Windows 8 black screen with pointer after log in

[Kudo4869]

A black screen has appear with cursor only after I install a skin for my windows 8 laptop. The screen started to blank after I patch the windows logo in 7tsp Alienware breed icon pack. I didn't realize that the skin is for windows 7. I know it's a bit stupid and I don't know why I'm really stupid at that day. I cannot do anything because the screen just turn black and a cursor appear after the login. Please help me how to reset it or what's the solution for this problem.

Specs for my laptop (what I remember):

Toshiba Satellite® L850
-Intel Core i5-3210M 2.5 GHz
-Intel HM76 (Panther Point)

-8192 MB, 2x 4096 MB PC3-12800 SO-DIMM DDR3-RAM (1600 MHz), 2 Slots, max. 16 GB

-AMD Radeon HD 7670M - 2048 MB, Core: 600 MHz, Memory: 900 MHz, DDR3, 8.932.5.3000

Hitachi Travelstar 5K750 HTS547550A9E384, 500 GB 5400 rpm

-Microsoft Windows 8 64 Bit

I hope you guys can really help me. I feel regret for download that thing. you can contact me at schinichi_kurudo@yahoo.com
later~

 

[johnbl]

sorry, can you explain what is bootable usb stick or bootable disc?

It is just the Windows 8 installation image on a USB thumb drive or DVD disc in a format that the machine can actually boot from, just like a hard drive. ( boot loader, boot files, partition marked active, files laid out correctly for the startup operation of the OS)

For a DVD disk, burning a proper .ISO image to disc with burning software will have the correct format to allow you to install from it.

for a USB boot image it is a little bit more involved, you will want to use the Microsoft installer to create and properly format your USB drive to make it bootable so you can install windows from it.

 

[Apanzee]

^ That's why I suggested using isotousb. Fact is using a bootable usb stick to install/repair is about 5x faster than a disc. The isotousb application is an incredibly simple tool to use. You load it up, click the browse button to select the Windows .ISO file, check off "make bootable" and hit start. It takes about 15 minutes to make the usb stick, which believe it or not is a little faster than burning a disc version.

Sorry for the late reply I was at a job interview for a construction company.

 

[Kudo4869]

This one is a little tricky, because it takes trial and error (and patience) to launch the Windows 8 ‘recovery mode’ when start up sequence is on going. What you need to do is, past the BIOS splash screen, hold down the Shift key and repeatedly hit the F8 key. Doing so should get you to the recovery mode, but it might take a few tries before you achieve that.

Once the Recovery screen is displayed, click the "See advanced repair options" button. In the next screen, hit the Troubleshoot button.

http://cdn.redmondpie.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Safe-Mode-1.png

In the troubleshoot menu, click Advanced options, wherein lies Windows Startup Settings. Choose that.

http://cdn.redmondpie.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Safe-Mode-2.png

The next screen will ask you to restart your PC, after which you’ll see the familiar Advanced Boot Option screen – the same one that’s been around since Windows XP – and you can choose Safe Mode here. Make sure you select Safe Mode with command prompt.

Once you're logged into safe mode and the command shell is open, type the following code and hit enter: sfc /scannow

Let it do it's thing and when it's done it will say 100% complete.

You can now reboot and your computer should function normally.

I have done until the entering code. It says that "you must be an adminstrator running a console session in order to use the sfc utility"
Can you explain how?

 

[Apanzee]

Try re-opening the command shell as an admin like this:

Go to start, type "cmd" and when the app shows up, right click it. Now select the "run as administrator" option.


If for some reason that doesn't work, try like this:

Open computer. Open the C:\ drive. Go to Windows. Go to system32. Scroll down until you see "cmd" in the list. Right click it and hit "run as administrator."

 

[Guest]

if it was pre-installed you should have be a recovery mode built into the laptop to put it back to factory settings, when you first turn laptop on either go into bios and look for an option to reset the lapto or on the boot screen look to see if it say's what button to press to enter recovery mode, if you install windows 8 your self you will lose the factory istall image, and probs support from the company.

 

[Kudo4869]

Try re-opening the command shell as an admin like this:

Go to start, type "cmd" and when the app shows up, right click it. Now select the "run as administrator" option.


If for some reason that doesn't work, try like this:

Open computer. Open the C:\ drive. Go to Windows. Go to system32. Scroll down until you see "cmd" in the list. Right click it and hit "run as administrator."

