Windows 7 Logging in to Black Screen !

SoundsGreat

SoundsGreat

Disciple
Hi,

Guys I have this very very peculiar and Pain in the A$$ problem !!

I have windows 7 Ultimate,The problem is 3 days back I shutdown the system as usual and the next day when I started the PC it wouldn't start !! Went on a restart cycle,I ran recovery console and was able to repair this.

After that it boots up and everything is normal until the LOGON screen,Instead of a logon screen all I get is a Black Screen with mouser cursor !

Tried everything from chkdsk to repair to everything possible, I started digging deep and there are some issues,
  1. System Restore has been disable (not able to run in recovery mode)
  2. Not able to access the if I connect it to any other working comp,get the error "Drive Not Accessible,Access Denied"
  3. The Most important and according to me this is THE problem,Somehow something is rewriting the Shell at Logon,Instead of Explorer.exe the Shell command is set to CMD.exe /K Cmd.exe

I tried doing all I can to undo this registry error but in vain,No matter what I do it changes back to the above after reboot !

Have tried scanning for viruses,none found !! Used kaspersky Rescue disk and such including active disk !!

Even Tried the same using GEEK SQUAD's MRI disk which contains no less then 6 Anitvirus programms ! No Virus found at all !!

Am left with no options,hence trying here to see if someone has some clue.

Regards.
 
Exactly SAME thing happened with me except for the mouse cursor , mine would only give black screen , later found out that the RAM was the culprit . But am not sure what the problem in your case , HDD or something else. But hey why dont you borrow a RAM from your friend and check once .
 
Hi,

have you tried reinstalling OS?
Click to expand...

As in format ?? No,Don't want to format and reinstall !! I want to solve this problem and do not wish to format.

Exactly SAME thing happened with me except for the mouse cursor , mine would only give black screen , later found out that the RAM was the culprit . But am not sure what the problem in your case , HDD or something else. But hey why dont you borrow a RAM from your friend and check once .
Click to expand...

No buddy its not RAM related as the shell loading and like I've mentioned it has something to do with the reset of the shell to command, so how to revert it to explorer is what I need to figure.

Besides I did try to swap the ram from second pc from which Am typing this with the RAM from the problematic system ! So RAM's are perfect !

Anybody ??

Regards.
 
Bro,

DId you try logging into safe mode and try creating another administrator and try logging in from there? Do let me know if this works.
 
SoundsGreat said:
As in format ?? No,Don't want to format and reinstall !! I want to solve this problem and do not wish to format.
Click to expand...

Format & Reinstall is best option! Backup ur data and reinstall Win7

Was ur Win7 completely updated? Cause my OS was installed at end of 2009 and havnt had any problems yet for more than 2yrs coz of regular updates!
 
Happens to me very often.

All you need to do is,

Ctrl + Alt + Delete together

Log Off current user

Once logged off. Log in Again.

Never has this failed for me.

Happens very to me , but this always works.

Reinstalling the OS may help but only temporarily, it might repeat itself in the future. And this doesn't really call for an OS reinstall if you know the way around it
<
 
Hi,

Bro,

DId you try logging into safe mode and try creating another administrator and try logging in from there? Do let me know if this works.
Click to expand...

No such luck buddy,same thing happens in safe mode,directory services mode or any other mode including Last Know Good Config

Format & Reinstall is best option! Backup ur data and reinstall Win7

Was ur Win7 completely updated? Cause my OS was installed at end of 2009 and havnt had any problems yet for more than 2yrs coz of regular updates!
Click to expand...

Thanks but No thanks,I won't reinstall for this silly problem !! Its updated to the last day (Am also guessing this could be the problem as some have faced this sort of problem after win updates )

Happens to me very often.

All you need to do is,

Ctrl + Alt + Delete together

Log Off current user

Once logged off. Log in Again.

Never has this failed for me.

Happens very to me , but this always works.
Click to expand...

My friend if only things were this simple
<
!! No such luck,Crtl+ALT+Del does nothing so does Crtl+Alt+Esc or any such combo.

Reinstalling the OS may help but only temporarily, it might repeat itself in the future. And this doesn't really call for an OS reinstall if you know the way around it
Click to expand...

