Troubleshoot Black Screen after BIOS W7 SP1 x64

[AtlBo]

Had a computer go into a meltdown yesterday (see above information). Basically, I have run all the utilities and then some and even tried reimaging the system with two different backups with no luck. At this point the system boots to the post BIOS/UEFI screen black screen. Under some conditions of pressing ESC I can get a blinking cursor but that's it. Now can't access Startup Repair (wouldn't be able to fix anyway) and can't boot into Safe Mode. The Windows 7 repair disk won't work, because it doesn't see the OS. In BIOS, the disk does show up fine.

When I installed the OS, I had to format to GPT (see attachment for how I did this during the installation), so that's something to keep in mind. Also, I am using an older version of Paragon Backup and Restore for the imaging (2012). I have restored before, so I don't see how the GPT issue could be the problem, since it obviously it started before I tried to reimage.

I could at one point boot into Safe Mode no problem. Now I cannot. I had been using the command prompt to run some commands to change the boot to safe mode and then I undid them to attempt other repair options. Now it looks like the boot sector is messed up and not even reimaging will solve the issue.

BTW, this is the second time this has happened on this PC and with the exact same brand, model, and size of hard drive. I still have the old drive and both of these drives test in working order. I know this is not the drives.

Anyone know how to get out of the black screen after BIOS? Keep in mind I think it's formatted GPT, although I don't see any indication in BIOS that UEFI even exists on the PC. It did occur to me that maybe this is an issue where somehow the OS is expecting GPT but seeing MBR. Downloaded EaseUs Partition Master onto another PC, and I am ready to connect the broken OS installation disks to that PC to see if I can try converting the drives. Not sure what if anything that will accomplish however. Anyway, I can always reimage and get back to where I am now. Just hoping to avoid reinstalling Windows. Thanks...

 

[vtqhtr413]

Had a computer go into a meltdown yesterday (see above information). Basically, I have run all the utilities and then some and even tried reimaging the system with two different backups with no luck. At this point the system boots to the post BIOS/UEFI screen black screen. Under some conditions of pressing ESC I can get a blinking cursor but that's it. Now can't access Startup Repair (wouldn't be able to fix anyway) and can't boot into Safe Mode. The Windows 7 repair disk won't work, because it doesn't see the OS. In BIOS, the disk does show up fine.

When I installed the OS, I had to format to GPT (see attachment for how I did this during the installation), so that's something to keep in mind. Also, I am using an older version of Paragon Backup and Restore for the imaging (2012). I have restored before, so I don't see how the GPT issue could be the problem, since it obviously it started before I tried to reimage.

I could at one point boot into Safe Mode no problem. Now I cannot. I had been using the command prompt to run some commands to change the boot to safe mode and then I undid them to attempt other repair options. Now it looks like the boot sector is messed up and not even reimaging will solve the issue.

BTW, this is the second time this has happened on this PC and with the exact same brand, model, and size of hard drive. I still have the old drive and both of these drives test in working order. I know this is not the drives.

Anyone know how to get out of the black screen after BIOS? Keep in mind I think it's formatted GPT, although I don't see any indication in BIOS that UEFI even exists on the PC. It did occur to me that maybe this is an issue where somehow the OS is expecting GPT but seeing MBR. Downloaded EaseUs Partition Master onto another PC, and I am ready to connect the broken OS installation disks to that PC to see if I can try converting the drives. Not sure what if anything that will accomplish however. Anyway, I can always reimage and get back to where I am now. Just hoping to avoid reinstalling Windows. Thanks...

Did you recently install any updates. Please post back here how you recover from this and I'm sure you will, very interesting.

 

[AtlBo]

Did you recently install any updates. Please post back here how you recover from this and I'm sure you will, very interesting.

Not recently. Last one would have been the Intel update a couple of weeks ago. No problems since. The two drives is leading me to believe it's something else. I forgot to mention that the first drive went down about 4-5 months ago, so that event wasn't recent. It was the exact same scenario. Why do I suspect Comodo about everything LOL?

So I got the drive hooked up to Windows 7 Pro x64 PC here. I can see the folders in Windows Explorer but, interestingly cannot access them. I guess this is because the Windows is password protected. Not sure if this is normal or not. Opened EaseUS Partition Master and noticed that there are 5 partitions, all formatted in GPT. Two of the partitions contain no data, so I am wondering if this is the source of my woes. I am afraid to delete them at this point though. Not sure what to do. Pic is EaseUS.

Noticing the two partitions are Unallocated space (?). Not sure what to do about this, because I don't know what is normal for a UEFI system. Thanks for the reply...

 

[vtqhtr413]

Why do I suspect Comodo about everything LOL?

Two of the partitions contain no data, so I am wondering if this is the source of my woes

Not partitions just unallocated space but where they are positioned could be a problem.


