# Black Screen!!!!



## llv17 (Aug 28, 2014)

Hi,

I have a windows 8 Toshiba satellite laptop and I keep getting the reoccurring Black Screen!!!!. I will power on my laptop and the start up Toshiba logo will come on, and then after a min or 2 the screen will turn black and nothing else will happen. I have tried taking out the battery and holding down the power button for 60 seconds and re-inserting the battery but, nothing happened. 

Any help will be great and very appreciated!


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## spunk.funk (May 13, 2010)

Please update your profile under your name, it still says Windows XP. 
Do you have a black screen with a blinking white cursor? If so, the HDD may be damaged or maybe just the boot file. 
Do you have a Windows install media? (ie) DVD or USB Flash?
If not, hold down the *Shift *key and restart the computer, You may have to do this 2 or 3 times. This should take you to the TroubleShooting menu where you can try Startup Repair, System Restore,or Restore the computer to Factory settings.


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## llv17 (Aug 28, 2014)

Hi spunk.funk 

Np I can update my profile...and no I do not have a black screen with a blinking white cursor and, yes I do have the Windows install media (on usb)


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## spunk.funk (May 13, 2010)

When you boot the computer, do you get the Toshiba Splash screen? and then does it go black, or is it black all the time? 
Have you tried hooking up an external monitor? 
If you get the splash screen, press *F2 *at the point to enter Setup (Bios)
If you get that far, boot off of the Windows installer, choose your Language, and then *Repair Your Computer.*


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## llv17 (Aug 28, 2014)

When I boot the computer, I do get a Toshiba splash screen. And after the Toshiba splash screen, it goes to the black screen and i cannot do anything after that. I have not tried hooking up an external monitor( I do not know how to do that). And when I try to boot off Windows Installer the screen goes black.


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## spunk.funk (May 13, 2010)

At the Splash Screen, press *F2* to go into *Setup* (Bios) Does that work? 
Go to the* Boot* tab, using your Enter and Arrow key, _Move_ the USB drive to First Boot Device._ Save and Exit_.


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## llv17 (Aug 28, 2014)

Yes, I am able to go into Setup (BIOS). and I have done what you stated to do.


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## spunk.funk (May 13, 2010)

OK, in the Bios, at the *Boot *tab, if you changed the USB Flash drive to_ First Boot device_, Saved and Exited, and restarted with the USB Flash drive in, it should have booted with the Flash drive.
In the Windows installer, choose your language and* Repair Your Computer*.


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## llv17 (Aug 28, 2014)

I did everything you stated, I restarted the laptop with the usb in the laptop but nothing happened. The screen just stays black.


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## spunk.funk (May 13, 2010)

Please walk me thru it step by step. Just telling me you did everything doesn't help me.
Did you boot into Setup (Bios)? 
Did you go to the *Boot* Tab? What is listed there? Does it say *UEFI Bios* or *Legacy *Bios? If _UEFI Bios_, you would need to change it to *Legacy *to recognize the USB drive.
With the USB Flash drive in, Did you move it to_ First Boot Device_? 
Did you Save and Exit? You can also press* F12* at bootup to do a one time change of boot order
When you start your computer, it should ask you to press Any Key to boot from USB, Does it do that? Does the Windows installer load? If not, try the USB drive on another computer, make sure it boots that computer.


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## llv17 (Aug 28, 2014)

Ok.

1- I changed the usb option in safe mode from number 2 to the number 1 boot device. (I did save and exit)

2- I restarted the laptop with the usb drive in the laptop

3- Nothing happened after i restarted the laptop, meaning the Toshiba splash screen came on, and the little circle went around in a circle several times, and then the screen went blank (black).


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## spunk.funk (May 13, 2010)

_Safe Mode _does not give you the option to Change the Boot order. Safe Mode is booting into Windows with just the basic drivers. 
Only by Pressing *F2* at bootup and Entering *Setup* (Bios) can you get to the* Boot* Tab. Is this what you mean?
Alternatively, You can press *F12* at Bootup to do a one time change of Boot Here. _Move_ the USB Flash Drive to First Boot Device. Is that what you mean? You can also choose to do the Diagnostics from the *F12* menu. 
Again, try your USB Windows installer on another computer to make sure it works and boots that computer. 
You can also hold down the *Shift *key when booting and that should lead you to the *Troubleshooting* menu. You may have to restart holding *Shift* key and boot 3 times to get it. 
If you get confused with the terminology or need extra guidance, upload pictures taken with smart phone.


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## manhattanman (Nov 25, 2007)

I've experienced a black screen like you describe, but in Vista, not 8. It was solved with a System Restore. Take it back to before you experienced the black screen and see if that solves the problem. Incidentally, I also have a Toshiba Satellite Radius w/8.1, but haven't experienced a black screen with it (yet).


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## forrest216 (Aug 7, 2007)

I recently had a similar problem with a WIN 10 machine. I am convinced it was the result of a Windows update.
I believe that windows was fully booting - just not displaying on the screen. None of the fixes I tried worked, including replacing display adaptor drivers etc.
The only way I could resolve the problem was to let it boot fully (no more HDD activity) Press CTRL+ALT+DELETE, go into Task manager, create a new user with admin privileges, reboot.
When it rebooted, the 'new' desktop appeared. Copied all the shortcuts etc from the old user desktop folder to the new user folder and all was good.
Hope this helps.


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## squalormite (Oct 11, 2007)

Just to approach this from another direction....

I've had laptops that have both on-board graphics as well a discreet graphics card. These machines are used for presentations and take advantage of having multiple video outputs in order to run both slides to the screen and notes to a confidence monitor in front of the presenter.

For some reason - whether some setting that got changed by a user or an update that confused things - the laptop will default to using the on-board graphics card (usually spitting a signal out of a VGA port) as the main display.

When I get a black screen with a cursor upon boot, I will blindly hit a key to enter the password entry mode, then type in my password. The machine will log-in and I'll have desktops on all monitors.

At this point, it's a turkey shoot on how to eliminate the behavior...I never remember how I disable this behavior. It's either disabling the on-board graphics in Setup, or...something. It takes a bit of poking around but I can usually solve the issue by disabling on-board graphics.

But blindly entering your password usually gets me past this inconvenience.

HTH.


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## spunk.funk (May 13, 2010)

If the laptop is set to run off of the onboard VGA (onboard graphics) then there is a Function key at the top with an icon of a monitor, hold down the *FN* key and this key to toggle between displays. 
Usually this port does not become active unless there is a monitor/projector plugged into it.


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