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Help with black screen after Windows 7 on Asus with Intel GMA 4500
Asus K60ij running Windows 7 and Google Chrome
Processor - Intel Premium Dual Core T4400 2.20 GHz 2.19GHz , Version 6.1.7600.16385 Date 6-21-06
Intel Graphics Media Accelerator (GMA) 4500m
Display Adapters (2 same) Intel 4 Series Express Chipset Family
Anyone up for being my hero today?
Need help to try to resolve black screen after Windows 7 Loads after windows loads on Asus K60ij notebook.
I really think I have this mostly figured out, but after a couple of bad experiences with making some changes, I just want some expert guidance to fix my daughters notebook that I believe was caused by me running incompatible GPU intensive 3D software (Sketchup 8, Version 3.0.15158) that I have since uninstalled.
I’m hoping that by updating drivers, and restoring some default/recommended power settings, I can get the LCD working again. then can look at doing some more clean up, but I can’t seem to figure out what the settings should be (Asus manual & site aren’t very helpful) or how to know if running the program may have changed some of the settings). For some reason, “start up repair” doesn’t seem to be an option and “system restore” only shows 4 restore points, the furthest back being 3/27/13 after the Windows 7 SP1 update…It shows 3 more critical updates after that. All were long after problems started). I’d also like to look at the BIOS but since I have to toggle to an external monitor when it boots, I don’t know how to get there at the same time. She’s been needing it back for a week now & I’ve been staying up until 4am, going on a couple hours of sleep all week but still can’t seem to stop running troubleshooters and doing more research long enough to make the changes that I think will work for fear of losing my external monitor again or doing things in the wrong order & making problems worse. As I’ve looked back through the Event Viewer, I see occasional problems that she may have been ignoring that probably aren’t helping.
If below is too much information, then stop reading here and just tell me the logs you want to see.
Just though they would be helpful since I had saved anyway and just need some help as soon as possible because she needs it back asap and Best Buy and local computer shop were no help.
(ps...there is a similar thread that I started that I have tried to delete after having problems and getting no replies, but I have since got external monitor working again so.please forgive the typo in subject line caused by doing it from my phone... I will try to continue getting it removed)
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Black screen started 6 mths ago. Since I was finishing up my final semester for my BA (ironically in Technology Management), I had to let it sit for about a month. I’ve kept notes and a timeline since it happened that I’ll summarize, but I’m sure will allow me to answer and questions to whoever rises to the challenge. Around Sept. or Oct.,I borrowed my daughters notebook because I needed the full MS Office 2010 Suite for a class & my 7 yr old Dell had a full hard drive and needed some cleaning up. She wasn’t using it much since she had just got an IPad. I also wanted to download & use Sketchup 3D software, which mine had no room for. She created a user account for me (standard user with full admin privileges) & mistakenly installed a free trial of MS Office 365 Trial (Plan A3) for academic institutions, thinking it was for students . Figured that out whenl we couldn’t get it to work right & I uninstalled whatever I could find from it. (Ended up buying the full suite and luckily got it on my Dell). I have since found MS Office 2007 installed on her notebook, under “Accessories”, not the start menu or desktop. Opening “Word”, brings up a registration pg, but it does allow me to by pass it to open. ( I have also found what appears to be a product key that she had saved…not sure if this was a trial version that came on notebook but haven’t tried to enter it to see what happens possibly making things worse yet since I’ve got bigger problems). (I’m mentioning all of this in case either the user account or conflicts with office could be contributing after finding posts online of black screens and log off problems due to user account profiles not unloading although the black screen didn’t start for me yet at this point but there were a couple of BSOD events around this time…Although I didn’t use it on battery much, I think it wasn’t lasting long and would go from low to shut down pretty quickly & wouldn’t charge all the way to 100% if I remember right…I have since saved notes about re- calibration to work around this? ).
Anyway, the bigger problem that I didn't do my due diligence before installing Sketchup 8, since I was in a hurry & had used it on MY laptop without problems. The day after using it is when I rebooted to the black screen and have since saved a lot of info about problems with video card/drivers running it on Intel based cards, Open GL , hardware acceleration issues, etc. (Thinking there may be some residual files/registry entries after removing the program that may require installing again just to troubleshoot uninstalling?) After possibly reading every possible cause of black screen problems on the internet at this point, I just want some help trying to fix it before getting my hands on a disk to resort to a clean install. (She didn’t burn the disks to do it and “Action Center” shows back ups turned off….UGH!)
