[mister leigh]

Hello,

I have a laptop here that loads windows in that I see the startup screen, but after that all I get is a black screen as if the desktop has loaded and nothing else. The same thing happens in safe mode.

I am using Windows Vista, and I did use the Recovery Disk that came with the computer, I tried to run a Startup Repair, but it said there were no issues. I also ran the memory diagnostic tool figuring that it might be a bad sector problem, but again no problems.

I initially thought this was a malware problem, so I created this thread, but I was told that this is not a malware problem.

I would really like to avoid a full format here, can the geeks help me? I have read the READ ME FIRST document, but since I can't actually get to a full startup, I can't download the recommended programs.

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Test the hard disk on which Windows is installed, using the disk manufacturer's own diagnostic tool which is available for free on their support pages. You'll obviously need to know what brand the hard disk is first. The three most popular brands are Seagate/Maxtor, & Western Digital.

Seagate/Maxtor diagnostic tool is here (You will need to get the DOS version):
http://www.seagate.c...000dd04090aRCRD

For Western Digital drives, it's here: (DOS version)
http://support.wdc.c...s...=30&lang=en

Don't worry that the drive illustrated may not be same as yours, Data Lifeguard will still work with most WD drives. It's just the way WD's website is layed out, I had to choose a disk model to get to the download page but it's not a special version for one particular model.

Edited by phillipcorcoran, 05 May 2010 - 02:07 PM.

[phillipcorcoran]

Test the hard disk on which Windows is installed, using the disk manufacturer's own diagnostic tool which is available for free on their support pages. You'll obviously need to know what brand the hard disk is first. The three most popular brands are Seagate/Maxtor, & Western Digital.

Seagate/Maxtor diagnostic tool is here (You will need to get the DOS version):
http://www.seagate.c...000dd04090aRCRD

For Western Digital drives, it's here: (DOS version)
http://support.wdc.c...s...=30&lang=en

Don't worry that the drive illustrated may not be same as yours, Data Lifeguard will still work with most WD drives. It's just the way WD's website is layed out, I had to choose a disk model to get to the download page but it's not a special version for one particular model.

Edited by phillipcorcoran, 05 May 2010 - 02:07 PM.

[daeemann]

Is this the issue you are having?

http://support.micro....com/kb/977675/

[mister leigh]

The laptop I have is a Toshiba Satellite A355-S69251. The driver page is located here. Is this correct? I don't think this looks like what I need?

daemann: that sounds exactly like the problem that i am having, but it says to contact microsoft support if the problem occurs every time you load windows vista, and that sounds like a headache and a half.

((sorry for the week late reply, i went on vacation shortly after I made this thread. rest be assured that each post will be responded to promptly, thank you!))

Edited by mister leigh, 13 May 2010 - 09:42 PM.

[JAthilingam]

Hey, I am having EXACTLY the same problem. Even when I try to run BIOS, the computer randomly shuts down. Did you figure out how to resolve this? Please let me know!

[mister leigh]

still waiting for response.

[JAthilingam]

Hope we can figure out how to solve it. I'm getting extremely distressed!

[diabillic]

http://www.vistax64....tall-vista.html

[daeemann]

Sorry, I've been busy.

Yes a repair install may help. There are many unrelated reasons for a black screen of death. There are different ways of correcting them, but unless we precisely know the case for your reason of the black screen of death, those fixes may not work.

However, a black screen of death has also been blamed due to malware. In this case a repair install will not fix your problem.

Backup all your important data and try a repair install.

chkdsk and sfc /scannow DO NOT seem to fix this issue.

Reasons for black screen of death are a failed Windows Update, malware, hardware problems, a problem related to the Remote Procedure Call service (RPC) running under LocalSystem account instead of NT Authority\NetworkService account, etc.

Some of these fixes require making changes to the registry, which should not be attempted if you don't know what you're doing.

Instead try the repair install if you're absolutely sure that this isn't malware related. Sometimes in the black screen of death the ONLY solution is a complete clean installation of windows.

[JAthilingam]

How can I back up my important data if windows won't even load?

[rshaffer61]

Hey, I am having EXACTLY the same problem. Even when I try to run BIOS, the computer randomly shuts down. Did you figure out how to resolve this? Please let me know!

This is not the same problem as you said you can't even get into bios.

Please start your own topic
Although your issue may seem similar there can be other factors that may need to be resolved.
By bumping on someone's topic it makes it confusing for the tech to understand who they are helping. This can in turn cause the wrong support to be given and can cause instability or worse to happen to your system.
Thank you for your cooperation.