Black screen but mouse pointer active. What to do?

Hello,

I experienced the same issue recently on XP: black screen with the mouse pointer visible, and nothing displays when pressing Ctrl+Alt+Delete. Here’s my solution:

1) Press Ctrl+Alt+Delete: nothing shows on the screen, BUT the task manager has opened. You’ll need to do the rest blindly, and that's when we appreciate keyboard shortcuts ;) (to be sure, you can perform the same operation on another PC nearby to see what happens)

2) Press Alt+F: this opens the “File” menu of the task manager, but still nothing is visible

3) Press “Enter”: this opens the “Create a new task” window, but still nothing is visible

4) Type “cmd” then “Enter”, for me the desktop reappeared

5) In my case, the screen resolution was at minimum; I set it back to maximum, restarted normally, and everything is fine.

Hope this resolves your issue...

Hello, I had the same problem and I'm giving you the solution even if it's too late; it will help some people...
Here's what I did (with Vista)
WITH YOUR WINDOWS CD, GO TO COMMAND PROMPT AND TYPE THIS
rstrui.exe/OFFLINE:C:/Windows
You will land on the "off desk" system restore, and there you choose the restore date (hoping you made one) and there you go, you're back on the desktop

I hope this has been helpful to you.

easy way : Ctrl + Alt + Delete => Task Manager => Processes => explorer.exe => right click => Set Priority => Real Time => magic magic =)

Good evening,
I have a solution that just worked for me
So, just like some, I didn't do anything special when suddenly I saw my screen go completely black with only the mouse.

You need to start the PC in VGA mode (F8 at startup), then uninstall all the catalyst center drivers (everything ATI), the PC will restart... again a little VGA and then you reinstall the drivers (I personally installed an unofficial version "JPRITON_ATI_CATA_6[1].8_WDM_WITH_CP")
Restart and there... miracle

See you later!

One of my PCs (HP Laptop 1251ea, not so young... 5-6 years old, but still going strong) finally displayed degraded modes, and successive restarts in "safe mode" allowed me to start "salvaging the furniture."
Then a few sessions later, disaster struck: a black screen with a blinking cursor in the upper left corner. Nothing to be done. I thought it was truly over this time...
But I really like this HP; you get attached to it after all.

A novice in computing but nonetheless a heavy user of Office and Messaging, I rushed to the forums... and I found a lead in English (which I adapted) that apparently solved my problem since my HP is now working, for the moment in non-degraded, normal mode, just like before.

The solution seemed so bizarre yet effective that I’m sharing it with you:

* Remove the battery (same for the RAM - I didn’t do it -
/Remove battery pack / if you can remove memory ram as well)
* Wait 10 minutes.
/Wait 10 mins
* Start charging the laptop (without the battery)
/Start charging laptop (without battery pack)
* for 2 minutes
/ for 2 mins
* Unplug the power
/ Unplug the power
* Press and hold the power button for 45 seconds
/ Press and Hold the power button for 45 seconds
* Replug the power cable (but do NOT put the Battery Pack yet)
/Replug the power cable (but do NOT put the Battery Pack yet)
* Just press the power button to turn the PC back on
/Press the Power button
* The system, windows, the PC... restarts (It’s true)
/System starts

(****)

And then it proceeded with a CHKDSK (?), I think after seeing the "literature" on the subject it’s a CHKDSK/R, which took more than 6 hours...

And there you go .... my desktop has reappeared... a real miracle and everything is working or almost.
If I plug in my "wifi," the laptop crashes completely.

So I did everything again (it takes 5 minutes of manipulation (+ 6 hours of waiting) and it worked again...
I was able to copy all my files, addresses, contacts, favorites, my programs....
And since then I've left my WiFi unplugged, and I do my messaging on another PC.

(****)
Here are some instructions that were given, which I did not implement

* Once your system is back up, shut down the PC (I didn't dare)
/iONCE YOUR SYSTEM BE READY SHUT IT DOWN,
* Put the laptop battery back
/PUT THE BATTERY PACK BACK
* Continue using the PC
CONTINUE TO USE YOUR LAPTOP

If this can help someone, I’d be happy.
Especially since the repair is more about basic electrical work than computer repair.

