Windows 10 Clean Install Black Screen After Windows Logo

[Karbonlambo]

I have no idea what else I can do. I had Windows 7 and the black screen error occurred so I wiped everything from that 1TB HDD and I fresh installed Windows 10. I installed Google Chrome and Discord and started talking to a friend and within one minute, the computer made the noise of something disconnecting and the monitor went black again. I had to power on and off the computer a couple times before it went into the auto-repair Windows 10 has but the startup repair tool didn't help me. I tried "Safe Mode with Networking" but when I tried to check for updates thinking it was my lack of drivers, the updates just kept searching for like 15 minutes and nothing happened. This guy I found who had the same problem fixed his through his Bios, I'm scared touching my BIOS but if someone can help guide me through it if it will fix it, I'm willing to do it. I'm also worried it's a hardware issue because I don't think I have the money to upgrade. This build is about 3-4 years old which is why I fresh-wiped it.


Anyways, here's the guy who described the same problem as me:
"When booting from these I get the blue Windows 10 logo and the spinning icon. Then I get the briefest flash of something that might be a setup window (maybe only a quarter of a second) before the screen goes completely black (monitor is still active so receiving a signal). Eventually the PC shuts itself down. I don't have multiple displays but have tried combinations of Windows + P to switch displays but with no luck. There are no drivers per se at this stage because windows hasn't even installed yet, so I wouldn't think that there would be a compatibility issue, however I've exhausted all other options I can think of. I don't have onboard graphics on my mobo (Asus PX79) so I can't try that instead. I'm tempted to buy a cheap PCIe card just to eliminate the Radeon."


He later said this after fixing it:
"All fixed now. The graphics card wasn't at fault in the end. I swapped it out for a basic PCIe card and had the same result. In the end it was traced to the OC profile in the BIOS. When I flashed the BIOS it reset the configuration to XMP which was causing the issue (for some unknown reason). Setting to Auto or a Manual setting cured the issue and Windows 10 setup ran ok! Very odd. Thanks for those that replied constructively."

 

[Darkbreeze]

Ok, first, try this.

Unplug the power supply from the wall. Also, since it's the most important piece of hardware in the entire system, what is the EXACT model number of your power supply? If you are unsure, look. It will be listed on a label or printed directly on the power supply itself, usually on one of the four sides. Sometimes it's necessary to remove the four screws that hold the PSU to the back of the case, so you can turn the PSU far enough to see/read the label if it is on the motherboard side of the PSU or on the bottom.

Next, remove the CMOS battery from the motherboard and wait for two minutes. Then reinstall the CMOS battery taking care to put it back in with the same side down that was down before.

Plug the power supply back into the wall. (After fastening the four screws back that attach it to the case, if you removed them to access the label)

Power up, and go into the bios. Find the option, usually on the exit menu, to load the "Optimal default" or "Setup default" settings. Save settings and exit.

That should reset the hardware tables, and hopefully allow it to boot. If it does not, then it's possible that you did not ACTUALLY do a clean install and may need to ACTUALLY do a clean install.

A clean install involves removing ALL the old partitions on the drive, including the boot partition. If during the Windows 10 installation you did NOT choose the "Custom" option, and remove all the existing partitions on the drive, and then install to the unpartitioned space, then you did NOT do a CLEAN install, but only did a RE-install. It may be necessary to repeat the installation and follow these instructions on how to do a full and clean installation.

Before doing so though, it would be a good idea to reset the bios as I outlined above, if you have not already done so.

Also, if you have multiple drives attached to the system, disconnect all of them, while the unit is unplugged, except for the drive you will be installing Windows on. This is so that you do not accidentally delete any partitions during the Custom operation except those that are on the OS drive. You can reconnect them afterwards, again, with the power off, once Windows installation is complete and you have shut back down.

If there are older drives attached that EVER had Windows installed on them, drives OTHER than the current OS drive that is, then those could be causing you problems as well since most users forget to delete the old boot partitions off those drives and this can confuse the bios and operating system when it comes to which boot partition to use during startup. It's best to leave all other drives that may have had boot partitions on them unplugged until after you are totally satisfied that your Windows installation is good to go.

Windows 10 Clean install tutorial

 

[Karbonlambo]

Ok, first, try this.

Unplug the power supply from the wall. Also, since it's the most important piece of hardware in the entire system, what is the EXACT model number of your power supply? If you are unsure, look. It will be listed on a label or printed directly on the power supply itself, usually on one of the four sides. Sometimes it's necessary to remove the four screws that hold the PSU to the back of the case, so you can turn the PSU far enough to see/read the label if it is on the motherboard side of the PSU or on the bottom.

Next, remove the CMOS battery from the motherboard and wait for two minutes. Then reinstall the CMOS battery taking care to put it back in with the same side down that was down before.

Plug the power supply back into the wall. (After fastening the four screws back that attach it to the case, if you removed them to access the label)

Power up, and go into the bios. Find the option, usually on the exit menu, to load the "Optimal default" or "Setup default" settings. Save settings and exit.

That should reset the hardware tables, and hopefully allow it to boot. If it does not, then it's possible that you did not ACTUALLY do a clean install and may need to ACTUALLY do a clean install.

