Solved Black screen on start-up. Delete and re-run explorer.exe only way in?

[danter]

As above. The PC has decided to go to a black screen just after the welcome logo comes up. I can hear the system load up ok - and when I hit ctrl-alt-delete, I can start task manager. From there, if I delete the explorer.exe file, then go to new task and reload it, all works fine.

I ran scr /scannow and it came back all was fine. I have run Super Anti-Spyware, Malabytes and CC Cleaner, all to no avail. I have gone back as far as I can with system restore points and the problem persists. I have run system repair both from the installation and from the original disk. I have set up a different user profile (another online solution) and this one takes me to a blue screen (from which I cannot access task manager) rather than the black screen, so no joy there - unless you like blue more than black.

I have googled the problem, which is surprisingly common, but has a smorgasbord of differing solutions, none of which appears to apply here.

I did install a new graphics card about two months ago, but it was all working fine (Gigabyte 560Ti). I have since removed the card and am just running the inbuilt graphics (Gigabyte Z68X), as this ws identified on one thread as a cause. I am considering a clean install as a last resort, but I have also read threads where the problem has continued afterward.

Any suggestions on where to from here?

Win7 Home premium, i2500k, 4bg ram.

 

[MilesAhead]

Did you install any theme(like a glass) or explorer addon/toolbar that replaces any system files?

 

[danter]

Installed an animated clock screensaver (numbers fell slowly into water - kinda cool) a few months back that never worked properly, so I uninstalled it. Working fine since, until this happened. Not sure if it replaced any system files but would assume System Repair would have picked up on that.

 

[MilesAhead]

What about av shields? Do you have any av that starts with Windows? If so, try disabling all.

 

[danter]

Only Microsoft Defender which has been in place for over a year. Will try it out though.

 

[andrew129260]

Try a clean startup, and one by one enable a startup item until you find what is causing the problem:

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorial...ation-conflicts-performing-clean-startup.html

I also recommend running a sfc scan:

(Use option 2)

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1538-sfc-scannow-command-system-file-checker.html

 

[danter]

I have run sfc / scannow (mistyped it in the original post). All files verified as good.

Will try the clean start-up.

 

[MilesAhead]

Another thing you can do with msconfig is turn on boot logging. If the system won't boot you may have to boot a WinPE type environment to read the boot log after the failed boot. It will be in the Windows folder ntbtlog.txt.

 

[danter]

ok. Back again (work has been flat out so I havve left the machine running - and have got used to booting, going to task manager, delete explorer.exe and then run explorer.exe as a new task).

When I first go into explorer.exe, it has only partially loaded (11.616kbs to be exact). Once deleted and re-run, it loads completely and all is good.

I ran ntbtlog. Here is the report - I can see that some drivers are not loading but have no idea what it points to...