But.... my screen is still black with cmd.exe command shell and the pointer. there's no start screen at all

 

[Kudo4869]

if it was pre-installed you should have be a recovery mode built into the laptop to put it back to factory settings, when you first turn laptop on either go into bios and look for an option to reset the lapto or on the boot screen look to see if it say's what button to press to enter recovery mode, if you install windows 8 your self you will lose the factory istall image, and probs support from the company.

did you mean that I need to restart and go to recovery mode and choose factory setting option? I worried that the data in my laptop will lost...

 

[Guest]

if you do a clean install of windows then drivers found here .. but befor you do look around this site for instructions how to factory restore your laptop

http://www.toshiba.co.uk/innovation/download_drivers_bios.jsp?service=UK

 

[Apanzee]

Oh boy. Give me a couple minutes, I'm a little rusty with the Windows command shell.

I need to look up a few lines of code and I'll get back to you.

 

[Guest]

you may have an option in the factory restore to keep files

 

[Guest]

or it may let you goto windows 8 restore point

 

[Guest]

restoring from factory image or from factory file repair will be your safest way i strongly recommend you use the factory repair if you dont understand computers or the terminology

 

[Apanzee]

Alright I think I've got it.

Enter this in the command shell, one line at a time. Then reboot, do a hard reset by unplugging it and pulling out the battery, waiting 30 seconds and turning it back on. From there, follow the steps in the first post to get into the recovery mode again. This time, make sure you select the account we're about to create.

net user /add useraccountname

net localgroup administrators useraccountname /add

net share concfg*C:\\/grant:useraccountname,full

net user useraccountname *

This will create an administrator account called useraccountname. After the command with the asterisk at the end, it will prompt you to create a password. It won't show up while typing it, so don't make a mistake. You could also just hit enter again to leave it without a password.

I'll walk you through removing it after we get this fixed for you.

 

[Kudo4869]

Alright I think I've got it.

Enter this in the command shell, one line at a time. Then reboot, do a hard reset by unplugging it and pulling out the battery, waiting 30 seconds and turning it back on. From there, follow the steps in the first post to get into the recovery mode again. This time, make sure you select the account we're about to create.

net user /add useraccountname

net localgroup administrators useraccountname /add

net share concfg*C:\\/grant:useraccountname,full

net user useraccountname *

This will create an administrator account called useraccountname. After the command with the asterisk at the end, it will prompt you to create a password. It won't show up while typing it, so don't make a mistake. You could also just hit enter again to leave it without a password.

I'll walk you through removing it after we get this fixed for you.

I'm not really understand what to do after typing that thing. please explain it. sorry for the trouble.

 

[Apanzee]

The first line will add a new user account.
The second line will make it an administrator.
The third line will make it have full system access.
The fourth line will set the password.

After the fourth line is entered it will prompt you for a password, this is where you are setting that accounts login information. The password will not appear as you are typing it, but it's there, so don't make a mistake. You could also leave it blank if you like, just hit enter to skip it. It should say password successfully applied. When you log in, it won't ask you for a password as there isn't one set.

After you've made the account, reboot and go back into recovery. Login to that account with command prompt. The sfc /scannow command should now work.

 

[Kudo4869]

The first line will add a new user account.
The second line will make it an administrator.
The third line will make it have full system access.
The fourth line will set the password.

After the fourth line is entered it will prompt you for a password, this is where you are setting that accounts login information. The password will not appear as you are typing it, but it's there, so don't make a mistake. You could also leave it blank if you like, just hit enter to skip it. It should say password successfully applied. When you log in, it won't ask you for a password as there isn't one set.

After you've made the account, reboot and go back into recovery. Login to that account with command prompt. The sfc /scannow command should now work.

Oh. Thank god. just now my laptop just suddenly go off because the battery was drained out. When I restart it, I suddenly press f8 and set to automatic repair when I want to go to recovery mode. the screen is not black anymore. but, I cannot open somes of the files such as my document. how's that?

 

[Apanzee]

I don't quite understand, can you make that a little clearer possibly? What did you do, and what is the issue exactly?

 

[aford10]

Do you get some kind of error when trying to open your document?

 

[Kudo4869]

I don't quite understand, can you make that a little clearer possibly? What did you do, and what is the issue exactly?

