Black screen on bootup

[cvazquez]

Hey everyone!

Sorry for long post, just trying to explain myself thoroughly.

I built a PC about 4-5 years ago and now im starting to get some issues

i5 3550
GTX 750ti
750w PSU

I am a little frustrated at this point, as I have fresh installed windows 10 three times this week to try and resolve a blue screen error & now I'm getting a black screen after the BIOS loads with no cursor.

First two times I have gotten blue screen while I am browsing the web or playing a game with an Error message of Critical_error ( or something similar) and I reinstalled windows fresh.

This third time I installed windows 10 and everything was working fine for a couple days until I restarted the machine. Now I am getting this black screen and unable to boot in safe mode to see if its a driver issue.

Could this be a hardware issue or indeed a driver issue?I just don't want to reinstall windows and it keeps happening. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

 

[morinookuni123]

Seeing how you fresh installed Win 10 I'm leaning more towards the side of its your graphics card. Is there a integrated graphics port on your motherboard you can plug into?. I don't think its a driver issue, I think its a hardware issue. Do you have another graphics card you can plug in? I would also try to boot the system with the basics, monitor, keyboard, and mouse.

 

[cvazquez]

Unfortunately no integrated graphics on MoBo.

The system ran for a couple days and crashed with blue screen, after fresh install now im getting black screen. Think it could still be the GPU?

 

[morinookuni123]

Unfortunately no integrated graphics on MoBo.

The system ran for a couple days and crashed with blue screen, after fresh install now im getting black screen. Think it could still be the GPU?

I do think it could be the GPU. From what I know of the situation my nerd senses are tingling about the GPU.
Do you have another one you can slap into the system to test it? or another system you can put the GPU in?

You didn't happen to get the error codes from the blue screen did ya?

 

[cvazquez]

Unfortunately no integrated graphics on MoBo.

The system ran for a couple days and crashed with blue screen, after fresh install now im getting black screen. Think it could still be the GPU?

I do think it could be the GPU. From what I know of the situation my nerd senses are tingling about the GPU.
Do you have another one you can slap into the system to test it? or another system you can put the GPU in?

You didn't happen to get the error codes from the blue screen did ya?

I did not write down the blue screen error, but I remember it was something like critical_process.

I will try and see if I can borrow a GPU from a friend and see if that maybe solves the issue. I would hate to have to spend money on a new GPU and that's not the problem

 

[morinookuni123]

Unfortunately no integrated graphics on MoBo.

The system ran for a couple days and crashed with blue screen, after fresh install now im getting black screen. Think it could still be the GPU?

I do think it could be the GPU. From what I know of the situation my nerd senses are tingling about the GPU.
Do you have another one you can slap into the system to test it? or another system you can put the GPU in?

You didn't happen to get the error codes from the blue screen did ya?

I did not write down the blue screen error, but I remember it was something like critical_process.

I will try and see if I can borrow a GPU from a friend and see if that maybe solves the issue. I would hate to have to spend money on a new GPU and that's not the problem

that's okays, those BSOD errors never give people the time to do much with them before they restart the PC.
If you were able to borrow and GPU for testing that would be perfect. There is no need to spend money on a new GPU when like you said it may not even be the problem.

Have you gotten compressed air and blew out the PC case to free it of dust and stuff?
The PC hasn't been dropped or anything spilled on it?

Out of curiosity, your motherboard doesn't have a 2nd slot for your GPU does it?

 

[cvazquez]

Unfortunately no integrated graphics on MoBo.

The system ran for a couple days and crashed with blue screen, after fresh install now im getting black screen. Think it could still be the GPU?

I do think it could be the GPU. From what I know of the situation my nerd senses are tingling about the GPU.
Do you have another one you can slap into the system to test it? or another system you can put the GPU in?

You didn't happen to get the error codes from the blue screen did ya?

I did not write down the blue screen error, but I remember it was something like critical_process.

I will try and see if I can borrow a GPU from a friend and see if that maybe solves the issue. I would hate to have to spend money on a new GPU and that's not the problem

that's okays, those BSOD errors never give people the time to do much with them before they restart the PC.
If you were able to borrow and GPU for testing that would be perfect. There is no need to spend money on a new GPU when like you said it may not even be the problem.

Have you gotten compressed air and blew out the PC case to free it of dust and stuff?
The PC hasn't been dropped or anything spilled on it?

Out of curiosity, your motherboard doesn't have a 2nd slot for your GPU does it?

I have not tried cleaning out dust from the PC, and definitely no drops or spills. ( Something I will try when I get home today)

And my Mobo does have a second GPU slot.

Thanks for all your help by the way!

 

[morinookuni123]

Unfortunately no integrated graphics on MoBo.

The system ran for a couple days and crashed with blue screen, after fresh install now im getting black screen. Think it could still be the GPU?

I do think it could be the GPU. From what I know of the situation my nerd senses are tingling about the GPU.
Do you have another one you can slap into the system to test it? or another system you can put the GPU in?

You didn't happen to get the error codes from the blue screen did ya?