Service Pack 1 2 1 2014 09:20:29.125
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\ntoskrnl.exe
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\hal.dll
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\kdcom.dll
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\mcupdate_GenuineIntel.dll
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\PSHED.dll
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\CLFS.SYS
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\CI.dll
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\drivers\Wdf01000.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\drivers\WDFLDR.SYS
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\drivers\ACPI.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\drivers\WMILIB.SYS
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\drivers\msisadrv.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\drivers\pci.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\drivers\vdrvroot.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\drivers\partmgr.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\drivers\volmgr.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\drivers\volmgrx.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\drivers\pciide.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\drivers\PCIIDEX.SYS
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\drivers\mountmgr.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\iaStor.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\drivers\atapi.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\drivers\ataport.SYS
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\drivers\msahci.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\drivers\amdxata.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\drivers\fltmgr.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\drivers\fileinfo.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\MpFilter.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\Drivers\PxHlpa64.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\Drivers\Ntfs.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\Drivers\msrpc.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\Drivers\ksecdd.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\Drivers\cng.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\drivers\pcw.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\Drivers\Fs_Rec.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\drivers\ndis.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\drivers\NETIO.SYS
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\Drivers\ksecpkg.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\drivers\tcpip.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\drivers\fwpkclnt.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\drivers\volsnap.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\Drivers\spldr.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\sbp2port.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\drivers\rdyboost.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\Drivers\mup.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\drivers\hwpolicy.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\DRIVERS\fvevol.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\drivers\disk.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\drivers\CLASSPNP.SYS
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\cdrom.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\Drivers\cdrbsdrv.SYS
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\Drivers\Null.SYS
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\Drivers\Beep.SYS
Did not load driver \??\C:\Windows\SysWow64\drivers\SBREdrv.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\drivers\vga.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\DRIVERS\RDPCDD.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\drivers\rdpencdd.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\drivers\rdprefmp.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\Drivers\Msfs.SYS
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\Drivers\Npfs.SYS
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\tdx.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\DRIVERS\netbt.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\drivers\afd.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\wfplwf.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\pacer.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\vwififlt.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\netbios.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\serial.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\wanarp.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\Drivers\uim_vimx64.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\Drivers\Uim_IMx64.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\uimx64.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\termdd.sys
Loaded driver \??\C:\Program Files\SUPERAntiSpyware\SASKUTIL64.SYS
Loaded driver \??\C:\Program Files\SUPERAntiSpyware\SASDIFSV64.SYS
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\rdbss.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\drivers\nsiproxy.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\mssmbios.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\Drivers\ElbyCDIO.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\drivers\discache.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\Drivers\dfsc.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\blbdrive.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\AppleCharger.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\tunnel.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\intelppm.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\drivers\dxgkrnl.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\igdkmd64.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\HECIx64.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\drivers\usbehci.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\HDAudBus.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\1394ohci.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\Drivers\EtronXHCI.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\Rt64win7.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\serenum.sys
Did not load driver \SystemRoot\SysWow64\Drivers\ULCDRHlp.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\GEARAspiWDM.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\wmiacpi.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\CompositeBus.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\bbcap.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\ComproHID64.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\AgileVpn.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\rasl2tp.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\ndistapi.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\ndiswan.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\raspppoe.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\raspptp.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\rassstp.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\kbdclass.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\mouclass.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\VClone.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\swenum.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\umbus.sys
Did not load driver \SystemRoot\System32\drivers\vga.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\usbhub.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\Drivers\EtronHub3.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\kbdhid.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\Drivers\NDProxy.SYS
Did not load driver \SystemRoot\System32\Drivers\NDProxy.SYS
Did not load driver \SystemRoot\System32\Drivers\NDProxy.SYS
Did not load driver \SystemRoot\System32\Drivers\NDProxy.SYS
Did not load driver \SystemRoot\System32\Drivers\NDProxy.SYS
Did not load driver \SystemRoot\SysWow64\Drivers\ULCDRHlp.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\drivers\RTKVHD64.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\drivers\ksthunk.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\IntcDAud.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\usbccgp.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\usbprint.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\drivers\usbscan.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\USBSTOR.SYS
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\hidusb.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\LHidFilt.Sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\mouhid.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\LMouFilt.Sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\monitor.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\drivers\luafv.sys
Did not load driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\MpFilter.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\lltdio.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\nwifi.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\ndisuio.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\rspndr.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\drivers\HTTP.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\bowser.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\drivers\mpsdrv.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\mrxsmb.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\mrxsmb10.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\mrxsmb20.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\Drivers\fastfat.SYS
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\NisDrvWFP.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\drivers\peauth.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\Drivers\secdrv.SYS
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\DRIVERS\srvnet.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\drivers\tcpipreg.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\DRIVERS\srv2.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\System32\DRIVERS\srv.sys
Did not load driver \SystemRoot\System32\DRIVERS\srv.sys
Loaded driver \??\C:\Windows\gdrv.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\drivers\WudfPf.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\WUDFRd.sys
Loaded driver \SystemRoot\system32\DRIVERS\asyncmac.sys

Any ideas?

 

[danter]

And resolved! Went on to suggestion regarding trial and error via a clean start-up. Went into msconfig and 'Selective Start-Up' was already checked. Checked 'Normal Start-up', restarted and it booted perfectly.

How 'Selective Start-Up' came to be checked is a mystery. I did not even know this existed and I am the only one using this PC. Whats more, System Restore did not resolve the issue and I went back over a month. The clue I guess was that while the PC was booting with a blank screen, it was booting much quicker than usual.

So another potential solution - I haven't seen this as an option in my searches online so far - check that Selective Start-Up has been checked or not.

Thanks to all who provided the suggestions to resolve this issue. Greatly appreciated.

 

[MilesAhead]

Glad you got it working.