SOLVED Black screen when logging off or switching users- HELP

[Drjagaloon]

Hi,

I made this account specifically to ask this question. I do not see any help being given for this problem anywhere on the internet, and here is my problem.

First, I cannot give a lot of details about the PC because it is not mine and the user does not want to give a lot out (not sure why). However, it has Windows 10 64-bit and is very powerful (i7, 16 GB ram, 2TB hdd). Whenever I go to switch users or log off, the screen goes black. There is no cursor and the keyboard buttons stop working (i.e. light for Num Lock doesn't light up). The only way to get back onto the computer is to force shutdown by holding the power button. There are no problems with the initial boot or login, only when you go to "switch users" or "log off". The computer resources are not being taxed and the heat is in control. I do not receive any BSOD, only a black screen with no response.

I have tried:
- Removing an update from Windows 10 that caused boot loops
- Rolling back video driver
- Installing NVIDIA driver updated 10.7.2015
- Ran sfc /scannow (found errors but couldn't fix it)
- Ran DIMS after and it found nothing to remove
- Ran dskchk and did not have any problems
- Searched over five hours for a solution
- Changed power settings to never sleep for: Display, PC, HDD
- Disabled USB service that was causing a different issue
- No egregious problems in Event Viewer
- I checked registry for proper paths before and after sleep mode/shut down/boot and that was also fine (explorer.exe I believe)


I am completely confused on the problem. My friend says that, in no way, will he reload Windows 10 because it was just recently loaded and was working originally. If anybody can give me a suggestion with a brief explanation as to why you are doing something that would be great

 

[Drjagaloon]

I am currently installing a driver for Windows 10 that was rolled out in July, ignoring the most recent driver updates for NVIDIA. I will comment if it fixed the problem


Edit: That did not solve the problem. When going from one user to the next, the computer appears to shut off. It is still on, but it is completely unresponsive, the keyboard is unable to be used, and the screen goes black.

 

[Trouble]

Boot the system into safe mode and attempt the same process.
https://www.windows10forums.com/articles/safe-mode.3/
If it seems to behave alright in safe mode then you're going to have to experiment further.
Perhaps using a clean boot to see if you can narrow down the offending program or process.
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/929135

 

[Drjagaloon]

I forgot to mention- it works perfectly fine while booting into safe mode. I will try the clean boot. The issue is when I am signed into one account, I go to start - account - switch user. That's when all graphics and input devices fail.

 

[Trouble]

From a specific user account only????
OR
When switching from any user account to another?

 

[Drjagaloon]

This happens will all user accounts. Local or domain, administrator or standard user. It happens when I click "log off" or "switch user" after already signing into an account. So, this does not happen during an initial boot. Only after a user has logged in do I get these errors. Trying to clean boot as we type

 

[Drjagaloon]

Update: I ran msconfig and hid all Microsoft services. Then, I disabled ALL other services to see if any of those affected this. It did not.

That should mean that the services I disabled do not affect the "switch user blackout screen" issue I am having. That would also then mean that it is a Microsoft service causing the issue. I am going to try and adjust those, but is there a specific service that has been causing this? I have not found one

 

[Trouble]

Nope.... you should leave the Microsoft services alone.
I assume that you rebooted after you disabled all non-Microsoft services?
Did you also use the Startup tab in taskmanager to disable all startup items?
Are you using any third party security suites on this particular machine?

 

[Drjagaloon]

The third-party security suite is elite and you need very special permission and licenses to even buy it. That cannot be disabled.

I tried the "disable half and enable half" method and have narrowed it down to half of the services.

As for startup, there are only about seven or eight things that load up. Java updates, windows services, and my security suite.

I am going to continue with your original recommendation and come back when I have determined what the possible issue can be. Thank you for this suggestion though because it has been helping me determine the issues

 

[Drjagaloon]

I have narrowed the issue down to a quarter of the services, but I cannot pinpoint the exact one quite yet. It had nothing to do with any NVIDIA services

 

[Drjagaloon]

Nope.... you should leave the Microsoft services alone.
I assume that you rebooted after you disabled all non-Microsoft services?
Did you also use the Startup tab in taskmanager to disable all startup items?
Are you using any third party security suites on this particular machine?

I have since tried to disable all non-Microsoft start-up programs and services, but nothing worked. I am going section by section to narrow the problem down. I narrowed it down to the top half of the alphabet for services and now I am going from there to determine the exact problem.

 

[Drjagaloon]

UPDATE: After following Trouble's advice from his first post, I have narrowed the problem to these services, although I will continue to troubleshoot until I find the exact one:

CDPSvc
Certificate Prpagation
CNG Key Isolation
COM+ Event System
COM+ System Application
Computer Browser
Credential Manager
Cryptographic Services

I will give an update when I resolved the issue.

