Ultra Black Screen of Death

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DrZappleSwag

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Jun 26, 2013
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Seriously this ah heck won't go away. Hello, I'm fresh as a newborn baby in this forum stuff. Speaking of which, probably placed this question in the wrong forum too. I'm sure this question has been asked HUNDREDS of times. Actually I'm sure of it, I saw several of them, however I finally decided to make my own question after noticing all the solutions given, just don't work. So now. Lets get to it, story time:

Yesterday there was a storm and it blew out the power for a few moments. I was stupid and turned the computer literally right after it blew on and because the power blew it had to run some repairs. And boom. As unfortunate as things get, right in the middle of repair, power goes out again. I knew my computer had to have been botched. I turned it on again, (I know, not smart) and it actually booted up to my surprise but when the loading was all done and over with, the screen was bare with a little cursor. Completely black with a movable mouse; Black Screen of Death. Furthermore, none of the solutions I've seen worked. So now ill go over what I have done.
Black Screen on my Windows 7 PC:
-Can turn on PC and the Lenovo name pops up. It loads. And then Black with Cursor.
-Ctrl Alt Delete does not work. Black screen stays black and task manager does not show.
-What has worked however is spamming F8. It brings me to a nice list of options that all suck and are broken.
-Now more specifically in the F8 screen I've tried safe mode; doesn't work. Black screen with a bigger cursor.
-I've tried Clicking on repair computer option. I enter my password and all that jazz and finally that option took me to 5 more options. One being Repair Computer. I did. And then afterwards it does nothing to fix any problem.
-I tried the system restore option. It says there are no restore points.
-I tried Debug mode, Safe mode with networking, and any other option that was available to click on.
-THE ONLY THING this rock is currently capable of doing is accessing the command prompt, which in my opinion is the most frustrating damn option to click on because finding a command it will actually take is half way impossible.

I've tried everything except beat it with a hammer and even that was in process of occurring at one point.

Please some amazing advice or anything would be perfect. I'm so pissed at this rock I'm debating on whether or not to water skip with it. Forgive for any mistakes I made creating this forum. I wrote this and made a profile all in one (today) in desperation.
 
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DrZappleSwag

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Jun 26, 2013
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10,510
Thanks for the reply everyone. But no I have not. To be honest there are alot of files on my computer and to just start from scratch isn't an option unless I'm absolutely sure there isn't another way.
 
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DrZappleSwag

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Jun 26, 2013
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Haha I'm new to this and I accidentally sent private messages before I realized I wasn't actually posting on the thread. But anyways I truly don't want to have to perform a complete reinstallation however If nothing else works, I would like to know in advance how would I actually do that?
 
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americanbrian

americanbrian

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May 3, 2007
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You do not have to format the disk to re-install. You shouldn't lose any files that were there UNLESS the lightning strike/ power surge etc. destroyed them the same as it destroyed your OS installation.

If you have critical files then you had best remove the HDD and mount it in an external enclosure and attempt to copy them to a different drive. They may still be toasted.

If you really want rid of the PC I'll happily take it off of your hands. I will even pay postage!
 
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DrZappleSwag

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Jun 26, 2013
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Haha you would be getting one heck of a bargain. This is one of the most expensive PC's I've bought which is why it is so aggravating. So I have no idea how to perform a complete re installation because I don't the the disc. Any steps to re Install this brick would be great. Also, you said the lighting fried my OS? So im assuming you really do know what's going on... so what exactly occurred when the power went out forcing this black screen?
 
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americanbrian

americanbrian

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I am guessing that the Write head was in use when power dropped/surged, (the heads were not "parked" in a safe area, like when it is off). The head of the hard disk can "scratch across the disc damaging/moving the magnetic "bits". Depending on exactly how big a gouge and exactly where it occured who knows what got corrupted.

It seems likely that your OS has had a very important file/files damaged. However, your RAM, CPU, MOBO and GPU are all working if you can boot past the POST. Your HDD may still be recoverable, though it may have permanent "bad sectors". This can be detected and those sectors are basically ignored if you continue to use the HDD.

If you can run SCANDISK, CHECKDISK or similar (once you get it booting up to the OS it is easy, you can probably run it from the command prompt (assuming that the program itself wasn't corrupted).

type " chkdsk C: /f " (don't include the quote marks) at the command prompt and report back pls....