I did not write down the blue screen error, but I remember it was something like critical_process.

I will try and see if I can borrow a GPU from a friend and see if that maybe solves the issue. I would hate to have to spend money on a new GPU and that's not the problem

that's okays, those BSOD errors never give people the time to do much with them before they restart the PC.
If you were able to borrow and GPU for testing that would be perfect. There is no need to spend money on a new GPU when like you said it may not even be the problem.

Have you gotten compressed air and blew out the PC case to free it of dust and stuff?
The PC hasn't been dropped or anything spilled on it?

Out of curiosity, your motherboard doesn't have a 2nd slot for your GPU does it?

I have not tried cleaning out dust from the PC, and definitely no drops or spills. ( Something I will try when I get home today)

And my Mobo does have a second GPU slot.

Thanks for all your help by the way!

Definitely something to try when you get home, I have had dust kill many of my computers over the years. I also learned that keeping a PC 8 inches off of the floor will reduce dust intake by 80%, who woulda thunked huh?

Good news that your mobo has a 2nd slot, If I were you I would see what happens with that 2nd slot, if you still get the black screens.

Your welcome, glad to help

 

[cvazquez]

Unfortunately no integrated graphics on MoBo.

The system ran for a couple days and crashed with blue screen, after fresh install now im getting black screen. Think it could still be the GPU?

I do think it could be the GPU. From what I know of the situation my nerd senses are tingling about the GPU.
Do you have another one you can slap into the system to test it? or another system you can put the GPU in?

You didn't happen to get the error codes from the blue screen did ya?

I did not write down the blue screen error, but I remember it was something like critical_process.

I will try and see if I can borrow a GPU from a friend and see if that maybe solves the issue. I would hate to have to spend money on a new GPU and that's not the problem

that's okays, those BSOD errors never give people the time to do much with them before they restart the PC.
If you were able to borrow and GPU for testing that would be perfect. There is no need to spend money on a new GPU when like you said it may not even be the problem.

Have you gotten compressed air and blew out the PC case to free it of dust and stuff?
The PC hasn't been dropped or anything spilled on it?

Out of curiosity, your motherboard doesn't have a 2nd slot for your GPU does it?

I have not tried cleaning out dust from the PC, and definitely no drops or spills. ( Something I will try when I get home today)

And my Mobo does have a second GPU slot.

Thanks for all your help by the way!

Definitely something to try when you get home, I have had dust kill many of my computers over the years. I also learned that keeping a PC 8 inches off of the floor will reduce dust intake by 80%, who woulda thunked huh?

Good news that your mobo has a 2nd slot, If I were you I would see what happens with that 2nd slot, if you still get the black screens.

Your welcome, glad to help

So I found something interesting - NVIDIA released a graphics driver on 04/06, around the time my PC started acting up. I have reinstalled windows (fourth time now), installed the older driver, and I also took your advice moving the GPU to the second slow.

As of now the PC is running smoothly and no black screens on restart. Hopefully the driver or the GPU swap was the answer!

 

[morinookuni123]

Unfortunately no integrated graphics on MoBo.

The system ran for a couple days and crashed with blue screen, after fresh install now im getting black screen. Think it could still be the GPU?

I do think it could be the GPU. From what I know of the situation my nerd senses are tingling about the GPU.
Do you have another one you can slap into the system to test it? or another system you can put the GPU in?

You didn't happen to get the error codes from the blue screen did ya?

I did not write down the blue screen error, but I remember it was something like critical_process.

I will try and see if I can borrow a GPU from a friend and see if that maybe solves the issue. I would hate to have to spend money on a new GPU and that's not the problem

that's okays, those BSOD errors never give people the time to do much with them before they restart the PC.
If you were able to borrow and GPU for testing that would be perfect. There is no need to spend money on a new GPU when like you said it may not even be the problem.

Have you gotten compressed air and blew out the PC case to free it of dust and stuff?
The PC hasn't been dropped or anything spilled on it?

Out of curiosity, your motherboard doesn't have a 2nd slot for your GPU does it?

I have not tried cleaning out dust from the PC, and definitely no drops or spills. ( Something I will try when I get home today)

And my Mobo does have a second GPU slot.

Thanks for all your help by the way!

Definitely something to try when you get home, I have had dust kill many of my computers over the years. I also learned that keeping a PC 8 inches off of the floor will reduce dust intake by 80%, who woulda thunked huh?

Good news that your mobo has a 2nd slot, If I were you I would see what happens with that 2nd slot, if you still get the black screens.

Your welcome, glad to help

So I found something interesting - NVIDIA released a graphics driver on 04/06, around the time my PC started acting up. I have reinstalled windows (fourth time now), installed the older driver, and I also took your advice moving the GPU to the second slow.

As of now the PC is running smoothly and no black screens on restart. Hopefully the driver or the GPU swap was the answer!

Fantastic! glad to hear its solved for now.
A good way to see if it was the driver or the GPU slot is just move the GPU back to its original location in the computer, and youll have the answer.
If it comes back after moving GPU back its the PCI-E slot,
If it doesn't come back then it was most likely the driver.