Very true and I will find a way out and will not absolutely format and reinstall !!

Folks Please look into the Shell at logon comment of mine and think,Am positive that's the root cause and somehow thats what needs to be rectified !!

Regards.
 
  • The Most important and according to me this is THE problem,Somehow something is rewriting the Shell at Logon,Instead of Explorer.exe the Shell command is set to CMD.exe /K Cmd.exe
Click to expand...

make it only cmd.exe

delete the CMD.exe /K from the path. maybe virus. if it does not go, make it /C instead of /K.
 
Hi,

make it only cmd.exe

delete the CMD.exe /K from the path. maybe virus. if it does not go, make it /C instead of /K.
Click to expand...

No such luck mate,No matter what I change that to,when it reboots the same command is reverted or it resets what I change back to cmd.exe /k cmd.exe !!

Am not sure of virus as I've mentioned earlier I've run no less then 6 antivirus program's and none picked up anything !!

The Strange part is, on a working system if you put the above code in shell at logon it comes up with a command prompt with black screen,So why Am I not getting that command prompt ??

Did you try taking a look at this?
Click to expand...

Yes I did,its of no help either as they all are getting one or the other,as in they are able to use Crtl+All+Del to bring task manager or use command prompt or some of them are able to access via safe mode !! None of which is happening to me !

Thanks for all the idea's folks,but the problem still persists !

Regards.
 
If the ram is not problematic then its difficult for me to understand .

May be your motherboard is faulty , ram slots might be having a problem

As you have a spare system , why dont u try switching motherboards if that aint too big a task for you .
 
use a linux live cd-rom /pen drive and see whether you get full gui. can work on windows system files from there if required using console too.
 
seems like a botched system restore. did the comp shutdown suddenly or was it forcible restarted during system restore?

also why don't you want to reinstall windows again? i cant understand why you would want to sit with a non functioning pc for such a long time. reinstalling would take just 30 mins at most. if you have a disc backup with acronis or other program, then even that would work and would be much faster than reinstalling.
 
Hi,

May be your motherboard is faulty , ram slots might be having a problem

As you have a spare system , why dont u try switching motherboards if that aint too big a task for you .
Click to expand...

Its not the RAM or the Motherboard coz I can run Linux Live CD just fine and so can I run Multiple Live CD's without any issue (Including a Windows 7 Based Active Disc)

Use Hiren boot CD to unclock the default administrator account.

Afaik it could be due to a corrupt profile. (ntuser.dat)
Click to expand...

No Such luck !! Am not sure that its the profile thats the issue.

seems like a botched system restore. did the comp shutdown suddenly or was it forcible restarted during system restore?
Click to expand...

I shut down the system the usual way at night so no sudden shutdown or such ! I never tried to use the restore.

also why don't you want to reinstall windows again? i cant understand why you would want to sit with a non functioning pc for such a long time. reinstalling would take just 30 mins at most. if you have a disc backup with acronis or other program, then even that would work and would be much faster than reinstalling.
Click to expand...

No disrespect mate but why should any simple problem in Windows be automatic be dealt with an Format and reinstall ??? isn't rectifying a problem a far better and logical option ?? Also whats guarantee that it won't crop up again ?? if it does what ? Reinstall again ?? when and where will this end ??

Please understand the point,Yes its painful to sit and bang your head but at least you'll what to do the next time this happens !!

Anyways I dug deeper and found more bout this, The Registry is all F***Up, in the same HKLM> System> Setup the values all changed, These are Values

"CmdLine"="winpeshl.exe"

"RestartSetup"=dword:00000000

"OsLoaderPath"="\\"

"SetupType"=dword:00000000

"SystemSetupInProgress"=dword:00000001

"FactoryPreInstallInProgress"=dword:00000001

This is how a Working PC's (my other PC) System looks like

"OsLoaderPath"="\\"

"RestartSetup"=dword:00000000

"SetupType"=dword:00000000

"SystemPartition"="\\Device\\HarddiskVolume3"

"SystemSetupInProgress"=dword:00000000

"SetupPhase"=dword:00000000

"CmdLine"=""