I'm not really sure what happen. but the issue is written in my first post. I only press f8 when the laptop restarted. You should know what happen next. But still, I cannot open some of the windows 8 app : music, video,games, homework

 

[Apanzee]

I'm not really sure what happen. but the issue is written in my first post. I only press f8 when the laptop restarted. You should know what happen next. But still, I cannot open some of the windows 8 app : music, video,games, homework

I don't know what happens next because you aren't being very specific. Windows 8 has both a recovery mode and an automatic repair. If Windows finally realized something was wrong on it's own and booted into auto repair, and it fixed the issue then great. Sometimes it can miss things, or leave certain files untouched however. Try running the sfc command in command prompt now and see if it fixes it. If not, you'll have to do a system restore - which won't delete any of your files, it only modifies system files. I'll walk you through it if sfc doesn't work.

Go to start, type "cmd" and wait for it to appear. Right click it, hit start as administrator. In the box, type "sfc /scannow" without the quotes. Let it run. When it's finished, reboot. Tell me if that fixes it.

 

[liquidmountain]

This one is a little tricky, because it takes trial and error (and patience) to launch the Windows 8 ‘recovery mode’ when start up sequence is on going. What you need to do is, past the BIOS splash screen, hold down the Shift key and repeatedly hit the F8 key. Doing so should get you to the recovery mode, but it might take a few tries before you achieve that.

Once the Recovery screen is displayed, click the "See advanced repair options" button. In the next screen, hit the Troubleshoot...

Hi, I've been having a similar problem to OP, and while I was to get to the recovery screen, no matter what option I choose, I'm sent back to the same black screen. I tried choosing "automatic repair" but it said it couldnt fix my pc. Please help!

If it makes things any easier, I'm using a Vaio E14P with Windows 8 and Intel Core i5

EDIT: Also, twice now, after furiously mashing the shift and f8 keys, it started to "begin automatic repairs", and went through various other loading screens. However, both times it ended with a blue screen saying it couldn't repair my PC, and said it had made a log file somewhere. I'm now going to try and refresh my PC. Will update.

EDIT: After refreshing I was able to get past the Black Screen of Death successfully, but refreshing my computer has come with a whole host of unrelated problems. Is there any solution other than shift+f8 and choosing to refresh? For future generations?

 

[blahjen]

Hi guys, I also had this problem with my brand new Sony Vaio E14125CX windows 8. After the initial setup, my screen went black with just my cursor visible. I can ctrl alt del which gave me standard option (lock, switch user, task manager...etc) but nothing would happen when selected, just went back to black. I first tried shift f8, which didn't help, then did a hard reboot (hold down power button for 5 sec) and then did shift f8. I don't know if it actually did what it was suppose to do, but it didn't go into recovery mode, but instead went to the normal start screen. Not sure what I did differently, but I held down power, waited for a min, restarted, got to the log-in screen and played around with the icons in the bottom before logging in and started pressing shift f8.

I'm going to get windows 7

This one is a little tricky, because it takes trial and error (and patience) to launch the Windows 8 ‘recovery mode’ when start up sequence is on going. What you need to do is, past the BIOS splash screen, hold down the Shift key and repeatedly hit the F8 key. Doing so should get you to the recovery mode, but it might take a few tries before you achieve that.

Once the Recovery screen is displayed, click the "See advanced repair options" button. In the next screen, hit the Troubleshoot...

Hi, I've been having a similar problem to OP, and while I was to get to the recovery screen, no matter what option I choose, I'm sent back to the same black screen. I tried choosing "automatic repair" but it said it couldnt fix my pc. Please help!

If it makes things any easier, I'm using a Vaio E14P with Windows 8 and Intel Core i5

EDIT: Also, twice now, after furiously mashing the shift and f8 keys, it started to "begin automatic repairs", and went through various other loading screens. However, both times it ended with a blue screen saying it couldn't repair my PC, and said it had made a log file somewhere. I'm now going to try and refresh my PC. Will update.

EDIT: After refreshing I was able to get past the Black Screen of Death successfully, but refreshing my computer has come with a whole host of unrelated problems. Is there any solution other than shift+f8 and choosing to refresh? For future generations?

 

[Langedr]

Just a little tick I stumbled across.
Rather the frantically smashing F8, wait for the accont log-in screen.
Don't log in, but go to the right bottom 'shut-down' symbol.
Once the pop menu shows the options select 'restart' whilst holding the 'shift' key.
A lot easier, less stressfull and works.
Richard

 

[donatelo99]

DUDE THANKS IT WORKED THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS SOLUTION

 

[Muhammed Latheef]

start control panel,
select, hardware and sound-> power options,->system settings
disable "turn on fast startup(recommended)" checkbox

this is the only solution on the net that worked properly for my dell 15r 5010 same problem on win 8 .... it seems that fast startup does not load all the drivers properly ...... thanx