You will encounter many problems throughout the life of your Windows 10 device, but none of them can be as annoying as a black screen because it does not give any error code or message indicating where to start troubleshooting .
In Windows 10, a black screen can appear for a number of reasons. This could be due to an issue with a recent graphics driver update or the physical connection between the display and video adapter. Additionally, you may encounter this when updating your system or applying a new cumulative update. Or it could just happen unexpectedly.
Whatever the reason, there are several ways in which you can determine the cause and resolve the issue, whether you have access to your desktop or not.
In this Windows 10 guide, we'll walk you through a series of instructions to troubleshoot and fix black screen issues on your computer.
Black screen with cursor - reasons.
When loading Windows 7, a black screen and mouse cursor occurs due to a variety of factors, each of which sometimes defies logical explanation. When loading Windows 7, a black screen and mouse cursor may appear suddenly, and the user may not even be aware of the mess going on in the file system. Before taking active steps, I recommend delving into the root of the problem and understanding where this illness comes from in the first place.
So, when loading Windows 7, a black screen and mouse cursor occurs, most often, due to virus programs. We are all human and we are all not sinless, we catch viruses left and right, as a result of which Windows is gradually disabled. At first, the operating system may work slowly, then it will generally start to show a black screen. Viruses, as soon as they get into the Windows kernel, are immediately thrown into system folders and begin to create ridiculous chaos there. It’s not hard to guess that the only true prevention is installing an antivirus. By the way, not every antivirus will be useful.
In my memory, I have encountered quite civil computers with a similar problem. When loading Windows 7 there was a black screen and mouse cursor and nothing could be done about it. In some cases, Windows still boots, although only a couple of hours after turning it on. The real cause of this disaster was the world-famous Avast antivirus, which blocks vital system files, in particular Explorer.exe.
Actually, the file presented above is the main reason that when loading Windows 7, the black screen and mouse cursor haunt the user. Explorer.exe is responsible for running Explorer and everything else that should be displayed on the desktop. This file may “die” or fail to run for various reasons - viruses, conflicts with other programs, as well as due to the “natural aging” of the operating system, as a result of which the user loses the rights to run this file.
There is also the use of pirated Windows 7. In such cases, when loading Windows 7, a black screen and mouse cursor appear after the next system update. The system can download a special update that verifies the authenticity of Windows. Of course, if you are on a pirated Windows, then this can happen to you.
The likelihood of problems with video card drivers is extremely small, but it is still worth mentioning. The unpleasant formula “outdated video card + too new drivers” can lead to a black screen with a mouse cursor. This can also include the use of firewood, downloaded from unknown sources, developed by unknown people.
The most unpleasant thing is faulty hardware. Here it is already difficult to determine where exactly the epicenter of the problem is located. This could be a failure of RAM dies, problems with the hard drive, and occasionally problems with the north and south bridges.
1) Change wallpaper
After disabling a third-party application, try changing your wallpaper. Here are the steps:
- Click the search icon.
- Type “settings” (without quotes).
- Select Personalize.
- Select "Background" from the menu.
- Select "Slideshow" from the drop-down list in the "Background" section. This will allow you to check if uninstalling the third-party app fixed the problem.
- If the slideshow is working fine, you can change the background to a static image.
You can also try using other images if you have set the corrupted photo as your desktop background.
Let's go through safe mode.
We turn on the computer, we see a black screen and a mouse cursor and when Windows 7 loads, we wait 5-10 minutes and if nothing happens, then we proceed to action. As we said in the previous paragraph, the root cause of the black screen and working cursor is problems with the Explorer.exe file. First of all, press the key combination Ctrl+Alt+Del, after which the Windows Task Manager should appear on top of the dark background. I think you already have an idea about this dispatcher and know how to work with it, but still - repetition, mother of learning.
The first tab displays all applications currently running; in our case, this tab should be empty. Go to “Processes” and try to find a worker process called Explorer.exe. When Windows is 100% working, it will look like this:
Well, if when loading Windows 7 a mouse cursor appears against a black screen, then this process will not be in the list. On many forums you can come across “criminal” advice from experienced programmers about this problem, for example, rewrite a piece of the kernel in C++. We don't need this!
The most effective option is to start Windows from safe mode. By the way, get used to this bun, since most actions with a faulty system can be solved only by this method. So, restart the computer and press the F8 key. You will see this picture.
Once you get to this menu, select “Safe Mode with Command Line Support.” After this, the system will boot with the usual CMD utility.
Actually, the console in Windows is a wonderful creation that often comes to the rescue. We type Explorer.exe in the line, as in the example above. In this way, we will be able to overcome the black screen with the mouse cursor when starting Windows 7 and start the system in working order. However, subsequent launches in normal mode will again be accompanied by a dark screen and a single cursor. What do we do next?
Reboot and fast start Windows 10
Disabling fast OS startup is a method that often helps owners of computers with an AMD (ATI) Radeon video card installed.
But first, we will need to reboot it to make sure this is the cause of the malfunction. As we understand, we will reboot the computer blindly.
