ASUS G73JH Black Screen after Post?

Hey there,

So last night I completely dis-assembled my Asus G73JH so that I could re-apply thermal paste to the CPU and GPU and clean the fans. This is about the 6th-7th time I've done this so I'm aware of what I'm doing. Everything seemed to go smoothly, and after I put it back together it started up just fine. I even played some games on it and there were no issues. The fans were nice and quiet.

This morning I booted up my laptop, and the usual things popped up. Post, the Asus splash screen, and even up to the "Starting Windows" logo animation.

It's right after the Starting Windows animation that I'm having issues. After that screen goes away, I'm left staring at a black screen. Nothing happens, just the black screen. For about 3 seconds immediately after the Starting Windows screen, I see a light black box surrounded by a black border. Then it changes so that the whole screen is light black. I can't do anything after that.

I've booted into Safe Mode and the screen works. I see Windows and I can click and manipulate things on my desktop as usual. It's when I boot normally that I encounter my issue.

So what could be the problem? Did I screw up when I repasted my CPU and GPU? If so, why did it work immediately after I put it back together, and only have issues the day after? Thanks for the help!

 

That points to a gpu issue. Confirm by removing gpu drivers in safe mode.