Solved Black Screen of Death - Tried Everything, what now?

[jerdoggmckoy]

Hello,

Last Saturday, my wife turns on the computer and says that when she tried to log in, it would just display a plain black screen.

As I investigated, sure enough, when I log in, I only get a black screen. I can move the mouse freely, but nothing is visible. I have tried the following:

• The Prevx fixshell.exe program

• Ran malware bytes antimalware in safe mode

• CTRL+ALT+Delete & Ran new task: "explorer.exe" and I also tried "C:\Windows\explorer.exe"

• I also tried copying a new 'explorer.exe' file from a fresh install of my exact OS from my laptop.

• I verified my registry at HKEY_Local_Machine\Software\Microsot\Windows NT\Current Version\Winlogon to make sure 'shell = explorer.exe', but still nothing.

Nothing seems to be working. I can boot into Safe Mode just fine and see everything. But I can't boot into my computer/user normal anymore. I really can't do an OS reinstall right now. Please help!

 

[writhziden]

Do the following steps in safe mode.

1. Click Start Menu
2. Right click My Computer/Computer
3. Click Manage
4. Click Device Manager from the list on the left
5. Expand Display adapters
6. Right click each display adapter in that list and click Uninstall (do not hit OK when the dialog pops up after clicking Uninstall)
7. Put a tick to delete driver software for the device and click OK
8. Restart Windows in normal mode

If you continue to have the same problem or other problems, let us know.

 

[jerdoggmckoy]

Thank you for your help. I had previously disabled my video card driver and tested my system doing that, and it still didn't work. Any other thoughts or ideas? Thanks again!

 

[writhziden]

Thank you for your help. I had previously disabled my video card driver and tested my system doing that, and it still didn't work. Any other thoughts or ideas? Thanks again!

It could be an application conflict. Run through the steps to http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorial...ation-conflicts-performing-clean-startup.html

 

[jerdoggmckoy]

Thanks! I'll give it a shot and post back here with the results.

 

[writhziden]

Best wishes!

 

[jerdoggmckoy]

Dude. . . I'm AWESOME. . .er, I mean, you're awesome too! I was able to get into my desktop without it being in safe mode again! Thank you so much! Now I have to troubleshoot and figure out what was causing the error. I'll continue following the instructions. Thanks again!

 

[jerdoggmckoy]

Ok, now, for the sake of knowledge at this point, I followed those guidelines exactly. What I ended up find out was that it was my anti-virus WebRoots service that was/is causing the problems.

I can start WebRoot once I am logged into my desktop, and my anti-virus runs just fine. However, I can't set it to automatically start when windows starts, without running into that conflict. Obviously, this could be a problem. Anyone have any suggestions? Or am I to seek out a different anti-virus program?

 

[writhziden]

Ok, now, for the sake of knowledge at this point, I followed those guidelines exactly. What I ended up find out was that it was my anti-virus WebRoots service that was/is causing the problems.

I can start WebRoot once I am logged into my desktop, and my anti-virus runs just fine. However, I can't set it to automatically start when windows starts, without running into that conflict. Obviously, this could be a problem. Anyone have any suggestions? Or am I to seek out a different anti-virus program?

Uninstall WebRoot with the steps in How do I uninstall and reinstall my program?. Replace it with Microsoft Security Essentials - Free Antivirus for Windows to run with Windows firewall.

 

[jerdoggmckoy]

Really? I was unaware of that software. Thanks for the advice!

 

[writhziden]

Did replacing Webroot with MSE stop the crashes?

 

[jerdoggmckoy]

Hey Writhziden! Thanks again for all your help. I didn't replace Webroot. I just contacted them and told them about the error, mainly because I know their previous company name had done extensive investigation of the black screen of death, and I was hoping to help solve the overall problem for others, and I knew they had a channel to continue to offer that help to others.

One of their techs just scheduled a call with me, and walked me through uninstalling and then reinstalling the software, and I haven't had a problem since. From my discussions with him, it sounded like it wasn't strictly a Web Root problem, but rather a problem where various software's just some times glitch and then conflict with other installed programs. However, I don't know that to be true for sure.

I told him about this thread, and the guy said yeah, the Microsoft anti-virus software is one of the better free ones out there. But since I did get my computer fixed, I am just choosing to run my subscription out and then make a decision at that time. I will probably just install the MSE on my laptop and experiment with it, and if I like it, make the switch a few months from now.

 

[writhziden]

Sounds great. Thanks for posting back the solution for others who may have similar issues. Guess you can mark this thread as solved now.