 
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DrZappleSwag

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Jun 26, 2013
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Absolutely amazing. I finally have a person who really knows what he's talking about. And he's helping me. Truly extraordinary! :D Even though in truth I understood only half of what you said haha but I got the jist. Okay so I did the command prompt and after I put in the code a large list of files that were processed popped up. I'm not too sure what I'm supposed to be looking for however I did notice that "0 Bad File Records Processed" and "0 KB in bad sectors". And at the very end of this list it says, "Failed to Transfer logged messages to the event log with status 50."
 
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americanbrian

americanbrian

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Ok, that is actually good news (probably)

Do not worry about that message too much, if you want a quick read here is some more info:

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_vista-hardware/failed-to-transfer-logged-messages-to-the-event/0eacd1bf-4357-4a47-b135-e96f1177eec1

Basically the recommendation is to re-install the OS. Your laptop will have come with a recovery DVD, hopefully you can boot from that into a windows installation. I always use a "clean" windows disk (not got all the branded crap/bloatware) so I am not too familiar with the options it gives you.

IMPORTANT: if you install the OS, DO NOT FORMAT THE DRIVE.

Continue with existing volume (or something like that)

It will say NOT recommended. (do it anyway)

You will lose all of your files if you allow it to format. IT WILL WARN YOU. if you ever get this warning say NO! (cancel)

fingers crossed you can navigate your way to a fixed pc...

Worst case scenario, you have broken the write-head on the HDD (unlikely to be the case but possible) but somehow are still able to read You can recover your data by taking it out and mounting it in an external enclosure. (not all files or any for that matter may still be intact, mostly they should be) and copying it to a working HDD.

Your choice. safest solution is to take out the drive and back it up onto something else. This involves a screwdriver. you would need to find someone with a 2.5" enclosure (probably unless it is a stupid ultrabook with an integral SSD or some other non-standard stuff)



 
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DrZappleSwag

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Jun 26, 2013
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Thank you. You really are awesome for helping me out dude. Ha I have read somewhere that the disc would be needed to fix this black screen issue, which made my heart plummet because honestly I have no idea where it is. I dont have a laptop but, instead its a Tower. But I suppose it is the same set of steps regardless. I wish I could test the theory you proposed but without the disc Im just stuck. Would the retailer, the place I bought it from (Best Buy in this case) have a large stock of those extra discs or would my best bet would be to call the manufacturer to get an extra copy of the re installation disc?
 
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americanbrian

americanbrian

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Sorry, for some reason I suspected it was a laptop.

In this case you would need a 3.5" enclosure.

For a disc I would suggest downloading one from the internet and burning to DVD or USB stick. It is NOT illegal because you own a real valid license which is on the sticker somewhere on your PC. Ensure you download the EXACT same OS. People may argue that it is against the T&C's but truthfully it should be covered under "FAIR USE" policy on copyright. Just be sure that you do not distribute the file to anyone else, that is a big no no.

Here is a good place to start: You can download win 8 directly from microsoft with some of these links

http://pcsupport.about.com/od/windows-8/f/download-windows-8.htm

If you are not comfortable doing that then go here:

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/bott/lost-your-windows-discs-how-to-get-replacement-media-legally/4320

Should not cost more than $15 or so from what I see.
 
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DrZappleSwag

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Jun 26, 2013
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BY THE GRACE OF GOD I manages to burn and successfuly start the installation with the disc. However I came to a point where it is asking me whetherI want an upgrade installation or a costum one? Im not too sure which one will let me keep all my files... help please.
 
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americanbrian

americanbrian

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Hi again, custom!

Definitely Custom....

And remember to leave the current file system intact even though it is not recommended.

Just install it so you can get at your files. Once that is done back up all of your surviving important ones right away.

Then I would HIGHLY recommend doing it again and formatting the drive AFTER you have your files safe (I cannot stress enough that this Is not done on the internal hard disk, the whole thing is wiped with a format) DVD's are ok but ALWAYS CHECK THAT THE FILES CAN BE READ BEFORE THINKING THEY ARE SAVED PROPERLY, this has bitten me in the ass a couple times.
 
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