# (URGENT) Black Screen after Windows Update! (Windows 8.1 Laptop)



## debesht (May 25, 2020)

Hey guys. So, last night before I went to sleep, there was a Windows Update on my laptop (my laptop is Windows 8.1). The update was pretty big as it said there were 128 updates for my laptop. After the updates were installed on my laptop, it asked to restart my laptop. However, I noticed a small text below the "Restart PC" option which said "Updates failed". This somewhat worried me, but I thought that since the "Restart PC" option popped up, it must be ok. I left the laptop on overnight and let my laptop restart with the updates installed. I wake up this morning to find my laptop powered on. I log into my laptop and am greeted with a black screen with just my cursor showing. Surprised, I thought that my laptop was just being slow again, so I gave it a couple of minutes. Still, it showed the black screen with my cursor. I force turned it off (since I couldn't access the "Turn PC Off" option due to the black screen) and tried logging in again. Same black screen showed up. I went on my phone and tried searching for the problem online. I tried Ctrl + Alt + Delete and accessing the Task Manager, but it didn't work. I tried accessing the safe mode (it took me almost 20 minutes just trying to go there because my Acer laptop requires me to press Shift + Restart button on the log in screen to access Safe Mode and other Advanced Options) but it gave me the SAME black screen with cursor. I tried Safe Mode with Networking and Safe Mode with Command Prompt. None of them worked. I tried running Startup Repair and they said there was some problem with my disk and they tried scanning and repairing it, but it did not work either. Lastly, I tried running System Restore. The first time it did not work due to the "disk" problem. The second time, everything was going well but at last, it said that my antivirus (Norton) did not allow the System Restore. Now, what can I do? I've looked up everywhere and I've found a forum post that tells the EXACT same problem, even down to the last detail. However, they got it fixed by accessing Ctrl + Alt + Delete and the Task Manager, but I cannot do that. Is there a way to get Safe Mode to work so I can disable my antivirus and let the System Restore work? This is the laptop that I use to do my schoolwork, so a quick response would be really helpful. Thank you in advance!


My laptop is Acer Aspire E 15 if that helps.


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## Corday (Mar 3, 2010)

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10
Probably not the answer you're looking for, but it and not using any 3rd party AV will not only solve the problem for now, but also for the long haul. The update to Windows 10 is still free.


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## spunk.funk (May 13, 2010)

Restart you Acer laptop and keep pressing the *ALT*+*F10 *keys. this will give you the Troubleshooting menu You can choose Safe Mode, if that doesn't work, you can Reset This PC. This will set it back to Factory Defaults. You may have a choice of keeping your files.
As Stated, If all else fails, we strongly suggest, on an Internet Computer, downloading the Windows 10 ISO image that was linked in the previous post. Burn it to a USB Flash Drive with the *Media Creation Tool.* from the same page. Put the Flash drive into the troubled laptop and boot off of that. Choose Your Language, then _Custom Install._ In _Where to Install Windows_, Delete _*ALL*_ Partitions so the drive is *Unallocated Space,* then press *Next*. Windows will create partitions and format them during the_ Clean _Install of Windows 10.


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## Rhcp1 (Apr 19, 2020)

Use the steps in this link to get to the advanced boot options menu on startup and boot using the "last known good configuration" 
https://neosmart.net/wiki/booting-into-last-known-good-configuration/

Maybe also try booting with VGA mode but idk if that is a possible solution considering you can see your cursor. May be worth a shot.


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