Time line -
11/25/12 Installed Sketch-up 8 (Version 3.0.15158), shut down, then took with me to use later. Was able to open it, used it a little, then shut down & brought it home and immediately got black screen at start up. The Windows Welcome screen comes up, cursor, spinning circle..loading chimes play, then stays black with only the backlight working. Called Asus & guy said I need new screen without any diagnostics or troubleshooting. Over the next couple days, I both took it back to Best Buy where she bought it & then to a local computer shop & where guy even hooked up to external monitor & saw the Windows come up then freeze, and they both jumped to same conclusion...new screen without ever suggesting rolling back drivers, etc. Talk about frustrating since I openly questioned their quick “diagnosis”, or lack thereof telling them that I shouldn’t see anything on the screen if that was the case.
11/27. From external VGA monitor, noticed there was an MS update on 11/27, so a couple days after installing Sketchup 8, & had read another forum that others were having black screen problems after the Nov. update. Others mention graphics driver possibly being incompatible with the software, although don’t know what software the post was referring to. ….(I think I do recall seeing a windows update that included a driver around this time but don’t recall if I said yes or no to it….guessing I might of said no since I think I may have changed MS updates to let me choose due to suspecting it to be part of the problem or causing a conflict).Looked at Event Viewer – Shows on 11-26-12 at 3:55am Event Viewer Shows Error ID 6008 and says “The previous system shutdown at 3:45:37 AM on 11/26/2012 was unexpected, According to Microsoft Site - Event ID 6008 entries indicate that unexpected shutdown. Critical thermal event indicates that the problem is related to one of your hardware components not functioning properly that is triggering the computer to shut down. Read to check if CPU is overheating or if the heat sink or fan is functioning properly?? Also that PSU (Power Supply Unit) is could cause this as well as “ Other thermal events (depending on your board) can be from the graphics card, bridge chipsets or hard drives”….Guessing in my case it’s the graphics card & that Sketchup adjusted CPU when it ran.
12/5/12 Uninstalled Sketchup 8 after saving a lot of notes about incompatibility and problems with using it on notebooks with Intel cards. Also ran “Windows Memory Diagnostic Tool” . It took long time to restart afterward but got result “Memory Problems can cause your computer to lose information or stop working. To identify and repair the problem, contact the computer manufacturer”. – It had a link that said “troubleshoot memory problem” but when I clicked it, it just took me back to the Windows Memory Diagnostic Tool again. (There may have been a pop-up about a week or so before installing sketchup, saying “possible memory problem detected” but think I blamed a low battery at the time. )
12/8 /12 Got a BSOD shut down while on external monitor
Contacted Asus support again. (Girl didn’t seem like she knew what she was doing but she accessed notebook remotely…. didn’t look at or ask about any of the error reports or diagnostics…she just kept putting me on hold (probably to ask ? herself because she didn’t have a clue)..She went to download page for the K60ij & luckily I caught that she download the wrong thing when meaning to update the graphics driver below it. (She claimed that she went back and uninstalled the first thing she did but I had to leave room for a second so who knows). Since it didn’t help, she too said $180 to send in and have them replace LCD. After that, is when I had to let it sit for about a month or so as I mentioned.
3/12/13 Ran Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator Driver for Mobile Report, showed Driver Version: 8.15.10.2021, Operating System: Windows 7 (6.1.7600) and other info that might be helpful to one of you.
3/17/2013 Noticed Sketchup 8 was still in download folder, even uninstalled via Programs and Features on 12/5/12, so deleted it, then also checked program files and program files(86), then went in app data folder, didn't see it but did see Google so opened that and it was hiding in there so deleted it too. (Since its now offered by Trimble Navigation Unlimited, not Google, who would think to look there?) Got home from work and kept looking. Found again in the Program Data folder (again, inside a Google folder). Saved notes about a bunch of files to look for in registry also but got nervous & didn’t do…(may need to reinstall just to use their uninstallerl now?)
3/24/13 Woke up cmptr, got sidetracked,then noticed it had restarted and “system restore” came up....also a” java updated” warning was still there so said “yes” out of frustration before deciding what to do about the Restore...Did a little research & learned that really shoudn’t have & should have just disabled it (I then did go in disable it and version was 6.0.300.12 and said 2 files). Read that Oracle using deceptive practices to use update to install ASK toolbar & McAfee Security Scan (which must explain why I'm also seeing a popup to agree to licensing terms for McAfee that said it came with “software that was recently installed” even though I haven’t installed anything recently?? That was coming up BEFORE I sd yes to java update!....SinceI already sd yes to Java update, it took me to site which just said to select “install”(I did not do that), then closed the pop up.
