Vista / Windows 7 Black Screen of Death (KSoD) Fix

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OK so you power up your Microsoft Windows Vista / 7 (any edition) machine and you are presented with a black screen and a nice, white, movable cursor as shown below - Nothing else.

 

 

 

Nothing works and you cannot see any of your icons, Start button etc. Even Ctrl + Alt + Delete, Ctrl-Esc, Alt-Tab, Ctrl-Shift-Esc produces nothing.

So what causes this and what do you do to fix it?

Well sadly no one including Microsoft has come up with a definate solution to this problem nevermind what causes it in the first place. Though it is usually caused by recent Windows Updates.

But before you reach for your reinstallation media and prepare for the "format and reinstall" we have some methods you can try to help restore your system to the way it was.

So let's start with the obvious:

Last Known Good Configuration

• Power up your system and repeatedly press the F8 until you reach the Windows Advanced Boot Options screen as shown:

• Now select the Last Known Good Configuration and press Enter

• Then select your Vista operating system and press Enter

• This may or may NOT restore your system. If it does then count yourself lucky - If not then proceed to the next step

 

Safe Mode GUI with System Restore

• Power up your system and repeatedly press the F8 until you reach the Windows Advanced Boot Options screen as shown:

• Now select Safe Mode

• If you can get into Safe Mode /  then you can do a System Restore - Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > System Restore or rstrui.exe in a Search or Run box

• Restore your system to an earlier time - Some forums recommend a month earlier

• Once done reboot

• This may or may NOT restore your system. If it does then count yourself lucky - If not then proceed to the next step

 

Safe Mode GUI with MSCONFIG

• Power up your system and repeatedly press the F8 until you reach the Windows Advanced Boot Options screen.

• Now select Safe Mode / Safe Mode with Networking

• Now navigate to msconfig.exe via  C:\%systemroot%\System32\msconfig.exe usually C:\Windows\System32\msconfig.exe if you can

• You WILL need to run MSCONFIG as an Administrator, so right click msconfig.exe and select Run as Administrator

• If you manage to get MSCONFIG to open then chose Selective Startup

• Next go to the services tab and Disable ALL

• Apply, OK then reboot

• If you are lucky enough to get into your system on reboot, reopen MSCONFIG and navigate to the services tab and Enable ALL

• However Disable the Windows Event Log service as this seems to be the culprit in a lot of Black Screens of Death cases

• This may or may NOT restore your system. If it does then count yourself lucky - If not then proceed to the next step

 

Safe Mode with Command Prompt / System Restore

• Power up your system and repeatedly press the F8 until you reach the Windows Advanced Boot Options screen.

• Now select Safe Mode with Command Prompt

• At the C: prompt type: C:\>rstrui.exe

• If you are lucky you might get the System Restore dialogue box

• If so, restore to an earlier time and reboot

• If not proceed to the next step

 

Safe Mode with Command Prompt / MSCONFIG

• Power up your system and repeatedly press the F8 until you reach the Windows Advanced Boot Options screen.

• Now select Safe Mode with Command Prompt

• At the C: prompt type: net user administrator /active: yes

• Type exit and reboot into Safe Mode with Command Prompt

• At the C: prompt type: C:\%systemroot%System32\msconfig.exe usually C:\Windows\System32\msconfig.exe

• If you are lucky you might get the MSCONFIG dialogue box

• If you manage to get MSCONFIG to open then chose Selective Startup

• Next go to the services tab and Disable ALL

• Apply, OK then reboot

• If you are lucky enough to get into your system on reboot, reopen MSCONFIG and navigate to the services tab and Enable ALL

• However Disable the Windows Event Log service as this seems to be the culprit in a lot of Black Screens of Death cases

• This may or may NOT restore your system. If it does then count yourself lucky - If not then proceed to the next step

 

Vista Recovery Environment (RE)

• Boot your system from your Vista installation disk or a Vista Recovery Disk

• Some OEM's such as Toshiba etc have built the Vista RE environment into the Advanced Boot Options so check this first

• But instead of selecting Install Now chose Repair Your Computer as shown:

 

• The RE environment "should" pick up your Vista installation and allow you to carry out system repair functions such as Startup Repair and System Restore - try both of these in that order

 

• This may or may NOT restore your system. If it does then count yourself lucky - If not then proceed to the next step

 

Left Shift Key

• This method might seem strange, however it actually works "most" of the time

• Power up your Vista system in normal mode

• Now when you see the Logging on screen repeatedly tap the left Shift key 5 times in rapid succession

• This "should" bring up the Do you want to turn on Sticky Keys dialogue box? If it does then your in luck because from here you navigate to anywhere on your computer

• At the bottom of the Sticky Keys dialogue box there is a link saying Go to the Ease of Access Center to disable the keyboard shortcut

• Click this link

• Once you click this link you can navigate to your system drive (usually C:) and proceed to navigate to C:\Windows\System32\msconfig.exe

• You WILL need to run MSCONFIG as an Administrator, so right click msconfig.exe and select Run as Administrator

• In MSCONFIG to open then chose Selective Startup

• Next go to the services tab and Disable ALL

• Apply, OK then reboot

• If you are lucky enough to get into your system on reboot, reopen MSCONFIG and navigate to the services tab and Enable ALL

• However Disable the Windows Event Log service as this seems to be the culprit in a lot of Black Screens of Death cases

• This may should restore your system

Hopefully one of the above methods should get you back up and running

Should you need help or would like to report any success from this guide then please Contact Us