Black screen with blinking cursor

[Kikalka]

Hello threadreaders,
My little brother has a problem with his pc: He can't start it up normally because he gets stuck on a black screen with a blinking cursor. But he can boot the pc via the boot menu.
His OS is Windows 7 Home Premium 32-bit.
If you need additional info reply and I'll give it asap.

 

[Britton30]

Try this on the affected machine:
Some hardware tests to run.

Graphics card:
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/100356-video-card-stress-test-furmark.html#post866972


Hard drive(s):
Pick one for your HDD brand or use Seatools.
7 Free Hard Drive Testing Software Tools


RAM (memory):
This will require memtest on a bootable CD or USB stick.
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/105647-ram-test-memtest86.html

 

[Kikalka]

I will do these tests somewhere this weekend because my lil bro is too busy gaming and stuff I will keep you up to date, I allready ran the memtest and after 7 passes it still didn't find an error

 

[Britton30]

Tell little bro if he wants the PC fixed to take a break.

The black screen with a cursor is often caused by some bad hardware, maybe overheating. The GPU and CPU may do it. check for dust build up and blow it out on the coolers and fans.