MalwareBytes Forced Update Followed by Black Screen On Startup


  1. Posts : 3
    Windows 10
       #1

    MalwareBytes Forced Update Followed by Black Screen On Startup


    Good morning!

    I'm once again in possession of my mom's laptop after it started acting up. It's an HP Envy 17-inch running Windows 10.

    Apparently when she woke the computer up this morning, MalwareBytes forced an update. Once the update ran, it found two pieces of malware - the names of which she doesn't remember - and eight other objects of concern. She quarantined them all and said "yes" when it asked her if she wanted to reboot.

    First Reboot

    The computer booted Windows as normal and prompted her to sign in. When she did, the screen went black.

    Second Reboot

    After powering the computer off and back on, the system ran a repair function on the C drive. This took about 15 minutes, after which it asked if she wanted to restart or use advanced options. Through the advanced options menu, she chose to proceed to Windows. It booted, asked for her password, and went black.

    Third and Subsequent Reboots

    Straight to Windows to ask for the password every time, each time resulting in a black screen and no activity. It takes about twice as long to boot the OS as it usually does. I've tried entering BIOS to boot in safe mode, and the computer doesn't respond - it just loads Windows and goes black.

    If anyone's seen something similar and can give me some ideas, I'll be most appreciative.

    Thanks for your time!
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 30,119
    Windows 11 Pro x64 Version 23H2
       #2

    Hi Dev Anthony.

    I'm not exactly following. In your description on Third and subsequent boots you say it takes about twice as long to boot OS. Are you actually getting into Windows?

    When you say there is no activity does this device have a disk light that allows you to visualize when the disk is being accessed, some are on the sides, and is this indicator dead? (No activity).

    I don't know a lot about your Mom's machine, amount of data, number of customized programs, etc. The fastest way out could very likely be copy data out and clean install.

    To copy data out use Kyhi's Recovery disk

    Windows 10 Recovery Tools - Bootable Rescue Disk

    Then clean install.

    Clean Install Windows 10

    If you get new media from MS it will be V1803, please be aware. It will be part of Windows update next Tuesday.

    If you are having re-occurring issue with your Mom's laptop, as can happen, especially if you are finding Malware I think you should be thinking about a different strategy. By this I mean I would separate her data from her programs, have a c: and d:.

    Then after I got Windows in and the programs she uses on I would image the System partitions with a tool like Macrium Reflect. (Free) Next time there is an issue boot with Macrium boot media, restore the system partitions and be on your way.

    We have tutorial on Macrium and how to move the libraries to d: so Mom doesn't even know she is using D:.

    Might seem like a lot of work but the tools are there, like Minitool Partition Wizard, to adjust the size of C:.

    Also need a data backup but that might even fit on a good USB Thumb drive.

    Something to consider... or not.


    Ken
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 3
    Windows 10
    Thread Starter
       #3

    Ken,

    Thanks so much for recommending those apps. Next time I get my hands on her computer I'll make sure things are set up as you recommended.

    What she didn't tell me this morning is that she also ran Windows Update on waking her computer up this morning. This is significant, because in spite of my nagging, she always forgets to do this and refuses to allow it to happen automatically. Last year, one of the updates included registry keys that were incompatible with certain HP laptops. This morning, she finally applied that update, and here we are.

    As things stood, if it was left on black screen for about ten minutes after signing in to Windows, the display would return and things would operate as normal. I found and installed Microsoft's patch for this incompatibility and things seem to be running just fine again.

    My apologies for forgetting to mark this thread as solved right away, but as someone who hasn't used Windows in a while your suggestions are still incredibly helpful. I'm asked to troubleshoot for her somewhat frequently, so the information you've given will definitely come in handy.

    Thanks again!

    -Dev
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 30,119
    Windows 11 Pro x64 Version 23H2
       #4

    Your welcome. I'm sure lots of members will have great ideas.

    Good luck.
      My Computer


 

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