The new forums will be named Coin Return (based on the most recent
vote)! You can check on the status and timeline of the transition to the new forums
here.
The Guiding Principles and New Rules
document is now in effect.
PC black screen on startup
So, when I start my laptop, it goes to a black screen after I logon (splash screen - > password -> black screen).
I can use my cursor, and if I press CTRL+ALT+DEL I can access a task manager, and run programs.
It basically seems as if it isn't loading everything it should be loading? Like the desktop, the task bar at the bottom, and whatnot.
So, uh, help? In words a fairly computer illiterate person can understand, please.
This post was sponsored by Tom Cruise.
0
Posts
If that doesn't work you'll probably need to look at doing a windows repair or try rolling back to the last time the PC did work via the recovery console (done via a Windows boot disk)
The internet tells me to look at the registry, at HKLMSOFTWARE/Microsoft/Windows NT/CurrentVersion/Winlogon -
-where I should be able to see explorer as the thing that's mean to run at login, but the things I see there are:
Defaut
Buildnumber
Excludeprofiledirs
Firstlogon
Is that firstlogon thing supposed to be there, and is my computer trying to do a first bootup thing, but failing?
But I took a look at the restore points anyway, on a whim, and there was one from around when the problem might have occured this morning, and I remembered that I had tried to update the game Path of Exile to the latest patch. Which might have completely borked my windows installation? Anyway, restored to that point while keeping my fingers crossed (which of course helps immensely) and now I have a running explorer again.
(as a side note, I think I suffer from first-world-problemitis, I managed to completely panic, despite the computer actually working, sort of, and having two other laptops within 10 feet of me)
Though, question if anyone wants to sneak in an answer:
The affected program from the restore point was something called 'First Class' - is that a windows process/program of some kind? Trying to google for First Class is difficult.
I can't say that I've ever seen a game update cause that particular issue, but I do remember a game (Pools of Radiance I think?) that would crash PCs. I've not heard of First Class either. I'd run a malware scan with something like Malware Bytes after the system restore just to make sure there is nothing funny going on.
Firstlogon sounds like your machine was trying to do initial setup of the PC for some reason as well, but I'm not positive on that. I've seen this caused by missing/bad drivers before. If you updated Path of Exile and also did a driver update at the same time it's possible they may be related.
Hold down the F8 key and reboot your system, it should come up to a menu that would let you boot windows in safe mode. choose that one and see if you can get into windows without a black screen. if you can then its likely a driver problem. Try updating your video driver.
I think First Class, after a bit more googling, might be some kind of built in security thing, like how McAfee comes with a lot of computers. So probably a program that doesn't always play nice with other stuff.