Vista black screen and cursor after login

I installed some updates for Vista Enterprise yesterday (the 10th of
October) prior to leaving the office. When I returned this morning
(the 11th), turned my machine on, I got to the Windows login screen,
was able to logon, however, instead of a desktop, I receive a black
screen with a cursor that I can move around.

I've searched the groups, google, etc, the common message seems to be
to press CTRL-ALT-DELETE and close/start explorer.exe. However, when I
press CTRL-ALT-DEL, the only options I'm given is to "Lock This
Computer", "Switch Users", "Logoff" and "Change a password". I can
also shutdown the computer. There is no option for task manager.

I've tried rebooting into Safe Mode with the same result (I see the
Safe mode banner after login, but nothing else). "Last known good
configuration" also yielded the same result (it didn't work). Enabling
Default VGA mode was the same and didn't work as well.

I am now fully locked from my computer and have no idea how to get
back. All this because of some damn Windows update (I was running
Vista fine for a few months prior to this happening).

[canarchy]

I have the same issue. I am using Vista Premium and I did the installation
yesterday.

Install USB Cumulative update in KB941600. I had the same issue with
Ultimate and after the third black screen with cursor I BSOD and it pulled
this update. I have had zero problems since.
Yea the exact same thing happened to me. I just scanned my comp and it
found no viruses, however it wouldn't connect to the internet. I was 2
feet from my router and it was on and off. so i shut down the computer
and rebooted. after i logged in, blackness with a curser. Same exact
thing with the CTR ALT DLT. no task manager. This is random. It always
worked before. Does maybe the winlogon.exe have an effect on this?

happened to me before i got everything settled, not a graphics problem
at all, and its not the explorer crash either, not exactly sure, but i
would do a system restore, and memory test from your vista startup cd,
from the cd try a startup repair program, also if u guys have attansic
NIC, that maybe the prob, vista released an update for this which pretty
much crashed your system, to correct this, remove all power, hold your
power button for 30 sec, remove your cmos battery, and boot into
safemode , and uninstall the NIC driver

I am actually having the same issue now with my laptop and Vista. However, when I try to run the new task for explorer.exe, it gives me an error message of, "C:\Windows\explorer.ese is not a valid Win32 applicaiton".

Regarding the issue with the task manager :: if you can manage to get back to a restore point were you can use your computer - you must activate your task manager (as it may have some how been disabled) the easiest way I found to fix this is through the registry. The method i found through google searches I cannot remember, but it offered a download that fixed it for me.

How ironic! That happened to me just two hours ago! The cause of my problem
(and probably your problem too) is that Windows Explorer (the program that
shows the taskbar, folders, icons, Start menu, etc.) had failed to open. Your
best solution is to:

1.) Hit CTRL+ALT+DEL
2.) Select "Start Task Manager"
3.) In "Task Manger", select "File/New Task (Run)"
4.) Type in "explorer" (being "Windows Explorer)
5.) Press ENTER.

Everything including your wallpaper should show up immediately. Let me know
if this helps!

I have the same problem.

Please note from the original post.
CTRL-ALT-DELETE brings you back to the log-on screen with the following
options:
- Lock this computer
- Switch users
- Logoff
- Change a passowrd...

Anyone found a solution to this problem yet?

I have experienced this problem too, and still haven't found a good
solution.

Manually starting explorer.exe using the task manager works for me, but
it's hardly a solution. I don't want to manually boot my computer
everytime I want to read my email, you know :)

So maybe someone can help me out with a permanent solution? Maybe the
explorer.exe somehow got erased from a file with applications to run at
startup? Or is that just silly? :D

What happened for me is the following:I had just fixed the notepad opens
everything problem using regedit going in there and deleting the problem
I rebooted once everything was fine I was on the computer for a too long
amount of time watching anime as I am a teenager lol but anyway so then
I am going to sleep and I then I open the windows media open thingy that
records your programs then it says the registry has stopped working so I
restart my computer thinking that it would be fine once it restarts and
I just force my self to sleep when I wake up I login bam black
screen.... I tried opening task manager doesnt work just has the circle
loading and then goes away so if someone can figure this out I would
appreciate it deeply

so i recently had the same problem and like it was big. but in the end
i managed to find out the problem. i used the temporary solution of
simply using CTRL + ALT + Del and then rebooted explorer. after i got it
running i started skimming through my files and programs in attempts to
find a solution. (each time you get this i believe there is a different
solution for everyone.) eventually i found a virus and i thought my
problems were solved. but much to my demise no such luck. but
unfortunately i was having an issue with y True Vector Service a.k.a
ZoneAlarm. it said it could not be started as another program was
preventing it from opening. and i got this notice often. and like it was
my main firewall. well after pondering over the meaning of this i
finally got the smarts to uninstall it. it required a reboot so i did
and it works perfectly now just as before. if any one else is have this
issue and you have zonealarm a message pops up saying zonealarm is
initializing please wait yadda yadda yadda then i suggest you remove
zonealarm and see if it works from there. if this helps please let me
know like i thought i was going to have to format my computer.