"OOBEInProgress"=dword:00000000

"WorkingDirectory"="C:\\Windows\\Panther"

"CloneTag"=hex(7):4d,00,6f,00,6e,00,20,00,4a,00,75,00,6c,00,20,00,31,00,33,00,\

20,00,32,00,31,00,3a,00,35,00,35,00,3a,00,35,00,33,00,20,00,32,00,30,00,30,\

00,39,00,00,00,00,00

So again there is a big change !! its set to load windows PE Shell Winpeshl.exe)at start up which usually used for deploying remote install or used to run a specific program or command !! at first I thought this is the rouge program that's set to run which is causing the issue but reading a bit on that revealed that its not !

So need to set these things right,Which I will eventually by hook or crook !!

Also posting all this so that this serves as a Blog to folks who might run into this problem and are looking for some solution !

This is the Extract from the from technet on how to...

Code: 
The boot process of Windows PE is as follows.

   1. The boot sector on the particular media is loaded. Control is passed to Bootmgr. Bootmgr extracts basic boot information from the Boot Configuration Data (BCD) and passes control to winload.exe that is contained in Boot.wim. Winload.exe then loads the appropriate Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL), and loads the System registry hive and necessary boot drivers. After it finishes loading, it prepares the environment to execute the kernel, Ntoskrnl.exe.

	  noteNote

	  If you start Windows PE from read-only media such as a CD, Windows PE stores the registry hives in memory so that applications can write to the registry. Any changes made to the registry by the applications do not persist across different Windows PE sessions.

   2. Ntoskrnl.exe is executed and finishes the environment setup. Control is passed to the Session Manager (SMSS).

   3. SMSS loads the rest of the registry, configures the environment to run the Win32 subsystem (Win32k.sys) and its various processes. SMSS loads the Winlogon process to create the user session, and then starts the services and the rest of the non-essential device drivers and the security subsystem (LSASS).

   4. Winlogon.exe runs setup based on the registry value HKLM\SYSTEM\Setup\CmdLine. Winpeshl.exe will launch %SYSTEMDRIVE%\sources\setup.exe if it exists, otherwise it looks for an application specified in %SYSTEMROOT%\system32\winpeshl.ini. If no application is specified, Winpeshl.exe will execute cmd /k %SYSTEMROOT%\system32\startnet.cmd. By default, Windows PE contains a Startnet.cmd file which will launch Wpeinit.exe. Wpeinit.exe loads network resources and coordinates with networking components like DHCP.

   5. When Wpeinit.exe completes, the Command Prompt window is displayed. The boot process of Windows PE is complete.

If you notice its very similar to my case where the Winlogon is set Cmd.exe /k Cmd.exe

So now can some do rest ??

Regards
 
^ chill. looking at what you posted i'm sure your os files went bad. just put the windows disk into the drive and see if it starts loading drivers etc from the disc. the /K means, its still searching for the process to execute which might be on your windows dvd.

try repairing the os from the installation dvd.
 
Hi,

^ chill. looking at what you posted i'm sure your os files went bad. just put the windows disk into the drive and see if it starts loading drivers etc from the disc.

try repairing the os from the installation dvd.
Click to expand...

Buddy I've already posted that the basic repair,restore and all the basic steps have failed !! So I need some other solution.

the /K means, its still searching for the process to execute which might be on your windows dvd.
Click to expand...

Again,yes the /K means a process,but in my case its followed by the process to execute which is cmd.exe thus the following key at the registry " cmd.exe /K cmd.exe" !! if it were only cmd.exe /k and blank then perhaps there would've been some other process but here its clearly mentioned !

Any other thing you noticed ?? what bout why the windows PE Shell is set to load ? Also why the heck its not retaining any changes that I make using the regedit command in repair mode (both Via Install disc and f8 repair mode) !

Secondly why is the partition locked up ?? as I mentioned earlier,the windows 7 partition is locked when tried to access from a working PC, I get a Access Denied error message.

Regards.
 
hi 'soundsgreat',

dude, i too am facing similar problem. no safe mode works. my reg values are similar to yours.
Im also not much inclined towards reinstalling os.
Is ur problem solved? what did u do?
 
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