Black Screen on Boot after Intel HD Graphics install (Windows 10)

Taedae

Estimable
Nov 18, 2015
3
1
4,510
I have an Acer Aspire E1-572P, with an Intel(R) Core i5 4200 processor. It had Windows 8.1 when I bought it. Updated to Windows 10 a few months ago.

Since the update, my Intel(R) HD Graphics Family driver has been giving me issues. When playing a game (such as WoW, GW2, or any Steam game), every now and then, the game will freeze and crash, then I will receive a message saying that my graphic processor failed but has restarted.

When I looked into this issue, I found out that Windows 10 isn't completely compatible with this form of Intel graphics. Okay, no problem. I made sure the driver was updated, then looked online for work arounds.

One of the solutions suggested was to uninstall the driver, then reinstall it fresh. So, I did. I installed it, no issues. I downloaded the driver and it started installing.

At about 90% through the install, my screen went black, and the computer made the little "dingaling" noise it makes when removing and adding a new device. The computer was still on and otherwise functioning, but I couldn't see anything.

I left it alone for 10 minutes, in the event that it would turn back on. But the screen remained black. Occasionally I would see the blue light indicating activity flicker, but that was it.

I eventually decided to force shut down and power the computer back up. The Acer boot screen appeared, but instead of going to the login screen, it went go a black screen (no mouse). I have since tried forcing it off and starting it again several times, but I still get nothing but a black screen after the Acer screen. I still see occasional activity in the lights, but nothing big.

I have tried booting tk safe mode, but it turns out Windows 10 doesn't have a way of doing that if you can't get to the login screen. I have tried hooking the laptop up to my TV, but I don't know how to get it to transfer without being able to login. I tried WinKey+P. I tried Fn+F keys. Nothing (and yes, my TV is on the correct "channel".

So, here is my problem. Black screen immediately after turning it on, giving me no option to log in. No access to remote screen. And no short keys seem to be working.

Please help! I have things on my computer that I don't want to lose, and I don't have the money for a new computer.
 
Solution

Mark_1970

Estimable
Nov 14, 2015
89
0
4,660


Safe mode would be helpful. Sometimes within Bios Advanced mode there is an option to turn on boot options, basically enabling f8 menu to work . http://www.tomshardware.com/faq/id-2569556/safe-mode-windows.html

Going into safe mode would make it possible to allow a graphics rollback.

if all this succeeds i would make a recovery disk in case this happens again. none works you could just wipe/reinstall windows from disk and start again
 
Solution

Taedae

Estimable
Nov 18, 2015
3
1
4,510
Hi Mark_1970.

I spent 4 hours last night trying to get the BIOS to boot. Finally got it to boot this morning (the timing involved in getting it up is frustrating). I enabled F8 and accessed Safe Mode. Will attempt a roll back and see what happens
 

Taedae

Estimable
Nov 18, 2015
3
1
4,510
In case anyone else ends up with this issue, I'll explain what I did to fix it.

I powered off the computer. Then powered it back on, while tapping F2 several times. Not super fast, but not slow. This is the best way to get the timing just right for the BIOS to load. If it doesn't work, power off and try again.

Once the BIOS was up, I looked through the options until I found something about accessing the F12 advanced options. It was disabled, so I enabled it. Then restarted the computer while tapping F12.

When the menu appeared, I looked through it until I found command prompt (Troubleshoot -> Advanced Options). I opened that and input the following:

C: (then hit enter)
bcdedit /set {default} bootmenupolicy legacy (then hit enter)

It will take a moment but then eventually say it was successful (this is needed because Windows 10 has safe mode unavailable by default. So if you haven't activated it yet, do this command).

Once safe mode was enabled, I restarted the computer, tapping F8 to get the Safe Mode menu. From there, I selected "Repair Your Computer". Then went Troubleshoot, then Advanced Options, then system restore, which set my computer back to yesterday, before the errors occured.

Technically, you can skip the command prompt and enabling safe mode, and just go straight to system restore, but if you haven't enabled safe mode, I would recommend doing it before restoring. You never know when you might need safe mode.
 
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Mark_1970

Estimable
Nov 14, 2015
89
0
4,660


All good then, Excellent
 
Apr 12, 2019
1
0
10
In case anyone else ends up with this issue, I'll explain what I did to fix it.

I powered off the computer. Then powered it back on, while tapping F2 several times. Not super fast, but not slow. This is the best way to get the timing just right for the BIOS to load. If it doesn't work, power off and try again.

Once the BIOS was up, I looked through the options until I found something about accessing the F12 advanced options. It was disabled, so I enabled it. Then restarted the computer while tapping F12.

When the menu appeared, I looked through it until I found command prompt (Troubleshoot -> Advanced Options). I opened that and input the following:

C: (then hit enter)
bcdedit /set {default} bootmenupolicy legacy (then hit enter)

It will take a moment but then eventually say it was successful (this is needed because Windows 10 has safe mode unavailable by default. So if you haven't activated it yet, do this command).

Once safe mode was enabled, I restarted the computer, tapping F8 to get the Safe Mode menu. From there, I selected "Repair Your Computer". Then went Troubleshoot, then Advanced Options, then system restore, which set my computer back to yesterday, before the errors occured.

Technically, you can skip the command prompt and enabling safe mode, and just go straight to system restore, but if you haven't enabled safe mode, I would recommend doing it before restoring. You never know when you might need sa
In case anyone else ends up with this issue, I'll explain what I did to fix it.

I powered off the computer. Then powered it back on, while tapping F2 several times. Not super fast, but not slow. This is the best way to get the timing just right for the BIOS to load. If it doesn't work, power off and try again.

Once the BIOS was up, I looked through the options until I found something about accessing the F12 advanced options. It was disabled, so I enabled it. Then restarted the computer while tapping F12.

When the menu appeared, I looked through it until I found command prompt (Troubleshoot -> Advanced Options). I opened that and input the following:

C: (then hit enter)
bcdedit /set {default} bootmenupolicy legacy (then hit enter)

It will take a moment but then eventually say it was successful (this is needed because Windows 10 has safe mode unavailable by default. So if you haven't activated it yet, do this command).

Once safe mode was enabled, I restarted the computer, tapping F8 to get the Safe Mode menu. From there, I selected "Repair Your Computer". Then went Troubleshoot, then Advanced Options, then system restore, which set my computer back to yesterday, before the errors occured.

Technically, you can skip the command prompt and enabling safe mode, and just go straight to system restore, but if you haven't enabled safe mode, I would recommend doing it before restoring. You never know when you might need safe mode.
This worked for me! Thanks!
 
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