Bonza Mobile Computer Repairs

My computer won’t boot, and it has a Black Screen.
OH NO , NOT THE BLACK SCREEN OF DEATH!

We’ve had so many callouts to fix black screen problems lately, it’s time to talk about it in case people are still saying it’s related to Windows 7 or Microsoft’s own Security updates. Apparently, worldwide, millions of Windows 7 PC users had inoperable machines suffering from the dreaded Black Screen of Death after upgrading.

In late 2009 a rogue company in the UK broadcasted to the world that the Black Screen of Death was caused by Microsoft’s new Operating System and security updates and it could affect Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7 without prejudice. They were wrong! They have since apologised to Microsoft who investigated the issue and reported that the problem may be tied to malicious software, or malware possibly related to the Daonol family of Trojans.

The term “black screen of death” is not new, it’s actually a term regularly used to describe any sort of crash on a range of devices, including iPhones, but everyone knows that when you’re talking about Blue Screen, you mean Windows……Any Windows user is familiar with the Blue Screen of Death, that white text on a blue background which essentially means “that’s it, it’s stuffed!”  The new contender hysterically referred to as the Black Screen of Death causes people to assume it’s related.

Does it compare to the Blue Screen of Death? Nope, they are entirely different problems. The Blue Screen of Death represents hardware or driver failure, meaning something is wrong deep within the computer. The Black Screen of Death has relatively easy fixes and doesn’t necessarily mean there is something wrong with your equipment.  So if you’re considering uninstalling Windows 7, don’t bother, you won’t dodge a bullet.

Some common causes for a computer to have a black screen at bootup.

It could be a virus. As always, make sure your computer is up to date on Windows and anti-spyware and anti-virus software.

Overheating or a power supply problem can cause your computer to crash and revert to a black screen.

Bad drivers for any hardware on your system can cause the machine to crash or go to a black screen without warning.

The video card or display adaptor is failing. Sometimes you might see tell-tale signs of a deteriorating video card by lines appearing or flashing on the screen. It could be your video drivers. The complex software used to control the video card can also have a bug, or crash in such a way that the screen goes black. Usually you’ll see some kind of visible message when it crashes. It could also be the video card in your PC is overheating. Making sure you have the latest drivers always makes sense.

The RAM is not seated correctly or is damaged. If you get black screen only sometimes, you boot up and it doesn’t work but you go back in an hour and it has miraculously fixed itself is a sign your ram is on the way out.

It might be incompatible hardware.  If you’ve tried to install or upgrade hardware yourself it can cause problems because the components you’ve used are not compatible with others in your system.  Static electricity can damage components, so it’s always better to get an experienced computer repair technician to install the upgrade for you.

A corrupted Boot Sector. If your computer was taking forever to go through the boot sequence and you decided to turn the thing off  half way through and then started it again, this can cause damage to boot sectors. Never turn off the computer when it is half way through the boot procedure.

It could be the CPU is not seated correctly. If you’ve moved your computer recently, sometimes the CPU can become dislodged.

It might just be your monitor! A simple way to determine if it’s just the monitor, play some audio on your computer, your mp3 play list, for example. If the monitor goes black, but the music continues to play, you know that the computer is running, and that the problem is either the video card, video drivers, the monitor or the cables in between.

IT’S VITAL YOU KEEP UP TO DATE
If  it’s true that the black screen of death is caused by some variant of the Daonol family of Trojans, then it makes sense that anti-malware software will protect your PC. Most malware exploits known vulnerabilities for which patches already exist. One of the best defences against malware of all kinds is to simply ensure that your operating system and your applications have the latest patches the minute they’re released.

Whatever the cause of your black screen and bootup problems, it’s time for hands-on diagnosis by your local Bonza technician.

Tags: black screen, black screen of death, computer black screen, computer won't boot, microsoft, microsoft updates, security patches, windows 7