Stuck on black screen after login screen!

Hello everyone!

When I came to open my laptop this morning, I realized it ran out of battery even if it was at full power when I closed and unplugged it last night*. When I plugged it and turned it on, it booted as usual, asking me for my password. However, once it went past the password and welcome screen, all I got was a black screen and the cursor (which was working). My guess is that Windows Update tried to update while the laptop was shutting down because it was running out of power and wasn't able to finish the update (since the restore point on the disk was set at 4 AM).

I tried all kinds of button combinations, volume keys, everything! But it didn't work at all. Then I tried safe mode to no avail. It acted the same way except I was able to see the virtual keyboard tab and pop the keyboard.

After a few reboots and a plethora of curse words, I decided to use my Restore disk. I tried the last restore point (before the update I had just learned about) but it didn't change anything. "Oh well", I tried a restore point 2 days earlier... nothing again.

So now restore disks won't work and I can't get past the login screen, what can I do? I am starting to consider Linux, a damn stupid choice (for me at least, it looks great)


*This happens often. Instead of closing it crashes and reboots for some reason

 

Vista or Xp

 

Try rto remove the battery and the start it again ... if this doesn't works ... try a fresh install of Vista or XP (whatever u have). You may have some drivers in conflict ...

 

Do a repair installation: (thanks again flipfire for posting this) :

If you have Vista it is a similar procedure, but I don't have a quote handy like the above .

EDIT: If you have XP, you will need to reapply SP3 after the repair install.

Also, in the future don't unplug the computer until it is completely powered down to avoid this from happening. Watch to see if it wants to reboot. If it does just tap the power button before Windows begins to load.

 

OKAYOKAYOKAY

1- I do not have any installation CDs, it's the built-in OS. I got the instructions to get it to reset to factory settings but it is my very last resort.

2- It was on battery since the beginning. I didn't unplug my laptop, it just crashed and rebooted instead of shutting down. It happens from time to time. Then when I was sleeping, thinking my computer was shut down, it finally ran out of battery. While it was shutting down before running out of power, Windows Update took it for a normal shutdown and installed the updates. This is my theory, which makes the most sense.

3- I can't access anything except what's before the login. Safe mode doesn't do anything but I have the DOS reboot I can try but I don't know what I could do there.

 

-Did you burn the OEM recovery CD's?
-

- Does that disc only allow you to do system restores? Check for a recovery install option. It may or may not be there depending on which company made the OEM CD. A repair install will not delete your files, but will likely reset any theme settings you had. Also, XP or Vista?

You said you unplugged it:

That doesn't make any sense. If you mean to say that you are at a command window, try typing : 'sfc /scannow' . This will scan & fix any damaged protected system files.

 

1- Yes I did
2- No, but there's another similar dialog available during bootup (F11 button) that offers backup and factory restore. However I don't know if the backup is any good and a 4gb flashdrive is not enough.
3-Trying it right now, I'll give you news.

EDIT: It doesn't work. Tried "debug mode" in advanced reboot options: nothing happens, again. Same thing everytime!

EDIT 2: Vista.

 

If you ultimately can't find a solution, it might be easiest to boot the live CD of Ubuntu ( http://www.ubuntu.com/ ). From there you can copy your important data to your flash drive and then perform the full factory restore.

 

Okay so I have two options: Ubuntu or the restoration. While the restoration would be the simplest, I don't trust the backup.

My laptop is a HP Pavillion DV2422ca (14 in. screen, 2GB RAM, AMD Turion dual core), can you provide a link to instructions? I'm a bit lost with all those Ubuntu versions.

 

Another poster made a guide about it actually:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=241870

 

So I decided to try out the recovery thing's backup utility.

In order of discovery:
-It takes either CDs or a big external HDD
-It saves everything on a RestoreWiz files
-According to google, it's only trouble
-Trying out Ubuntu from a LiveCD

 

I got Ubuntu, and I am now writing from it. IT - IS - AWESOME!

I am backing up my files and trying to disguise the fact apostrophies will not work yet.

Thanks!

 

Yeah Ubuntu is pretty cool. I just started playing with it a few weeks ago and I'm considering leaving Windows completely for it. All the software for it is free and it is more secure (I have been told) than Windows!

Good luck with everything if you have any more troubles just post back.

 

I always hated Mac for various reason even if it's good, but Linux is just so... woah. I'm looking to install it on my hard disk. However dualboot will be the thing since I gotta keep Vista for compatibility issues, Pocket PC sync and simply "because".

And Firefox 3 came built-in, and it's great! And there's the "two desktops" switch (I'm pretty sure it was made for porn) for work and entertainment...
Man, I'm doing an awsome overdose!

 

Here is a good guide on the Ubuntu support side demonstrating how to set up a dual-boot with Windows & Ubuntu:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/WindowsDualBoot