Method number 1. Log in to your account by entering your password or PIN code. First, it is better to press the Backspace key several times to remove unnecessary characters. Press the Win+R keys. A Run window will appear, which we will not see. Type the command shutdown /r and press the Enter key. It is important that you have the correct English-language keyboard layout. We wait a few seconds, then click Enter again. The computer should start to reboot, so we wait again.
Method number 2. Reboot via login screen. We also press Backspace several times. Then we need to get to the shutdown button, which we showed in the very first screenshot. Press the Tab key 5 times (five is important). Click Enter, then the up arrow and Enter again. The computer will restart.
Another way to restart the computer is to turn it off and on again using the power button (pressed for a long time). But the method is dangerous both for the PC itself and for the operating system.
So, if after a blind reboot you finally see the long-awaited desktop, it’s really a matter of the Radeon video card and the quick launch of the OS. Let's turn it off.
Let’s go to the Control Panel (more details on how to do this here) and select the “Power Options” section. Here we need the “Button Actions” tab.
First, click on “Change settings...” to unlock the desired settings.
Then scroll down and remove the marker from “Quick Launch”. Save the changes.
War with antivirus.
Let's start with the antivirus. If you use Avast, we will need to remove it or reconfigure it. First of all, go to the antivirus settings, then “Protection is active” - “File system screen” - “Settings” - “Exceptions”. As we already said, Avast may block the Explorer.exe file, so we need to add it to the exclusion list. It will look like this:
Then we reboot and see what happens. If the black screen and mouse cursor do not disappear when you start Windows 7, then read on.
Checking the system disk
A black screen may occur due to a failure on the system disk. To fix the failure, you need to enter an error check using the command line. So, enter the following combination: chkdsk C:
The letter C in our case means the system partition. This letter may be different for you, depending on which partition the OS is installed on.
If the command finds errors, they will need to be corrected by entering the combination: chkdsk with: /f
The OS will show that this partition is applied and advise you to check it during the next reboot. Click on (Y) and restart the PC.
Debugging through the registry.
Let's assume that the black screen and mouse cursor when starting Windows 7 are due to viruses in the registry. Therefore, we will try to solve the problem manually. By the way, this method can be used both in normal and safe mode.
Open the task manager and click “New task”, after which the following input field will appear.
We enter the regedit command, after which the registry editor will open in front of us. Follow a similar branch as in the next picture.
Find the Shell file and double-click to open its settings. Delete the set value and enter explorer.exe.
Let's reboot. If the problem still does not go away, we will continue brainstorming.
Quick solutions
Before moving on to “serious” solutions to the problem, let's look at a few quick troubleshooting options:
- Often users turn off the computer during updates, not paying attention to the “Do not turn off...” message. A black screen may indicate that the operating system is being updated. The way to check this is to look in the Task Manager (more details here) for the presence of the Windows Modules Installer Worker process. If it takes up too much processor (CPU) resources, then the OS is actually being updated;
- the problem may lie in the second connected monitor (we recently wrote about its connection and settings). Turn off the second display and see if the situation changes;
System Restore.
The presented function is a universal remedy for all problems. Let's take the path of least resistance, start through safe mode, then Start - all programs - standard - utility - system recovery.
The first window does not contain anything useful, click “Next”.
Now we have to select a point to which the state will be rolled back. This is a kind of return of the system to a working state; if you like, you can draw an analogy with time travel, may Marty McFly be with you. We select the desired point and move forward.
Review the contents of this window and click “Finish”.
A final warning will pop up, which you must agree to.
The recovery itself will begin when Windows restarts. As soon as the system starts, you will see the following message:
So, Windows functionality has now been completely restored. In most cases, the problem of a black screen with a mouse cursor when starting Windows 7 is solved in this way.
Driver rollback and fraudulent software.
Let's remember once again about bad drivers that you should get rid of. In general, automatic driver rollback is performed during system recovery, although this process can be completed much faster. So, enter through safe mode, then open the device manager (Computer - system properties - device manager).
We find our video card, and then right-click to open properties.
Go to the driver tab and select rollback. Then, after a reboot, the video card will work with the previous drivers. If the next startup was completed without a black screen, then the problem is solved. If not, you should remove the driver and try again.
Resetting your computer to its original state
Microsoft has created an operating system that offers users a huge number of system recovery functions: restore points, returning the PC to its original state, creating a large image on an external hard drive and burning a USB recovery drive. In this situation, I would like to describe in detail how to correctly use all the capabilities of the function.
Go to the Start menu, open Settings. We need the “Update and Security” section:
On the left, click on the “Recovery” tab, then “Start”.
Dead iron.
Finally, let's get back to the most unpleasant part. Let's say you completely reinstalled Windows, but it doesn't do any good. Now I propose to dig deeper into the hardware. Try turning on the computer using a combination of RAM chips. You can also check your RAM programmatically. Read about how to do this in the article “ Why does the computer freeze ” in point number 5.
In other cases, you should check the performance of the remaining hardware - processor, video card, hard drive. This can be done by simply changing the iron - old to donor. In the case of a hard drive, you can check it with Victoria 4.47b. You can read how to do this in paragraph 4 of the article “Why the computer freezes,” the link to which is above, and also watch the video below.
