I turned on an older PC that hadn't been used in a while and signed in normally. After displaying "Preparing Windows" for several minutes, it finished loading to a completely black screen, although the mouse cursor is still visible. Restarting the computer and resetting the graphics driver didn't fix it. Task Manager opens, but initially says there are no running apps; clicking "More details" makes the window disappear. I can't find Windows Explorer or the desktop. What is likely causing this, and what troubleshooting steps should I try?
4 Answers
A damaged update or Windows installation could be behind the black screen. If recovery tools and restoring to an earlier point don’t work, backing up important files and performing a clean Windows reinstall may be the final option.
If Explorer won’t start, force Windows into its recovery environment by interrupting startup several times. From the troubleshooting options, try Startup Repair or System Restore if a restore point is available. You may also be able to roll back the recent update.
This may have happened because Windows was finishing an update after the PC had been offline for a long time. Leave it running for a while first, since interrupting that process could make things worse.
If Task Manager is available, choose File > Run new task, type "explorer.exe", and press Enter. This manually starts the Windows shell and may bring back the desktop and taskbar.
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