The basic info came, I believe, from:
https://ccm.net/computing/hardware/1535-computer-boots-to-black-screen/

Try it and let me know....
especially how to reconnect my wifi without everything crashing...
Thank you.

Salut, en fait le problème de l'écran noir sur Vista est dû à un virus. La solution, une fois que tu as ouvert ta session et que tu as un écran noir avec le pointeur de la souris, est de faire un Ctrl+Alt+Suppr, puis Gestionnaire de tâches. Ensuite, fichier, nouvelle tâche à exécuter, puis browse pour aller dans les utilisateurs, tes documents, films ou ce que tu veux, et tu lances un film ou un fichier, et là, ton bureau revient. Si c'est un virus, normalement, si tu fais EXECUTER et tapes cmd, ton PC devrait redémarrer tout seul. Si tel est le cas, tu refais la même manipulation. Une fois ton bureau revenu, tu vas sur le net, tu tapes antivirus en ligne, tu peux prendre BitDefender, tu lances le scanner en ligne et il va te nettoyer le virus. Ton PC devrait être débarrassé de ce problème. Sur XP, je ne sais pas, je n'ai pas eu le problème, mais sur VISTA et 2008 SERVEUR à ne surtout pas oublier de nettoyer les clés USB et disques durs externes, même ton iPod, le mien était aussi contaminé, ou lecteur MP3 si ça a été connecté au PC pendant le problème, car le virus peut entrer partout. Voilà, j'espère que ça pourra dépanner certains, car j'ai galéré pour trouver cette solution de dépannage.

Here is my problem and my solution:

So I had a complete black screen, I could only see the mouse and move it, but that's all... I couldn't see anything at all...

Since it was last night, after 2 restarts without success, I gave up...
And then today, again a complete black screen, except for that poor mouse all alone...
So I did Ctrl Alt Del, and I selected the Task Manager, I found myself with the screen still black but the Task Manager window opened,
And then I went to New Task, Browse... to look for another program on the computer, already relieved to see that my data hadn't been lost, which rules out viruses...

So I randomly selected Mozilla Firefox and opened it, and there was a miracle, Mozilla opened, and the entire desktop reappeared behind, as if by magic

And it works normally even on the next startup
I hope my case can help others who have this issue

Now I don't know where the problem comes from

For those who are still stuck after all these posts (especially on Windows 7 now), I have another solution that is a bit more radical but it worked for me, allowing me to go back with system restore which fixed this problem...

(This solution only works for those who went to "Repair your computer" after pressing F8 and attempted to restart after automatic detection without doing a system restore.)

The fact is that the boot log with safe mode etc. is still there and every time as long as Windows hasn't opened a session... so here's how I proceeded:

When you see the Windows logo, wait between 5 and 10 seconds then restart the computer using the "Reset" button, and for those who don't have one, you'll need to cut the power, which is a bit more dangerous...
Once the computer has restarted, it should work.

Thank you Jobozzo!!
It works perfectly :P

Aha thank you dekeyser that solves my problem very well pfff '--

It just happened to me on Windows 8. I managed to open the Task Manager and closed the applications one by one, and then at some point it came back. I think I'll do some cleaning and maybe remove this application.

See the fix:

https://www.google.fr/?gws_rd=ssl#hl=fr&source=hp&q=fixshell.exe&aq=0&aqi=g2&aql=&oq=fixshell&gs_rfai=&fp=762f18d13ea73219

which repairs the effects of malware.

The answers (in English) from experts are relevant if you search Google:

"windows 7" black screen

Potentially, for a laptop, a black screen and an active mouse may mean that the computer has "mal" exited its sleep...
What I did:

• Hardware reset, removed the battery and unplugged the power supply so that the laptop would no longer be powered
• Pressed and held the power button for 30 seconds
• Plugged the laptop into mains power without the battery
• Turned on the laptop and everything should go well!