Black Screen after Windows load, works on external, suspect Sketchup8

Sorry....Didn't see your post until ready to add this.
I unplugged external monitor & let windows update last night...
Came back after babysitting this morning and looked like notebk was powered off so hit power button with external still unplugged....saw "resuming windows" again, then black screen with backlight as usual.
Plugged in external and came right up in normal mode on external with out having to do the toggle thing.
Saw that 11 updates had installed and 7 more showed need to be...2 important, 5 optional.
Important were Internet Explorer 10 for Windows 7 64 bit and Office 2007 Office File Validation
(Sorry...no time to type the KB's for the 5 optionals)
Action Center shows no warnings. Opened Chrome to post this...
Then Windows Live Messenger came up automatically with box checked for “remember me”...noticed icon in taskbar with a red X over the blue guy, so when I hovered over it, a box popped up showing her hotmail email account offline in left hand side.
Did see "new hardware detected" since I think MS tech sd he updated driver but didn't get to lookup yet.

I guess I'll still run it if you think I need to but don't see that I have an update problem....hope it can be reversed if it doesn't work...Ill check back after work. Thanks!

This is just a side note, if you don't want the MSN Messenger to start up upon boot, then you can disable it from starting-up at boot.

• Startup Programs - Change

I find the most easiest method is Method 3, you will be still able to use MSN by clicking on the program from the Start Menu or using the shortcut icon to the program.

OMG!....Things just got way worse! Clicking Sound!
I got home from babysitting this afternoon and noticed when I button to turn external monitor back on, before waking Asus Notebook, that screen said "video cable not detected" or " cable unplugged"...something like that. Anyway..when I hit power button on notebook, the screen came up right away on the external, so I was a little relieved, but I expected it to still be on the screen that I left off on, since I had a few windows open. (I'm 99% sure that I was logged in under my daughters login as well). Instead, it was back at the login screen. Her facial recognition was up and there was a login box for my daughters account and one that said Smartlogun....Not one for my Login.....Not sure if it had rebooted or what but I ended up able to switch to my user account and was getting the pop up box that windows needed to install updates and would shut down in so many minutes...I kept hitting "postpone" and was trying to finish responding to a post on the Sketchup forum that someone finally replied to from awhile ago..(I had uploaded a couple of the diagnostic logs to that awhile back to, so I had also opened a couple of reports in the forum post to look at too.
Anyway....the time must have run out on the update without me noticing and the shutdown started.....both screens when dark and I head fast clicking!...I didn't know what to do since it wasn't stopping so I unplugged the external monitor but it kept clicking. Eventually it stopped clicking and the green light stayed solid.....I plugged the monitor back in and it came up.....the screen still said "shutting down" but was frozen there with the spinning cursor stopped. Nothing left to do but hold down the power button for 4 seconds. Hoping to hear from one of you before I reboot!
Really hoping the update could have caused something but could it have caused a problem with the hard drive now??
Ugh! Please let me know what to do here....Thanks! Below are the the updates I mentioned that took place monday.
11 updates had installed…all marked “important” and only 2 marked “recommended” .
All showed “successful”
Still had 7 updates ready to install …2 important and 5 optional….Opened to see what they were vs just accepting.
Important updates were:
Windows 7
Internet Explorer 10 for Windows 7 for x64 based Systems (box was unchecked)
Office 2007 Office File Validation Add-in (box was pre-checked??)
Optional Updates were:
Platform update for Windows 7 x64 Edition (KB2670838)
Update for Windows 7 x64 based Systems (KB 2574819)
Update for Windows 7 x64 based Systems (KB 2592687)
Update for Windows 7 x64 based Systems (KB2709981)
Bing Desktop v1.2 (all boxes were unchecked since I think have optional updates set let me choose).
I know yesterday was Patch Tuesday so don't know if that was what updated??
Please help! Hopeing to hear back from one of you before I dare reboot....thinking about pulling battery, uplugging and holding power button for 30 seconds again before trying....Any point?

Is this the original Asus preinstalled Win7, as that is a corrupt install to begin with larded with smothering bloatware and useless duplicate utilities that have better versions built into Win7? For this reason most tech enthusiasts prefer to Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7 following the steps in the blue link which provides everything needed to get and keep a perfect install.

During a Custom install, delete all partitions down to Unallocated Space, then create new as you wish or just click Next and the installer will do it for you.

As this is a specialty of these forums we'll be here to help you as you go. Just be sure to read and understand the steps before deciding, and again before starting. Pay special attention to how drivers are handled in Win7 since it's different than XP.

Tom - Thanks and good luck with your test! I hope you'll check back when you can and that is not goodbye for good!
Vistaking....I'll check that out as soon as I get back from the store in a few minutes - trying to beat a storm rollin in.
GregRocker.....while that may be true...It is, of course one of the first things that I would have considered but, as I've explained from the beginning...I really don't want to do that for several reasons.... it's not my notebook and the black screen when windows loads started after one use of Sketchup, then reboot. Never dreamed it would end up this complicated and difficult. There are still a couple of things I was hoping to check before going that route because my daughter needs this back asap. I don't want her stuck having to reinstall.setup 3 years worth of stuff because of me. Hoping to just get screen working, doing a little maintnenance for her and give it back asap.
Anyway....(I was about to PM this to Tom) but what are your thoughts on this.....(assuming either of you skimmed this long forum vs. just the end).
I'm not sure of all that MS Tech did via remote access on Monday, if this was caused by the 11 updates that successfully installed, or the updates that it was shutting down to install ,but it’s just too much of a coincidence that it’s never made a sound until this?? Did yet more research & came across a post about Asus Power4Gear causing HD clicking sound when going in battery saving mode….Hmmm…Since my battery indicator hasn’t lit for a while now & still suspecting black screen issue is power related (or its at least contributing). (Other Asus users have posted power/sleep problems with Asus Power4Gear, some black screens, random BSOD's .many posts are older & relate to Vista tho). One said that updating Power4Gear fixed problem, others say to uninstall, but never say if it resolved their issue.

Anyway…I’m trying to decide whether to pull battery, unplug, hold power button for 30 seconds to reset Bios and clear any errors, before trying to start back up, but not sure if that is a good idea until I figure out cause of clicking?? I just figured, since battery light has been off since the last time I had to do that...I might get lucky for a change?
So....for now, it's still off.....Yay or nay on pulling battery, unplugging before starting?
Thanks!