Cycling Blank Screens - Cause?

[Hopeless]

I have an all-in-one, touch screen Acer PC. Recently, at the end of a 'receive updates and shut down' sequence, the PC started to display a repeating cycle of grey, black, blue and coloured stripe screens, which I can't break into. The cycle returns (after Windows starts to open) after switching poiwer off and back on.

 

After the switch off/on, I can open Windows in safe mode, and then try to restore the system to how it was a few days ago via the Restore function. This appears to work, in that it runs and automatically shuts down and reopens Windows successfully as normal. At the end, however, it displays an error message saying it didn't delete updates, and when I next close and reopen the PC, the coloured screen cycles return.

 

Having no technical skills whatever, I don't even know what the problem is. As it started after updates, it could be an update problem, and I think I remember seeing Intel Display as the title of one of the recent updates. On the other hand, it could be some kind of virus, although my Norton Anti-Virus hasn't indicated anything wrong.

 

I'm hoping that someone can tell me:

 

1. Whether I'm dealing with problematic updates, some form of malware, or something else.
   
2. How to fix whatever it is (in the simplest way, given my general IT ignorance)
   

I'd be very grateful for some help.

[Dalo Harkin]

Do you have any disks, or a recovery partition on the device?

 

If you keep pressing F8 as the PC boots, you should get the safe mode etc options, as well as last known good configuration (try this one)

 

There can be problematic updates, but they normally become problematic when the PC is turned off when doing the updates

[Hopeless]

Do you have any disks, or a recovery partition on the device?

 

If you keep pressing F8 as the PC boots, you should get the safe mode etc options, as well as last known good configuration (try this one)

 

There can be problematic updates, but they normally become problematic when the PC is turned off when doing the updates

 

 

Don't know what the disks/recovery partition thing means exactly (clearly, you didn't believe me when I effectively said I was an idiot). I'll give the F8 thing a go, though, and see what transpires.

 

I'm also wondering if there's a manual way of deleting the recent updates, in case they're duff in some way. Maybe I can then manually download them again from the Microsoft site, or wherever in the ether they come from.

 

Thanks for the help.

[Plastic Nev]

Hi, in your first post you said that you managed to get into safe mode, F8 will have been the key to get there from first turning power on and before Windows starts to open.

 

If you can then use system restore to some time before getting those updates, and then open Windows normally, this should have returned your computer to the condition it was at before and now without those updates there.

 

If the recycling business starts again after that, then it is something else responsible and not the updates.

 

When this computer was new were you at any time prompted to create system restore or recovery disks?

If not there should be a system restore and hopefully also a system repair facility, this is normally accessed in Windows7 from the system restore and recovery panel.

Let us know how you get on and we can hopefully guide you through a repair of the system if it proves necessary.

Nev.

[Hopeless]

To update and re-cap:

 

A normal switch on/boot always results in the blank screen cycling which is impossible to break into.

 

Opening Windows in safe mode is possible, and my PC doesn't seem to revert to the blank screens at all when in safe mode.

 

When I use Windows System Recovery function to try to restore things back to how they were (and when I didn't lie awake at night worrying about all this), it beavers away for a while and shuts down and re-boots the machine apparently successfully - ie no blank screen cycling. Unfortunately it displays an error message (0xc000003a, or similar) and says it couldn't delete files, and after a few minutes of normal operation, the screen cycling tends to resume for no particular reason.

 

I've run a full system scan with a Miicrosoft malware remover I downloaded, and also a full scan with Norton, and neither showed up any problems. I'm therefore assuming that it can't be a virusy thing, unless it's a CIA level one, which I can reasonably discount.

 

If I go to the Installed Windows Updates bit of Control Panel to try and manually uninstall stuff that arrived around last week (when this all started), there's nothing at all dated after 5th Jan. This is despite the fact that the Recovery screen shows Windows Critical updates having arrived almost every day. No idea whether this means I'm misunderstanding something or there's something up with the PC.

All-in-all, my very limited technical skills and knowledge are pretty well exhausted, leaving me completely stumped. (I have a vague feeling I should have made a system backup disk at some point, but didn't).

 

Confused, stressed and out of ideas.

Edited February 10, 2011 by Hopeless

[RandyL]

If this is an update problem maybe going back to an earlier date might help. In System Restore there is a button to show earlier restore points. It's easily overlooked. Keep in mind that any restore done in safemode cannot be undone.