A clean install involves removing ALL the old partitions on the drive, including the boot partition. If during the Windows 10 installation you did NOT choose the "Custom" option, and remove all the existing partitions on the drive, and then install to the unpartitioned space, then you did NOT do a CLEAN install, but only did a RE-install. It may be necessary to repeat the installation and follow these instructions on how to do a full and clean installation.

Before doing so though, it would be a good idea to reset the bios as I outlined above, if you have not already done so.

Also, if you have multiple drives attached to the system, disconnect all of them, while the unit is unplugged, except for the drive you will be installing Windows on. This is so that you do not accidentally delete any partitions during the Custom operation except those that are on the OS drive. You can reconnect them afterwards, again, with the power off, once Windows installation is complete and you have shut back down.

If there are older drives attached that EVER had Windows installed on them, drives OTHER than the current OS drive that is, then those could be causing you problems as well since most users forget to delete the old boot partitions off those drives and this can confuse the bios and operating system when it comes to which boot partition to use during startup. It's best to leave all other drives that may have had boot partitions on them unplugged until after you are totally satisfied that your Windows installation is good to go.

Windows 10 Clean install tutorial

So according to what you said, I actually did do a CLEAN install of Windows 10, so that's good to know as I did delete all the old partitions and installed WIndows on a new partition. I did also select the Custom installation. I suppose the next thing I can do is to reset the BIOS but I'll be sure to carefully follow your instructions, is there anything else I should know before doing so?

 

[Darkbreeze]

Not really. I just advise that you familiarize yourself with the bios update process fairly well before moving forward with it. It's nothing like it used to be back in the day, where it was common to brick a motherboard with a bad bios update, but there is still potentially risk involved anytime you flash a piece of hardware with a new firmware.

Watch several tutorials on Youtube that are relevant or similar to your hardware. Read the information on the motherboard manufacturers website several times until you are fairly familiar with the process. Make sure to use a known good flash drive if you update that way. Some boards have options for updating over network connections, I don't recommend using those as there is additional potential for failure that way, although it too is minimal at the worst. Know what you are doing and whatever you do, do NOT stop the process once it has begun flashing the bios firmware even if you THINK it has frozen or is not doing anything. Allow it to complete no matter what. Take an hour if necessary. It won't take more than a few minutes in most cases, but I've seen users that after five minutes didn't think it was working and powered off only to find that now the system is a brick.

Updating bios is common, necessary, even required in many cases these days and is fairly straight forward, but knowing what to expect ahead of time is the most important aspect I think. Learning by failure is not a good option in this particular area.

 

[izzywm]

Hi Karbonlambo

I understand you resolved this issue with a BIOS setting however I have had the same problem and found another workaround for this issue (as there was no BIOS setting for me to get around).

After having to force the machine off when it locks at that blank screen, eventually it greets you with a blue screen error about an issue with winload.exe. You then have the option for advanced startup settings.

I then attempted to boot to safe mode, which eventually put up an error saying that the initial setup of windows 10 cannot be carried out in safe mode and gives the option to restart.

Once the computer restarts, it begins the initial computer and user setup prompt as per normal and everything is fine.

Just wanted to add this to the thread as this may help others.

I have no idea what else I can do. I had Windows 7 and the black screen error occurred so I wiped everything from that 1TB HDD and I fresh installed Windows 10. I installed Google Chrome and Discord and started talking to a friend and within one minute, the computer made the noise of something disconnecting and the monitor went black again. I had to power on and off the computer a couple times before it went into the auto-repair Windows 10 has but the startup repair tool didn't help me. I tried "Safe Mode with Networking" but when I tried to check for updates thinking it was my lack of drivers, the updates just kept searching for like 15 minutes and nothing happened. This guy I found who had the same problem fixed his through his Bios, I'm scared touching my BIOS but if someone can help guide me through it if it will fix it, I'm willing to do it. I'm also worried it's a hardware issue because I don't think I have the money to upgrade. This build is about 3-4 years old which is why I fresh-wiped it.


Anyways, here's the guy who described the same problem as me:
"When booting from these I get the blue Windows 10 logo and the spinning icon. Then I get the briefest flash of something that might be a setup window (maybe only a quarter of a second) before the screen goes completely black (monitor is still active so receiving a signal). Eventually the PC shuts itself down. I don't have multiple displays but have tried combinations of Windows + P to switch displays but with no luck. There are no drivers per se at this stage because windows hasn't even installed yet, so I wouldn't think that there would be a compatibility issue, however I've exhausted all other options I can think of. I don't have onboard graphics on my mobo (Asus PX79) so I can't try that instead. I'm tempted to buy a cheap PCIe card just to eliminate the Radeon."


He later said this after fixing it:
"All fixed now. The graphics card wasn't at fault in the end. I swapped it out for a basic PCIe card and had the same result. In the end it was traced to the OC profile in the BIOS. When I flashed the BIOS it reset the configuration to XMP which was causing the issue (for some unknown reason). Setting to Auto or a Manual setting cured the issue and Windows 10 setup ran ok! Very odd. Thanks for those that replied constructively."