computer, a black screen appears instead of loading the operating system?
Before considering the main causes of this phenomenon, it is worth paying attention to the state of the screen itself. The most common variations are:
- black screen with inscriptions when you turn on the computer;
- blank black screen when you turn on the PC or when rebooting;
- black screen with cursor.
As for the causes of this phenomenon, in the first case, you should pay attention to exactly which messages are displayed on the screen. For example, when it is reported that the download is from a non-system drive, this means that the system refers to the optical drive or flash drive that is currently connected to the computer, but they do not have bootloader files. Just remove them (from the drive or port) and restart.
If the message indicates that there is no operating system or, even worse, a hard disk, the problem is much deeper, and cardinal methods will have to be applied to restore the computer's performance, which will be discussed separately.
Finally, one of the reasons may be damage or lack of a graphics driver. If anyone does not know, after an initial check of system components in the BIOS, when transferring computer control to the system loader, the video card is first activated to display the image on the screen. If there are problems with it, the operating system will not be able to start.
Black screen when you turn on the computer: what to do first?
But it is not all that bad. It may well be that the cause is not software failures or damage to the computer hardware. No matter how corny it sounds, after turning on the computer, a black screen may appear only because the monitor is dimmed or it is in standby mode (the LED blinks at the same time). Another situation may be related to damage to the power cable or connection to the video card. It needs to be checked, but at the same time to see if the contacts are oxidized. However, physical breakdowns and minor malfunctions are usually not called the main causes, so let's move on to fixing problems at the software level.
Quick System Recovery
Let's start with the situation when, when you turn on the computer on the monitor, the black screen does not “hang” constantly, but disappears after a certain period of time. In this case, the loading of the operating system can start, as usual. If the start is not possible, you must restart again and use the access to the start boot menu, which is called by pressing the F8 key (for systems above the seventh version, the F8 combination with the Shift key sometimes works, but it is better to use the command line first and return to the usual boot method by setting execution of the bcdedit / set {current} bootmenupolicy legacy command followed by a reboot of the system).
If, when you turn on the computer, the black screen changes to calling the boot menu without problems, you can use the standard boot point of the last successful configuration, which is analogous to the most common system recovery from the OS state checkpoint with workable parameters.
Standard system rollback
If, for some reason, the previous method of the user is not satisfied, for example, due to the fact that he needs to restore the system from another point, but the standard download is impossible, in this situation it is suitable to use the start in safe mode.
After the download is completed, you should enter the system recovery section through the “Control Panel” and perform the standard rollback procedure, selecting the appropriate point from the list, after displaying all the temporary components.
Steps for booting from removable media
If none of the rollback options works, and when you turn on the computer, a black screen appears again, you can apply some of the system tools that are available when booting from the installation or recovery disk (flash drive), which must be set first in priority in the BIOS I / O settings downloads.
Note: if UEFI is used as the primary system, the flash drive must be pre-formatted in FAT32, since the NTFS file system is not perceived to boot UEFI.
After starting, it is advisable to immediately go to the command console (Shift + F10) and check the system components by typing the sfc / scannow command.
The process can take a lot of time, so you have to wait. Just in case, you can use the disk check, adding the main chkdsk command with related attributes, which you can find out by calling the help information (chkdsk /?).
Note: if the above commands do not work, and when you turn on the computer, a black screen appears again, you can boot from the removable media again and execute the DISM.exe / Online / Cleanup-image / Scanhealth and DISM.exe / online recovery commands in the console Online / Cleanup-image / Restorehealth.
Problems with the graphics driver
The above methods are universal and help to restore the system in 99 percent of cases out of a hundred, but only if it is connected with software failures of the OS itself. But most often the problem is the graphics accelerator driver, because a black screen when you turn on a computer with Windows 7 or with any other system may appear for this reason.
To reinstall or upgrade it, you will need to at least start in safe mode, after which you will need to call the standard “Task Manager” (devmgmt.msc) and try to update the driver using the operating system.
If this does not help (most likely it will), it makes sense to use utilities like DriverPack Solution Online 17 or Driver Booster, which can update the management software without user intervention. The only condition for the correct update is the availability of an uninterrupted Internet connection (when choosing the boot mode in the initial menu, you should use safe mode with loading network drivers).
Update issues
Finally, when you turn on the computer, a black screen may appear while installing critical system updates. This is most often manifested in Windows 7, for which the updates themselves are full of bugs, and for computers with Windows 10 that have AMD processors installed (the recent failure of AMD-based systems after the “dozens” update around the world is a clear confirmation of this). To fix the problems, in safe mode, you need to use either the “Update Center” or the programs and components section, and then remove the failed packages one by one, checking the system’s operability, then set up a manual search and exclude the failed components from the mandatory installation list).
Note: to simplify the removal of update packages, it is recommended to use programs like iObit Uninstaller, in which such procedures are performed in the most complete way.
Restart Explorer service
Another reason for the appearance of a black screen when you turn on the computer is a failure in the Explorer service (not to be confused with Explorer). To start in safe mode, you should call the "Task Manager" and terminate the process explorer.exe forcibly. After that, through the file menu you need to create a new task, enter the name of the desired service in the line and confirm the command by clicking the "OK" button.
Nuances of power settings
Sometimes this behavior of the system may be due to incorrect settings of the current power scheme. This applies to the parameters of the so-called quick start.
Activation of this mode can be done through the sections of the buttons and changes to parameters that are currently unavailable. After installing the necessary options, you should reboot and see how the system will respond to the measures taken.
Disabling Windows Continuous Reactivation
Finally, one of the reasons many experts call the problems associated with the file responsible for activating the system when its operation can loop. To correct the situation, in the system root folder for 64-bit operating systems or in the System32 directory for 32-bit systems, you need to find the Windows Activation Technologies directory, then go to Tasks and Microsoft subfolders in it, then delete the Windows directory with all its contents in the last directory and restart the system.
Note: in order not to delete the folder, you can simply stop the service of the same name in the corresponding section and set the disabled startup type for it and disable it in automatically loaded processes.
Brief Summary
Here, in fact, is all about the appearance of a black screen instead of the expected loading of the operating system. As you can see, the methods for correcting such a failure do not differ in particular complexity. In most cases, unless the main problem is related to failures in the operating system itself due to damage to its components, it is enough to check the graphics adapter driver and, if necessary, update or install it again. In all other cases, you can restore Windows to normal operation either through safe mode or when booting from removable media, which seems more preferable, since the tools present on it do not directly depend on the behavior of the OS installed on the computer’s hard drive.
However, if we are talking about a hard drive, for example, situations when it starts to “crumble” so as not to change it immediately and get the ability to transfer important information to other media, you can use a unique and one-of-a-kind recovery program called HDD Regenerator , which, it is claimed, is able to magnetize the surface of the disk, thus avoiding data loss or recovering it.