 

[Drjagaloon]

UPDATE: After following Trouble's advice from his first post, I have narrowed the problem to these services, although I will continue to troubleshoot until I find the exact one:

CDPSvc
Certificate Prpagation
CNG Key Isolation
COM+ Event System
COM+ System Application
Computer Browser
Credential Manager
Cryptographic Services

I will give an update when I resolved the issue.

I found that the service causing the problem was Cryptographic Services. This cannot be disabled, so I still need to find a fix.

To review: I can logon fine and get to a desktop. From there, if I log off or switch users my screen goes black and the keyboard becomes unresponsive. By disabling Crypto Services, the problem goes away. However, crypto is needed for virus protection and Windows Updates.

 

[Trouble]

I forgot to mention- it works perfectly fine while booting into safe mode.

"Cryptographic Services" is not a service that is stopped or otherwise prevented from running in "Safe Mode"
You can confirm this on your machine if you'd like, I just checked mine to determine if your troubleshooting was accurate. I don't think you're on the right track but of course I could be wrong.

Double check your third party security suite.
Find out how many of its' services are running in normal mode and compare that to how many of its' services are running when you boot into safe mode.

 

[Drjagaloon]

"Cryptographic Services" is not a service that is stopped or otherwise prevented from running in "Safe Mode"
You can confirm this on your machine if you'd like, I just checked mine to determine if your troubleshooting was accurate. I don't think you're on the right track but of course I could be wrong.

Double check your third party security suite.
Find out how many of its' services are running in normal mode and compare that to how many of its' services are running when you boot into safe mode.

It was indeed the virus software. The reason I did not suspect that is because it is on several other PCs with no problems. I uninstalled it and the problem went away. Thank you.

I discovered this on my own after you mentioned it by looking at the dependencies of each service, and many of them had an overlap with the security suite. Thanks again

 

[Trouble]

You're welcome and thanks for all the detailed follow-up.
Sometimes those third party security suites can be a real pain to diagnose.
Perhaps they have a more recent version that is updated to work better with Windows 10?

The reason I did not suspect that is because it is on several other PCs with no problems

Are those other PCs also running Windows 10, same version home or pro, same bit architecture 32 or 64 bit, as your machine?

 

[Drjagaloon]

You're welcome and thanks for all the detailed follow-up.
Sometimes those third party security suites can be a real pain to diagnose.
Perhaps they have a more recent version that is updated to work better with Windows 10?

Are those other PCs also running Windows 10, same version home or pro, same bit architecture 32 or 64 bit, as your machine?

Some are and some are not, so it is a mixed bag. However, I guess there is a build update being released so that might fix the issue

 

[Trouble]

there is a build update being released

A build update to your Antivirus program? That would be good news.
Sometimes a fix is as simple as uninstalling and then reinstalling the Antivirus program so that might be worth a try. Especially if you have identical machines running Windows 10 and they are not having the same issue.
Sometimes it's just a matter of something getting corrupted (for lack of a better term) and a uninstall / re-install will sometimes fix that.

 

[CS135CID]

Hi,

Whenever I go to switch users or log off, the screen goes black. There is no cursor and the keyboard buttons stop working (i.e. light for Num Lock doesn't light up). The only way to get back onto the computer is to force shutdown by holding the power button. There are no problems with the initial boot or login, only when you go to "switch users" or "log off".

I want to put my .02 in here and tell you what solved this for me on Windows 10:

I had this problem 2 days ago. No changes to the system when the problem started. I went through all the diagnostics and disables that you can find out there on the interwebs. Get this... I just so happened to be getting a new SSD in the mail. Used my trusty Clonezilla to clone it. The old drive exhibits the issue, cloned one does not!

Not sure what the issue may be, but wanted to put this solution out there.

 

[Lucavigg]

Hi,

Whenever I go to switch users or log off, the screen goes black. There is no cursor and the keyboard buttons stop working (i.e. light for Num Lock doesn't light up). The only way to get back onto the computer is to force shutdown by holding the power button.

I am completely confused on the problem. My friend says that, in no way, will he reload Windows 10 because it was just recently loaded and was working originally. If anybody can give me a suggestion with a brief explanation as to why you are doing something that would be great

I started getting this a few weeks ago and also an incredibly slow response for anything to do with networking (local or internet). A reboot would solve it for a while.

As I was due for a PC upgrade, I did nothing about it. Now I have a new, fast PC and the same thing has started happening. Switch user or Sign Out gives me a black screen. Forced power off is the only thing to fix it.

Commonality between the old and new PC: SSD boot drive, Windows 10 Pro 64 bit, Panda AntiVirus Free edition (Yes, I know!), Malwarebytes full version, NVidia GTX 1060 6GB with NVidia’s own drivers and a second user account constantly running Plex Server for media streaming (I also love classic movies).

Yesterday, I had to reboot because the response time for retrieving pages on the web was ridiculous and last night, I tried the Switch User and got the black screen.

I’m going to spend some of today experimenting with things other people have suggested, starting with AntiVirus, of course.

If this helps anyone else who’s having this problem, let me know.

Lucavigg