here's my fix for my Vista home premium black screen during boot.
After booting up and getting to logon screen and logging on, it goes to a
black screen. I hit alt-ctrl-delete to bring up the task manager option.
When task manager comes up I go to the run option and type explorer.exe and
the computer finishes booting. The permanent fix is going to the registry
and changing this: remove C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\ntndis.exe from
KEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows
NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\Shell\explorer.exe
C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\ntndis.exe

have been stuck with this for a few days and really it is a very simple
solution, providing you can get explore to run.
Look in the root directory of the "C" drive at a file called "wialog" this
is a text file that records the service that fail to load and most likely
will show you the root cause.
In the recent update there was (for me) an update for the flat bed scanner.
This showed up as failing to load.
Therefore, right click on the "Computer" drive, select properties and then
device manager and unistall the offending hardware.
Windows should now re-boot ok.

1- Reboot your system in SAFE mode (by pressing F8)
2- go to Control Panel
3- go to Administrative Tools
4- Run Local Security Policy
5-select Local Policies
6- select security option
7- right click every option
8- choose properties
9- select Explain tab
10 - find "DEFAULT:..." line
11- set the option value to this Default value is written.
12 - do it for all options
13- reboot your system
14- Your system will be returned

[bloodlust25]

for people that could log in to their accounts but connot see the "start task manager" option during ctrl+alt+del, theres another shortcut for opening task manager...try ctrl+shft+esc...

also have the same problem... im running a dual boot system... both windows vista ultimate...
i cant see my logon screen when logging in my 1st OS (my original OS)...i only see the bootscreen or the progress bar of the bootscreen...right after that, just a black background and a movable cursor...

but when i logon to my 2nd OS (my emergency OS), i can log in succesfully...actually im accessing the internet through this 2nd OS...

i already tried alot of things...
-vista startup repair that came with my vista dvd
-system restore through vista dvd, it did not find any restore points
-safe mode (all types of modes), still the same... same black screen...
-command prompt through vista dvd then performed:
>bootrec /mbr
>bootrec /fixboot
>bootrec /rebuildbcd
-also tried unplugging my 2nd HDD wherein my 2nd OS is installed, but no luck

OBSERVATIONS:
-in my 2nd OS, when i enable UAC then reboot, i cannot access the files on the drive of my original OS...
-but with UAC disabled, i can see all my files and documents of my original OS...
(this proves that it isnt a HDD problem)

if this was a videocard driver problem, how can i uninstall or revert the drivers that i have updated?
i also remember installing acronis true image home and defraggler before all these happened...

[ericxmano]

I seem to have the same problem which started yesterday on my Toshiba laptop with Vista home premium. The thing is nothing happens when I do Ctl+Alt+Del it is still black. I have even tried starting with the recovery disc which came with laptop but to no avail. Does anyone have any idea?

WOW thank You so much i worked wow! i was about to send my comp off to Dell when i managed to open up firefox and look this up.

Another Question ........ Why did explorer fail in the first place?

I have tried this but still can not get pass the black screen, but i get the mouse not the cursor flashing

It is a dell inspiron 6400

I am getting a black screen with the mouse pointer not the cursor flashing. You can move the mouse., but when I Ctrl Alt delete nothing happens

All I need to know is how to get rid of this black screen

I'm having the same problem, I boot up Vista, I get the logo and the little jingle, then when I get to the login screen that does not appear and instead its just a black screen with the cursor.

I've tried ctrl-alt-del, I get nothing.
I've tried ctrl-shft-esc, I get nothing.

I have a packard bell- and I tried the system restore at startup. When I did that, the login screen DID flash up momentarily the first time I booted up after the restore.

However, the screen soon went black again and allows me to do NOTHING. Any help is appreciated!

First turn off your laptop. wait for 5 mins. then remove your battery from the back. put it again. then restart. it hapnds again like black screen and cursor. do one thing. press CTRL + ALT + DELETE wait for few mins. it will ask your password. then it will boot automatically. after done this. please restart again your laptop. there you go.

