Mom's Computer: Black Screen After Windows Splash Screen on Startup

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RADD1

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Hi all,

I built a new computer for my mom last July and it's been running quite well. Yesterday, I installed DFX to enhance the volume of her speakers so she could listen to youtube videos with the built-in speakers in her monitor while she's in another room. On starting the computer this morning, it went to the windows splash screen and then a black screen. While on this black screen, there is no feedback (I can't see the mouse cursor or any text/images) and keyboard commands (ctrl+alt+del, f8) don't work. After about 5-10 minutes, everything returns to normal and the computer loads her desktop, at which point all her programs run just fine.

Installing DFX may have nothing to do with this issue, but it is the only program to have been added to the computer in the last few months and the only change recently made to it.

Since the issue first began this morning, I have uninstalled DFX with CCleaner, cleaned the registry, run CCleaner to clear/clean the computer's applications, I've gone over the computer with AVG and SuperAntiSpyware, have run all windows updates, and have run Samsung Magician to see how the SSD is performing.

AVG and SuperAntiSpyware turned up nothing, but the SSD is performing at about half the speed it had back when it was first installed in July of 2014. The Random read/write is at 66268/56440 and sequential read/write is at 393/280, as compared to 71265/67021 and 554/535 when it was installed.

Computer build:

-ASRock Motherboard ATX DDR3 1066 LGA 1150 H81 PRO BTC
-Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5-Inch SATA III Internal SSD (MZ-7TE250BW)
-Intel Pentium Processor G3220 3.0 GHz LGA 1150 BX80646G3220
-G.SKILL Sniper 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBSR

So how do I fix my mom's computer? Is it the SSD? Did DFX somehow cause this issue?

Thank you!
 
Solution
srobin
Run msconfig in safe mode and click on the startup tab. uncheck everything if you can. Restart in normal mode. If it loads and runs OK, you have a conflict with one of those programs.

Give that a try before reloading windows.
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srobin

srobin

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try to boot into safe mode (F8 while booting). if the problem goes away it is probably a conflict. You can also uninstall DFX in safe mode. Check disk manager to see if the disk is healthy.

 
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RADD1

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The issue did not replicate on booting from safe mode; it took me to the desktop within 10 seconds.
 
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srobin

srobin

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that's good.

In safe mode, Run msconfig, and try un enabling some of the start up programs. This is trial and error, but you might get lucky.

also, run msinfo32 and check for conflicts and problem devices. Note: a conflict may not be a problem, but it may give you an idea of what to shutdown at startup.

Hope that helps
 
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RADD1

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Do I have to try unenabling in safe mode or can I do it in normal mode (after it sits on the black screen for 5-10 minutes)?

I would really like to avoid having to reinstall windows.

 
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srobin

srobin

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Run msconfig in safe mode and click on the startup tab. uncheck everything if you can. Restart in normal mode. If it loads and runs OK, you have a conflict with one of those programs.

Give that a try before reloading windows.
 
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Solution
R

RADD1

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I did just as you suggested and the issue went away... I disabled everything, boot times went back to 20-30 secs. I re-enabled half the programs, everything worked; I then re-enabled half of the remaining disabled programs, everything worked; I thought for sure that the problem must therefore be in the last few disabled programs, but when I enabled them, everything still worked as it should and I didn't get hung up on a black screen after the windows splash.

I feel like DFX must have had something to do with the incidence of this issue, as it put itself in as one of the startup programs and it was only after installing DFX that I encountered the issue. Somehow, even after DFX was uninstalled, I think it had messed something up and this was corrected when I disabled and re-enabled all startup programs.

Thanks for your assistance, everyone!
 
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R

RADD1

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Well this is frustrating... The issue was gone for 2 days with the above fix, but it is now back. I tried disabling every program on startup via safemode and the issue still occurs when booting normally, yet when I start in safemode, I go straight to the desktop without getting stuck on the black screen.

What can I do to fix this aside from reinstall windows?
 
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srobin

srobin

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That is frustrating. This is a driver issue (I believe).

Try, Boot to Startup options and select Repair my computer, instead of Safe Mode.

If that doesn't help, You can try to boot into Safe Mode, then go to the device Manager and see if there are any devices that have a problem. They would have a yellow triangle with an exclamation point. If you find one, you need to update the driver. Look for unknown devices.

If none: run msinfo32 in a command window and check for conflicts or problem devices.

Run dxdiag and make sure all the DirectX drivers are good and working Propertly.

 
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srobin

srobin

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Radd1,

Do you have a restore point? There should have been one created when you installed DFX.
Boot to safe mode and search for "restore your computer". If you have a restore point, that should fix the problem.
 
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