Win 10 Update Messed Up My Settings; Tried To Customize, Now - BSOD

Hello Everyone,

I have to post this thread from my Win 7 machine because my regular Win 10 machine has the Black Screen Of Death, or at the very least it's unresponsive and I don't know how to proceed.

I allowed Microsoft to perform the latest Win 10 Update, which seems to have taken a long time. When the Update finished, I noticed that many of my settings had been changed -- mostly font issues. I have had this problem before and it drives me crazy because it's a real pain to get the original font settings restored.

I tried making some font changes thru Control Panel but didn't get a satisfactory fix, so I noticed a 'Customize' choice for the font (I think I chose 125%). When I proceeded I got a response which said I have to sign out first, so I continued -- that was my mistake! I ended up with a screen that had some kind of shoreline image looking out from a sea cave and asking me for what I think was a Password. I could not remember what my password (if any) was. After a few tries I got frustrated and did a Hard Shutdown. I tried powering up but now although the machine seems to be running I only get a black screen. I tried powering up many times using various Function keys (hoping to boot up into Safe Mode) but with no response.

This is very annoying and I do not have any other ideas. I need this Win 10 machine because I have a lot of stuff to do on it. Can someone please offer some thoughts?

Many Thanks.

Josef

Hello axe0,

Thank you for your response. I have an Asus 64-bit machine.

As bad luck would have it, I can not find the receipt for the original purchase. I am sure I have it somewhere, but I can't find it. Looking at the tower, it indicates ASUS M52BC. Somehow I seem to recall that the precise model may be 'ASUS M52BC-US005S', but I am not totally sure.

I hope that this information can be useful to you in some way.

Thank you again for your continuing communication with me

No, I cannot boot into BIOS., and no I do not have recovery media. One of the first things I thought about trying was to try to boot into Safe Mode, but I can't get that far because every function key I try has no response. What happens is that the machine boots up into a black screen and goes no further. I know the machine is running because the power button is lit. The monitor seems to be 'On' and working. I almost wonder if the the machine might be in some sort of 'Sleep' state

Hello axe0,

What you suggested gave me an idea. Your list of things mentioned 'peripherals', which of course refers to external attachments. At one time I had 2 PCs connected to 1 monitor by an A-B switch. I had this Win 10 machine and an older Vista machine, both connected to 1 monitor. Around 1 year ago I was having problems with the the Vista machine so I disconnected it from the A-B switch. The Win 10 machine remained connected to the A-B switch. Your mention of 'peripherals' rang a bell so I decided to just connect everything directly to the Win 10 machine and try booting up. It worked!

Since the Vista machine is not being used I will just leave this setup as it is.

By the way, this whole problem started because I was trying to restore the font size of my email program (Thunderbird). I like my email program very much and the Win 10 update shrunk the font down. It seems to be ok now, however the program icons in the task bar seem just a little large. Do you know of a quick way I can bring down the size of these icons a little, without impacting my email program?

I want to thank you very much for moving me in the right direction and get my PC up and running.

Josef