Windows 7 logs into to desktop but black screen only curser visible?

martin57

Hi folks,


I have two installations of windows 7 32 bit on my computer (different partitions of course) and for a while now sometimes when I restart windows it goes to desktop fine but only back screen on monitor and curser (its a LG monitor with resolution set to 1280 X 960 in windows and windows display set to 150%, need it for my eyesight)


Doesn't happen all the time, I can start task manager and then log off and when I log on again usually ok.


The graphics card is a ATI radeon 4600 and have tried the latest and different drivers but doesn't seem to help.


As this graphics card is over four years old now do you think it might be the problem or something else. I haven't really made any hardware changes so ruling that out, or do you think it might be the monitor not liking my current resolution.


Hard to figure out, any help appreciated, as I say its an intermittent problem.


Thanks
Martin57

emptybox

Are you saying that both versions of Windows 7 does this, or just the one?

If both, try setting one version back to 100% zoom and see if that makes any difference.

Is 1280 x 960 not the native resolution of the monitor?

esuhl

I have the same problem on my 64-bit version of Windows 7.

All I can do is hit CTRL+ALT+DEL, start the task manager, log out, and hope the next login attempt works. I first noticed the problem when I installed Avast. I played around for a bit trying to fix the problem but gave up in the end.

In my case (and presumably in yours IF we have the same problem), the problem doesn't seem to be related to the video driver version I use, and I don't have any non-standard magnification, and the monitor works fine with Linux and XP at any resolution I select.

So, I think it's a bug either in Windows itself, or in one of the security programs that run automatically after login.

Windows 7 is such a dog sometimes (but at least it's not Vista)! It's probably the last version of Windows I'll buy -- I only use it for one or two apps that aren't available in Linux.

martin57

Thanks for replies Folks,


Yes it happens on both versions of windows 7 on different partitions, as I say not all the time but enough to annoy me. No my current resolution is not the native resolution, native one is so high its no good to me.


One think in common with other poster here, I have avast as well, so maybe something happening there. I just wonder did you remove avast and problem still persist?


I have reverted to a 2009 graphics driver now to see how it goes with that.


Thanks
Martin57

esuhl

martin57 wrote: »

One think in common with other poster here, I have avast as well, so maybe something happening there. I just wonder did you remove avast and problem still persist?

It did, if I remember rightly. I had a few problems installing and uninstalling Avast too (always related to Windows failing to initialise properly after user login).

When I first installed Avast (several months ago) I had problems with just about every PC I put it on -- XP, Vista and 7. The PCs were unusable so I removed it. Later versions of Avast seemed better, but I still have the issue on my Win 7 machine. (I ended up using AVG on the other PCs.)

danthemoneysavingman

have you checked the event viewer [log]? there may be a clue therein.


http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/what-information-event-logs-event-viewer#1TC=windows-7

martin57

Thanks again for that suggestion. I had a look at the event viewer and found it a bit hard to understand.


Anyways I have removed comodo firewall, and avast antivirus and replaced them with avg, and privatefirewall (anyone use it?)


As its an intermittent problem and when it does happened I just click ctrl+alt+delete and log off using task manger, and then it loads correctly.


As regards the graphics card its an AMD radeon 4600 which is a bit long on the tooth now, and if problem persisted I would try to swap it for something such as an Nvidia card between £20-40 max, to see if it would make a difference, Have changed the drivers on present card which doesn;'t seem to make a difference.


The motherboard is a Asus M4A785TD-EVO with the above AMD Radeon 4600 card.


Would be grateful for some recommendations for a replacement card probably an Nvidia within my price range £20-40 and if you think it could well make a difference?


Many thanks
Martin57