Those must have fallen off the server in Outlook Express and the ISP I use.
I don't do Google groups- OE is so much easier.
I stand corrected- I didn't see the earlier posts.

i don't use Google Groups either... except to lookup a thread when
some bozo posts a reply without quoting, and I can't find the thread
in the two weeks of posts I keep here.

I seen this before because either your primary partition or logical
partition have error, and Vista try to check it before fully boot.
Also if you have an external HD it also had slow it down too. If you
have a second HD or External HD, then either unplug or turn off before
boot. It happen to me last month, and I was able to correct by doing
this.

I had the same problem, black screen and a cursor. I tried the following:
1) Upgrading vista, nope
2) Repairing with DVD, nope
3) Restore point, nope
4) Testing memory, Told me mem was bad. This was the root cause of my BSODS which eventually lead to my corrupted registry and finally black screen w/cursor.
5) Ctrl alt delete@black screen, no workie.
6) chkdsk /f /r -fixed....just kidding

So I gave up and decided to backup my files and prepare for clean install. Using a usb hard disk enclosure I removed the drive from the pc and plugged the drive into my laptop. It came up but when I tried to access the drive it said access denied! a permissions issue...

At this point do the following:
1) right click the drive, click properties.
2) Find the security tab
3) Add everyone with full control
4) Click apply
5) ignore any errors
6) Put drive back into pc

The solution turned out to be to modify the user account control (UAC)
to stop blacking out the screen. As soon as I changed this setting so it
was disabled, I was able to log in successfully to the "nuked" login
even after a reboot. The rest of this post covers how to do this, but I
must warn you it means the security settings are changed on your
computer as a result and this may have negative consequences. You have
been warned ... :)

This works on Windows Vista Business, which is what I have installed.
It may or may not work on other editions of Windows Vista. This may also
not necessarily fix the black screen after login issue for you.

Open up the Microsoft Management Console by pressing the windows key +
R to bring up the run dialog, enter "mmc" into the box.

You'll be prompted by UAC to continue. Click "Continue". From the
management console main menu, select "File" then "Add/Remove Snap-in".
Locate the "Group Policy Object" and click the "Add" button.

Another dialog will appear. Just click the "Finish" button and then
"OK".

The console root in the left side will now show a "Local Computer"
option. Expand this, then "Computer Configuration" then "Windows
Settings" then "Security Settings" then "Local Policies" then click on
"Security Options.

Once you have clicked the "Security Options" icon, the right pane will
show a whole bunch of options. Scroll to the bottom until you find the
one named "User Account Control: Switch to the secure desktop when
prompting for elevation". Double-click it.

Change it to "Disabled" and then click "OK". You can now exit the
management console and you will no longer get that black screen when UAC
prompts you to do something. In my case it means that when I log into my
user account I get a regular desktop instead of the black screen of
death! It's kind of odd that this is what was causing the issue but I'm
glad it has fixed it.

[M4RT]

Hii... I have same probs with that things.. i already login and its shown black screen and cursor.. the big things is i couldn't entered task manager even hit ctrl+alt+del or ctrl+shift+esc. Its totally hung... Can somebody help me please...

[xCfZz]

@ TheTechSupportGeek

thank so much just happened to me after a dodgy download, tried what you said and it worked! where would we be without nerds =]

[tempLogin]

I tried as many of the things on this page as I could (group settings not available in Home Premium). In my case (working on a friend's laptop), I had tried the ctrl-alt-del in windows and safemode but nothing ever showed up.

Then I went into safe mode with command prompt so I could run chkdsk. It said it would do it on reboot, but with no taskbar I couldn't hit restart, so I tried ctrl-alt-delete and it gave me the screen to select task mgr.
I hit File/New Task and noticed msconfig was the last thing that had been run (it was listed). I typed in explorer and it brought up the desktop.
Then I ran msconfig and someone had set it to selective start and load system services was the only thing checkmarked.
I set it to normal startup, rebooted, and it worked.

[commo81]

I run windows 7 professional x86. ironically, I get to windows login, and then after that, the screen goes black and I only see the mouse. I cannot ctrl+alt+delete. I must reset computer, go to safe mode, and sys restore to fix, but it keeps happening. This started right after I removed that nasty "privacy Protection" virus that s going around. It is actually the Blasterworm virus. If you need to remove it go to gridinsoft and download their "trojan Killer!"

Right now, I am running windows malicious software removal tool to ensure all of the virus is removed.