Windows 7, probably not UEFI system. My hard drive is MBR and I'm using Win 7. Can you go into your bios setup and check the boot options, try booting to I think it's Legacy. I'm going to post this and boot to my system bios to check than I'll edit with what I find.

Edit: Yes mine is set to Legacy in bios not UEFI.
Wish I knew more about this to help you out AtlBo, maybe another member will.

 

[AtlBo]

I'll look into it as soon as I get a chance. I booted to a boot menu (ESC) which gives various options for booting. I notice that on the older disk I get the option to boot to legacy, but not on the newer one. Haven't looked in BIOS yet for the legacy option. I do not recall seeing it before though, and I wondered why a little bit earlier today.

I ran an offline chkdsk of the newer drive while in Windows in the system I have placed the drive, but that didn't complete. It stuck for about 3 hours on one file, so I quit the routine. Windows then must have scheduled one for the next boot for the drive. That went on for hours, similar to the one I ran in Hiren's.

With the older drive I see that I can try to boot to legacy. On that drive, I also notice 3 options to boot to the Windows boot manager (or something like that) in the EFI options for booting. Those are there with all the other options I can choose to boot to for the drive. As I mentioned that is the drive that gives me the option to boot to legacy so I will go back through all the options there and let you know.

BTW, this menu I am mentioning gives me the option to choose a one time boot device or choose to enter BIOS or choose to boot one time in Legacy. Looks like it's common on 2012-2013 HP PCs like 6200 Pro and 8200. Think there are some EUFI program extras options there too for both of the drives, but I don't know what those do. There is also an option for a factory restore which is disabled on the PCs here. Don't use a rescue partition.

Well, because I have the backups, I would like to try deleting the unallocated partitions. However, I believe it is a very bad idea to remove a partition to the left, do you happen to know if that is the case with Windows 7?

 

[vtqhtr413]

Well, because I have the backups, I would like to try deleting the unallocated partitions. However, I believe it is a very bad idea to remove a partition to the left, do you happen to know if that is the case with Windows 7?

I know for sure the unallocated space is not partitions but I do think the position of the first unallocated space could be a problem.

I'll look into it as soon as I get a chance. I booted to a boot menu (ESC) which gives various options for booting. I notice that on the older disk I get the option to boot to legacy, but not on the newer one. Haven't looked in BIOS yet for the legacy option. I do not recall seeing it before though, and I wondered why a little bit earlier today.

I ran an offline chkdsk of the newer drive while in Windows in the system I have placed the drive, but that didn't complete. It stuck for about 3 hours on one file, so I quit the routine. Windows then must have scheduled one for the next boot for the drive. That went on for hours, similar to the one I ran in Hiren's.

With the older drive I see that I can try to boot to legacy. On that drive, I also notice 3 options to boot to the Windows boot manager (or something like that) in the EFI options for booting. Those are there with all the other options I can choose to boot to for the drive. As I mentioned that is the drive that gives me the option to boot to legacy so I will go back through all the options there and let you know.

BTW, this menu I am mentioning gives me the option to choose a one time boot device or choose to enter BIOS or choose to boot one time in Legacy. Looks like it's common on 2012-2013 HP PCs like 6200 Pro and 8200. Think there are some EUFI program extras options there too for both of the drives, but I don't know what those do. There is also an option for a factory restore which is disabled on the PCs here. Don't use a rescue partition.

Well, because I have the backups, I would like to try deleting the unallocated partitions. However, I believe it is a very bad idea to remove a partition to the left, do you happen to know if that is the case with Windows 7?

No I don't know but I would agree it's a definite risk no question. Do you have a Paragon boot disk, that would be handy, probably do the trick, if not than try changing one option at a time in the bios settings you can always reboot and change it back.

Your best bet is to wait for a MT member with knowledge in this area to come to the rescue. Good luck AtlBo

 

[AtlBo]

I know for sure the unallocated space is not partitions but I do think the position of the first unallocated space could be a problem.

OK, thanks for the information. I do have a boot disk for Paragon so I can always easily restore things back to where they are. Looks to me like Paragon misaligned the restore I ran if I am not mistaken. No idea why the unallocated space at the end of the drive either lol...

Yes, thanks again. Maybe someone who can make sense out of what's happening will come along. Maybe I will try to reimage from Paragon again and see what the outcome looks like.

 

[AtlBo]

Got this worked out finally. I tried I guess 1000 configurations. Finally used a program called Active@ Partition Manager to delete all the partitions. Then I changed the drive from GPT to MBR and reimaged. Booted straight into Windows. I guess the older version of Paragon I am using (c2013) doesn't like GPT designated disks, while the MBR designation it can handle. Not sure.

Thanks for the help and suggestions and thank goodness for images once again.