Two black screens since major Windows Update

Dinarius · 29-03-2021 2:45pm #1

Windows 10 x64

I had a major Windows update about a week ago.

Since then, I've twice returned to the computer, having left it doing something, to find a black screen.

The computer is running - it hasn't gone to sleep after doing the task, even though it had plenty of time to on each occasion - but, I cannot make anything appear on the screen.

So, each time I force it to power off and then I reboot.

It then works fine.

This time, after the reboot I got an ASUS warning saying "Overclocking failed to work". I have no interest in overclocking and it's not something I remember trying to engage.

There's a lot about black screens on the web, but it's Dutch to me.

One solution does talk about updating BIOS. I know I've done that in the past, but I can't remember how.

Any ideas?

Many thanks.

D.

Edited: Have updated graphics driver and also unplugged all USB connections and reconnected them after a reboot. Tried to update BIOS, but was told it was an incorrect BIOS (lots on the web about this) which I'm 99.9% sure it isn't. But, maybe best leaving BIOS alone.

Dinarius · 13-04-2021 1:33pm

Update:

Computer seems OK.

But, it is occasionally booting to the screen that appears just before my normal desktop.

I am attaching a pic of what appears.

Fortunately, a power button appears bottom right and I can restart - it then starts normally.

But, what might be causing this?

Only a few Windows updates last week, nothing else done to it.

Thanks.

D.

smuggler.ie · 14-04-2021 6:57am

Post your PC specs.
What you can try is reset BIOS to its defaults and clear CMOS, see if helps

Dinarius · 14-04-2021 8:37am

Booted fine again just now.

This prob is very intermittent. So, am minded to leave tinkering unless it was obvious.

For the record...

Windows 10 x64
Intel Core i7 6800k @ 3.4Ghz
64GB RAM @ 1066Mhz
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070
ASUS X99-PRO/USB 3.1 Motherboard (Socket 2011)
Drives are 2 x 7200 and 2 x SSD

Thanks.

D.

CelticRambler · 14-04-2021 9:14am

If it's of any consolation, I've had the same (also on an ASUS machine, X751S) with a repeated error message telling me that my Radeon graphics drivers were not installed, but the device manager telling me they were working fine.

I have a very low tolerance of Win 10 anyway, so after three days of black-screen freezes, I rolled it back to the previous version. All problems solved ... until it unilaterally decided to upgrade itself again a week later. :rolleyes: Same trouble immediately after the second upgrade, so this time I rolled it back the same day. An awful waste of time, but at least I've had a stable system since.

Dinarius · 14-04-2021 9:39am

Thanks.

I was having black screens, but they appear to have stopped.

Only getting that occasional pre-startup grey screen that I posted above, but only sometimes.

There is shed-loads on the web about black screens after updates.

The one advantage of my problem is it comes with a power button bottom right, so I can reboot. I couldn't with the black screen. I had to force power off and on again.

As it happens, just this minute had to reboot for an update. So, it might be fixed - we shall see.

My laptop, which is also Win10 x64 is a total rock. But, it's just for web, word processing and Zoom.

D.

smuggler.ie · 14-04-2021 10:24am

Next time you get blackout, try Ctrl+Alt+Del. You should have power options there if it works rather than "killing" power.

CelticRambler · 14-04-2021 11:39am

smuggler.ie wrote: »

Next time you get blackout, try Ctrl+Alt+Del. You should have power options there if it works rather than "killing" power.

That doesn't work with the black screen problem, which (for the most part) is a failure of Win10 to talk to the screen. As Dinarius pointed out in his/her OP, the computer is still working away at ... something. You just can't see what's happening any more.

In a new twist, however, this latest update also added a frozen keyboard to my system (and a much slower boot-up routine) so Ctrl-Alt+Del not possible, even if the screen was still lit.

It may be a bit simplistic of me, but when this kind of problem arises immediately after an update, and is 100% resolved by reversing the update, then the problem is the update. And it happens over and over and over and over again with Win10 (see the millions of reports online). Which is why I'm still running Win7 on my main machine!

smuggler.ie · 14-04-2021 11:53am

CelticRambler wrote: »

That doesn't work with the black screen problem, which (for the most part) is a failure of Win10 to talk to the screen. As Dinarius pointed out in his/her OP, the computer is still working away at ... something. You just can't see what's happening any more.

In a new twist, however, this latest update also added a frozen keyboard to my system (and a much slower boot-up routine) so Ctrl-Alt+Del not possible, even if the screen was still lit.

It may be a bit simplistic of me, but when this kind of problem arises immediately after an update, and is 100% resolved by reversing the update, then the problem is the update. And it happens over and over and over and over again with Win10 (see the millions of reports online). Which is why I'm still running Win7 on my main machine!

What KBxxxxxx you mean ?
Lately printing BSODs caused by KB500080x - uninstall update, postpone updates for 7/14/xx days till MS gave fix

Dinarius · 14-04-2021 12:48pm

Yes, I'd forgotten that when I was getting black screens, as opposed to the one I attached above, Ctrl+Alt+Del didn't work for me. I had to force shutdown and reboot.

Another thing I had been getting during a normal boot-up was a momentary window saying, "Overclocking not working", which would then disappear very quickly.

This window hasn't appeared for a while.

To the best of my knowledge, this PC isn't overclocked. It wouldn't need to be.

D.

smuggler.ie · 14-04-2021 1:42pm

If issue within Windows, i would expect to see some indications in logs or dmp

ressem · 13-08-2021 8:30pm

I don't see this on the only old Radeon based device I have to hand, but Intel graphics driver updates distributed through windows update have caused comparable issues.

If you find the adapter under device manager \ Display Adapters, right click to look at it's properties.

Under the driver tab, there is an option to "roll back driver" that might be available?

Two black screens since major Windows Update

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