Boot problems: Black screen + CMD no explorer.exe

TairikuOkami said:

Download Autoruns - extract it - run Autoruns64.exe as admin by right clicking on it.
Type to Filter: CMD - if it finds any entries listed as cmd.exe - un-check/un-tick them and restart.

I just had this happen to me and after even trying to refresh my windows 10 with an iso image (running inside windows so I didn't lose anything) didn't work. I DID have a cmd.exe that i removed with autoruns but it still wasn't working. I was still having to open task manager and type explorer.exe to get the desktop back and was about to give up and restore my backup from the beginning of the month BUT found this to check in registry and it worked!! So FYI this is also a possible black screen of death fix:

a. Open start menu, in the search bar type regedit and press enter.

b. Navigate to the following path and check the entries for "Shell" and"Userinit" on the Right pane:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon

"Shell"="Explorer.exe" (REG_SZ)

"Userinit"="C:\WINDOWS\system32\userinit.exe <-- THIS is what was missing in mine, just had a comma.

c. Also check if you have correct permission for this registry key (winlogon)


I hope this helps anyone else! As I said It was about 3 days of trying everything and getting frustrated but all good now!

Tutman said:

"Userinit"="C:\WINDOWS\system32\userinit.exe <-- THIS is what was missing in mine, just had a comma.

Did you add or remove a comma from the end? Having the same issue and mine has a comma on the end.

pityfvck said:

Did you add or remove a comma from the end? Having the same issue and mine has a comma on the end.

NO comma just put "Userinit"="C:\WINDOWS\system32\userinit.exe

I am so grateful for finding this thread! You are an OS God.

Hello, I know this thread might be a bit old but I'm in dire need of assistance. Can I explain some few things first, to make a better understanding? First of all, I'm a 15 year old boy borrowing my uncle's home pc for gaming. He is out working and is returning next week. I might have stumbled upon a virus(i'm pretty sure I didn't turn off bitdefender) and i've only installed stuff from trustworthy websites. Now in these cases my uncle would just reformat the pc but I will probably lose his trust and be banned from using the pc.

Its a black screen with cursor problem. Now i've discovered that this threat is replacing the registry of winlogon - shell from explorer.exe to cmd.exe with a weird "/k start" addition. I've tried booting into safe mode, last known good config, and other stuff, but to no good. I've managed to cling into CMD and Regedit through "Repair your computer". Now the reason why I post my help here is that we have a related problem, and it'd be easier for the guys who've answered to help me here. I'm really sorry if this causes a ruckus but i've never gotten replies in microsoft and other website forums. I'm in dire need of your assistance so please help a young lad in distress.

Alright, so I can't do anything in both normal and safe mode but i've managed to open windows explorer through " System Image Recovery", that's where I got regedit running. Now I've already tried changing Shell's data into explorer.exe but after restart it reverts back to cmd.exe /k start cmd.exe. Any idea how to fix this? I cannot get what the original solver suggested "Autoruns" because i'm not able to even run other programs othed than regedit and cmd. I've thought of reformat but I just know there's another and easier hidden way to fix this. Please any helpful replies would be greatly appreciated.

Sorry if this might sound stupid but is hive another program or is it registry? And are those codes what I put into the cmd? I'm very sorry i'm new to this sort of thing.

Dankiedoge said:

Sorry if this might sound stupid but is hive another program or is it registry? And are those codes what I put into the cmd? I'm very sorry i'm new to this sort of thing.

Is this happening on a Windows 7, or Windows 10 system?

I noticed your profile says Windows 7.

TenForums is a Windows 10 support site.

Oh. Now that might be a problem, i'm sorry for budging in here while being ignorant. I'm just really desperate as i've been fighting this thing for 4 days.
Yes my problem is about windows 7..

You might get more Windows 7 related responses on SevenForums.com

Windows 7 Help Forums

It's the companion site of TenForums, as is EightForums.