4/26/13 Lowered screen resolution & changed color to 32 bit from safe mode after reading it’s a common cause. Unplugged external VGA monitor and tried to reboot…no go and now more problems.
Checked Screen Resolution to see driver version and noticed that The VGA is set as the default/primary monitor & dropdown doesn’t show the notebooks own LCD anymore. Driver version just shows as “unavailable”. Went to Device Manager - Display adapters shows 2 of same..Intel 4 Series Express Chipset Version 8.15.10.2302 (read that the “15” means DirectX Version 10x for what it’s worth). Not sure if notebooks monitor isn’t showing because I’m in safe mode but recall reading something about that being a possibility?
After that , was getting nothing, so closed lid & left for work…Later, when I lifted lid, no backlight or any other indicator lights were on so I thought it had shut down but it was really in hibernate since all power lights were off but when I hit power bttn to restart, it said, “resuming” windows. Took about 10 seconds, and I hit f8 to get it to boot to it, but forgot to hit FN at same time to toggle it to the external monitor this time…noticed cpu light seemed to be flashing more dimly and that the battery light not lighting up at all . Tried shut-down using keyboard…(windows key, rght arrow 3 times, enter key)…I thought it didn’t work but a couple seconds later, only the screen saver up on the external, Tried it again to see if it would now shut down both…It didn’t
Got it to somehow but then both went dark after seeing Windows start on both. When I closed the laptop lid, FULLl Windows 7 Home Premium screen with smart logon and all came up on the external. Not sure what made that change to what happens when I close lid, but then I couldn’t use the keyboard. UGH!
Came to conclusion that it doesn’t shut down, only comes out of hibernation when I hit power button. This time, didn’t get to cursor this time before it frose. Tried again with external monitor plugged in… The power indicator was on and solid but was the only light on….external monitor showed only an old image that I’m guessing she may have used as a previous wallpaper or screensaver at some point. In frustration about not being able to fully shut down (that I’ve since learned is how Windows 7 is set up), I power cycled by pulling battery, unplugging and holding down the power button for 30 seconds. Put battery back in and plugged in and so happy that it started working again (although battery indicator is still staying off??) I am currently booted in safe mode with networking on the external again and need some help to go from here
5/5/13 Ran “Windows Mem Diagnostic” again…”Hardware Problem” showed again…said “Problem Event Name: MemDiagV1 . Checked the Action Center after rebooting to external monitor again, & looked at flags in the System Tray..It said “Your computer might be encountering a memory problem. Memory problems are typically caused by hardware failures, such as a problem with random access memory (RAM). Followed link to “see all problems this applies to”. (I took a screen shot that shows 3 problems the solution applies to that show as “stopped working” & “solution available” dated 8/6/11, 5/28/11, & 2/24/12 but didn’t notice that the description of what these were wasn’t showing in the shot…ugh). It took me to Security and showed “Windows Security Center is turned off” and clicking on it says that it can’t start. (Could this be because I’m in safe mode? Not sure if this was on before problems or not).
I've read that the black screen at login is usually caused by a driver problem or service that starts (or doesn't) at login, timing out waiting for something to happen. That sounds more like what is happening. I want to check the BIOS but nothing in manual really helps. I've read press ‘F2’ key while the initial boot process starts. (or Delete key instead on older ASUS laptops which I assume this would be) but I don’t know how I could do that at the same time when I have to the FN+F8 to get the external monitor up??
Wondering if it's possible that running Sketchup caused overclocking but not sure how to check that?
Is anyone out there up to the challenge and willing to do a little troubleshooting and repair with me today please? If not, I’m stuck with taking it in because I don’t have time for this anymore. I’m off today and will stay up all night if that’s what it takes. I’d sure like to surprise my daughter with getting this working again by Mothers Day this Sunday. It would save us both a lot of stress!
I’ll be stepping out for about an hour but off work today so will be online for the rest of the night….possibly all night, if that’s what it takes so will be watching for answers! Hope that wasn’t too much info, but I have plenty more…just let me know what reports you want uploaded & I’ll post them!
Thanks in advance!
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