Windows 10 black screen of death...

[seattleshaver]

I know this isn't a computer forum but there are a lot of members here and some are probably tech knowledgeable so here goes...

I have Windows 10 (desk top) and only within the last month have I had this problem. A couple of times a day for about 5 minutes, my computer screen goes black, the audio still works so if I'm watching a YouTube video and this happens I can still hear the audio.

When this happens I also notice the blue light from my disk drive blinking continuously meaning that it is doing something all this time. I run the virus/malware software and it finds nothing.

The problem corrects itself after about 5 minutes. I use Chrome but it's not a browser problem since it does the same thing if I open Explorer. It doesn't seem to be a video card problem (I don't really know what I'm talking about here) since I can still see a program I often have running in the background (has to do with tweaking my guitar amp).

I can still see the icons at the bottom of my windows screen.

I've done a Google search and there are many "black screen of death" scenarios which include resetting Chrome, resetting Windows, turning off all extensions (which I tried) but they never seem to work for the people posting and yet eventually they fall into something that does make it go away.

Some of the solutions are worse that the problem.

I'm just wondering if anyone here has ever had such a problem and if so, how you fixed it?

 

[AimlessWanderer]

I had a problem with Windows 7 that was making my laptop lock up in a similar way, while doing all sorts of something in the background. It wasn't just the fact that it locked up that was annoying, but that it was using all its resources to do something that I hadn't told it to do.

I installed Linux. Problem solved.

 

[Ron R]

I have a HP laptop and is new-just 6 month old and I was getting stop codes on ebay and that is annoying and went on line and found out that HP velocity software upgrade was more than likely the problem. Deleted it and the machine works faster and better with out it with no more crashes. Just type in your problem on google and make of computer and some one else has already has bragging rights how to fix the problem. Good Luck and some great shaves!

 

[Raissermesser]

I haven't had this problem. It obviously sounds like some application is running. They can be surprising. One I didn't need started eating resources, so I deleted it.

Some things that come to mind are power settings and monitor driver, but that's just a wild guess.

 

[Esox]

I'm just wondering if anyone here has ever had such a problem and if so, how you fixed it?

I've had Windows 10 hang on a black screen on machines that had Windows 10 installed as an update. The solution for that was to reinstall Win10 as a full version bypassing the update stage. Many times with Windows Update, especially on Windows Vista, Windows Update was the cause of many problems. Files can be corrupted during the update process.

If you do need a reinstall, once back on your desktop and loaded with the necessary programs, create a disk image if you have another drive to store it in. Windows 10 Ultimate basically has Norton Ghost installed so its easy to make a full system image. That way when you do have a problem, its easy and quick going back to a fresh clean install.

Your problem may be different though. The first thing I'd check is for something running. You might be able to find it spiking in Task Manager, but if you cant see the screen it might be difficult tracking it down.

I use HijackThis but beware. Its an advanced tool and you can easily remove a Windows Process and nuke your install if you dont know what it is that you are removing. It will show you every running process and every process that only runs on startup.

There are free online virus scanners.

HouseCall

AdwCleaner - Free Adware Cleaner & Removal Tool

Both work. Adwcleaner is all I run and the only anti virus platform I've used in a few years. Prior to using it I used Eset.

The nice thing about Trend Micro and Adwcleaner is they only run when you start them. They arent installed programs. When you start them, they update and run a scan, even scanning the MBR and will prompt for a reboot if necessary.

The next thing I'd check is the PSU. If you have a voltage drop on one of the three rails a black screen can be a result. Normally, the screen freezes, but I've seen both and BSOD's from a weak PSU.

If you boot to your BIOS, usually, you can see the voltages across the 3.3v, 5v and 12v rails. If the voltage drops on one rail, it can cause you issues. Sometimes, thats as easily fixed as pulling the main PSU cable from the motherboard and blowing out the contacts.

If you suspect a weak power supply, there are inexpensive testers available too. Any computer repair shop will have at least one on their bench.

 

[Esox]

It doesn't seem to be a video card problem (I don't really know what I'm talking about here) since I can still see a program I often have running in the background (has to do with tweaking my guitar amp).

It could possibly be a video card issue too, if you're not using onboard video. If the video card is overheating, it will go into protection mode and kill the video until it cools off, but it wont take 5 minutes and will happen repeatedly.

I had that issue years ago with an OC'd GEForce GTX460 with a bad fan. My screen would blink black, I'd CTD(Crash To Desktop) if I was in a game and eventually it started showing artifacts that later turned everything red and made my screen flicker. The fan had fell off the card by that point because it had melted lol.

 

[H4nk]

If it comes back, it's not a screen of death. Try "screen goes black and comes back" as your search.
After it happens, click on Control Panel, Administrative Tools, Event Viewer and check the system log. Look for ! in red near the time it happened. Report back what you see.
It could be a bad video driver.

 

[WalterK]

A work laptop had that issue, it was a connection problem in the hinge. Just had to wiggle the screen back and forth a few times and it went back to normal.

You mentioned yours is a desktop, so it's not a hinge problem, but could it just be a loose connection somewhere?

 

[StillShaving]

I have seen the same issue a few times, but not recently. More frequently I found the computer to be painfully slow when opening a new Chrome tab that might be heavy with javascript or pop-ups or similar. If I avoid those websites, close unneeded tabs, etc. and it does behave better.

I hesitate to mention this because my memory of events or cause/effect is not very clear but since you are fishing for clues, to the best of my recall my desktop machine (an older generation Intel with 6 GB RAM and spinning disk drive) started getting black screen issues just before the hard disk died. The drive eventually failed and was replaced with a new drive and upgraded from Windows 7 to Windows 10 in the process. Initially the performance under Windows 10 was great but started running very slow with Chrome, with task manager showing Hard Drive access pegged at 100% for minutes at a time. At one point found an online reference about some windows service that tries to keep frequently used programs loaded that was contributing to the HD access overload problem with a suggestion to stop the service unless one is running Windows from a solid state drive. I stopped it and that sort of helped but I think it got reenabled in a later windows update. (I cannot recall the name of that service at the moment). I don't think I have seen black screen issues with the new HD, but still experience performance issues if keep open too many tabs which generate background traffic (e.g. email access). Also I found that disabling any extensions helps with performance.

Check out this link if you have not already:
Speed up Google Chrome - Computer - Google Chrome Help

 

[pault]

My first question is there an add on video card in the computer, if so shut off the computer, open it up and check to see if it is full of dust. Get a can of compressed air and blow it out , outside in the yard, that may be a temp solution. Power it back up without the case side on and see if the fan runs quiet or labors and makes noise.
If so time to repl video card. Also if you ahve a video card, go to the mauf website and download the current drivers for it.


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[oc_in_fw]

It’s good to see that Windows has progressed as an “operating” system. First, the Blue Screen of Death, then green (Windows 7), to black. Progress.