My system will only boot correctly if I enable VGA mode. On a regular boot the OEM logo comes up, then the Windows logo, but after that I only get a black screen.
Windows tries to set the display to its configured settings right after displaying the Windows logo, and just before displaying the login screen or desktop.
Nine times out of ten if that's when your display stops, it's simply because your display settings are set to something that your monitor can't handle. Depending on what it's not supporting, some monitors respond by going black ... others just go "crazy" displaying unintelligible gibberish.
If that's the problem, it's fairly easy to fix.
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First things first ... let's get you a bootable system.
Boot in safe mode - press F8 when the Windows loader presents you with the 30 second list of choices, and then select "Safe Mode" as your boot option.
Right click on the desktop and click Properties, and then on the Settings tab.
Now click and drag the Screen Resolution slider to the far left ... you want the smallest settings that your screen will support. Typically that'll be 640x480, or 800x600.
Also change the Color Quality dropdown to 256 colors, or whatever is lowest. (You probably don't need to go as low as 16 colors, if that's presented as an option.)
Now, click on the Advanced button, and then the Monitor tab of the resulting dialog box. Change the Screen refresh rate to 60 Hertz.
OK your way back out, and reboot your machine. If these setting were the source of the problem, it should now be able to boot normally. You may not like the screen settings, but at least you now have a place to start.
If the display is still blank or gibberish, the my recommendation is to once again boot into Safe Mode, possibly Safe Mode with networking, and update your video display drivers. It's likely that they are incorrect or otherwise broken.
A place to start ... start what? Start experimenting with the settings to see what does, and does not, work with your monitor.
I tend to start with the screen resolution. Once again right click on the desktop and click Properties, then Settings, and then drag the Screen Resolution slider a notch or two to the right to increase your display resolution. Now click Apply. It should change the resolution and display a small message box asking if you want to accept this setting. If you don't respond within some time, it assumes you can't see it, so it resets to the previous setting. The lesson here? If the screen goes blank or you can't read it, wait at least one minute before doing anything. The problem may resolve itself, and you'll be able to say "well, that resolution doesn't work", and move on to try another.
If, after a full minute or more the screen remains blank or unreadable, you'll have to reboot into safe mode, as we did originally, to restore your setting. (Why might this happen? Windows "remembers" and doesn't bother to ask you if you reset to something that you previously said worked. If you mistakenly said "this works" when it didn't ... perhaps by random keyboarding while the display was blank ... well, that could be how we got here in the first place.)
You can repeat this process of trial and error for each of the screen resolution, the color depth and the screen refresh rate. (For CRT displays, you really do want the refresh rate to be as high as your monitor supports.)
Related:
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Ask Leo! - Why is 640x480 my only resolution option?
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Ask Leo! - Do I need digital video output for my LCD monitor?
Article C2530 - January 23, 2006
I accidently hit the wrong link on display properties and now I have black text on black screen on desktop, on any righ click menues and all of the pages loading up and I can't see anything on those screens.
How do I change it back under those circumstances? Windows XP computer.
Posted by: Peter at May 30, 2009 1:02 AMin safe mode, my screen is black and I don't have any options. What do I do?
Posted by: Mrt at July 4, 2009 4:02 PMI hav a dell xps and the screen is crack only way i can use it is if i use a cpu monitor! Res is too high and i cant change it cuz the monitor stays black when i plug it into my laptop! what should i do?
Posted by: kevin at July 12, 2009 9:36 PMhi, my computer will not get past the toshiba screen ive tried going to the setup, ive tried everything, but to no avail, my laptop is out of commision, the model is toshiba sattelite a-135 s7404 and the screen will not make past the microsoft corporation window, and i have no way to boot it up, and now i cannot get onto the choose your preferred way(safe mode, start windows normally, etc.)it goes to the startup repair and does absolutely nothing after going to that screen. please help me! thanks, Taylor
Posted by: Taylor at July 29, 2009 12:04 AMmy screen is black with the word going across it enter password but i cant change to anyscreen.
Posted by: barbara wilkins at July 30, 2009 12:17 PMI have a question on black screen. I get a black screen every so often. The screen will flicker and then go black for a few seconds. It is very annoying when I am working on something.
Posted by: Pat at August 7, 2009 6:42 AMI have a vaio sony vgc-js190D
Any suggestions?
Pat
I HOPE THIS HELPS...FIRST OF ALL I'M NOT A COMPUTOR WIZZ NOR DO I REALLY UNDERSTAND COMPUTOR STUFF, BUT THE BLACKSCREEN THINGY HAPPENED TO ME, I WENT TO EVERYONES HELP AND IDEAS...AND THIS IS THE RESULT....I WAS ABLE TO THRU SAFEMODE WITH NETWORKING, AND I DID THE REGEDIT.EXE THING AND FOUND IT DIDN'T WORK...I REMEMBERED B4 THIS ALL HAPPENED, MY COMPUTOR TOLD ME THAT I HAD UPDATES...SO BECAUSE I COULD DO A SYSTEM RESTORE I RESTORED BACK A DAY BEFORE THE UPDATES...AND IT WORKED...I THEN WENT TO SEE WHAT THE UPDATES WERE AND SAW THAT THE WINDOWS VISTA SERVICE PACK 2(KB948465)WAS READY FOR INSTALLATION...SO I'M ALITTLE HESITANT TO INSTALL THIS...LIKE I SAID I'M NO COMPUTOR WIZZ...SO MAYBE ALL U COMP WIZZ'S OUT THERE CAN TAKE IT FROM THERE, AND LET ME KNOW IF THIS WAS OF HELP!!
Posted by: Jenni at September 22, 2009 11:02 AMDear All, I'm so devastated …I have the same problem ; a black screen after Windows logo, I tried to restore windows to many points before like a week , a month and even two month and still nothing is changed
Posted by: Amanda at October 4, 2009 10:55 PMI tried the Safe mode but still is a black screen and I can't do anything
I tried all the other option and still I get he black screen
Please help me
Ditto on the BSOD ... Cannot get past the point of shut down, none of the options work, safe mode, etc, have tried over and over ... I need the laptop to work Dell Inspiron 9300 - I use it ofr business and now it is trash ????????? Please point me in the right direct - thanks in advance for any help, Steve
Posted by: Steve at October 5, 2009 2:01 PMOK I too have a Toshiba laptop with black screen after windows splash screen, also in safe mode and can't select VGA in safe mode. I can't do anything only cursor on scren, can't see properties box to change screen resolution. Nothing else works what can i do?
Posted by: Phil at October 25, 2009 3:09 PM