Laptop keeps on displaying blank screen

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geek84
geek84 Registered Posts: 568 Epic contributor 🐘
in Chat and off-topic discussion
Hi Folks

Every time I turn my laptop on, after booting up, it displays a blank black screen with a white arrow in the middle. Nothing else happens after that.

I have tried restarting and taking out the battery etc, but the problem is still there.

Could someone be kind enough to advice what I need to do?

Thanks in advance for your responses.

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  • Jo Clark
    Jo Clark Registered Posts: 2,525 Beyond epic contributor 🧙‍♂️
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    Hello Manjinder

    Have you recently installed a new piece of software or upgraded/updated an exisiting piece?

    You could try and start you machine in safe mode.

    Not sure what else to say at the moment - could you provide details regarding what operating system you are using etc. and whether you see any data etc. on the screen when it is booting up, i.e. can you logon but then you see nothing or you can't even logon to the machine.


    JC
    ~ An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest ~
    Benjamin Franklin
  • CeeJaySix
    CeeJaySix Registered Posts: 645
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    Make sure you haven't got a USB or CD in that the computer's trying to boot to. It should give you an error message if you have, but I've seen it before.

    Try and start in safe mode - as soon as you turn the computer on, tap F8 a few times, you should get a menu with different start up options. If you get into Safe Mode, back up all your personal stuff onto an external HDD before you do anything else, and then my usual routine rather than trying to fix individual things is just to restore the system to the date it was last working properly (under Recovery in the Control Panel on Windows 7). Alternatively, as Jo says, if you've recently installed or updated anything, you can try rolling back or uninstalling the offending program to see if it helps. You can also uninstall non-critical Windows updates from Control Panel - Windows Update - you could try getting rid of the last couple and see if that helps.

    If you can't boot to Safe Mode, do you have a recovery CD that came with the machine? If so, whack that in and restart the machine. That will give you the options to try repairing the Windows installation or perform a fresh install. Before I start messing around with that, if you've got stuff you don't want to lose that isn't backed up, I would download a copy of a Linux OS such as Ubuntu - burn the download to a CD as an image (clearly you'll need another computer to this on) and restart your computer with this disc in. The beauty of most Linux OS is that they're small and simple enough to run straight from CD, albeit at no great speed (limited by your CD drive), and therefore allow you access to your files - from there you can copy all your stuff to an external HDD before you start messing around with your Windows install. Ubuntu is one that's designed on a windows browsing premise, so if you can use Windows you'll be able to find your way around basic functions in that no problem.

    Hope that helps...Safe Mode and System Restore is the simplest way!
  • geek84
    geek84 Registered Posts: 568 Epic contributor 🐘
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    Hi Folks

    Thanks for you replies so far.

    I can't remember updating/upgrading anything on the laptop in the last few says. I can't get to the log on screen - as soon as I switch the machine on, some writing is displayed and then it goes to this blank screen. The machine I have is a laptop acer aspire 7720G with Windows Home Edition 7.

    Another thing I tried was to hit the F8 button as soon as I started the machine. Eventually a screen was displayed which gave me a number of options. I then scrolled down to 'Last known good configuration', and pressed enter. This unfortunately resulted in the same thing - blank screen with a white arrow in the middle.

    I also tried to open it in safe mode but this resulted in the following message displayed on each line of the screen -

    Loaded:\Windows\system32\DRIVERS\

    Finally, I think i have lost the system disc. Do ou thin it would b worth purchasig a new omne?

    Thanks
  • CeeJaySix
    CeeJaySix Registered Posts: 645
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    I'm assuming you're out of warranty?

    Can you boot to CD/USB?

    To find out - insert USB, then start computer. You should get a message saying 'press any key to boot from USB...' or similar.

    If not, to try a CD you'll need one that can be booted from (ie. a Windows disc - borrow one at this stage, if you're not installing there shouldn't be a license issue) or as I mentioned above, download and burn Ubuntu (make sure you right click the downloaded file and 'Burn as image' rather than creating a normal data CD). With this disc in the drive, start your machine. You should get a message saying 'press any key to boot from CD...' or similar.

    If neither of these work, it's normally because your BIOS is set to boot to HDD by default. Changing the boot order is fairly simple (normally). Get an OS on CD or USB first and try just whacking it in, if it doesn't work come back.

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