Dave’s Computers

Computer Repairs NJ | Support | Data Recovery | Dave's

Main navigation

Call / Text 908-428-9558
For Directions Click Here
Hours: M-F 8-6 Sat 9-3
You are here: Home / Archives for Microsoft Windows

Microsoft Windows

How to fix Windows 10 black screen issues

how-to-fix-windows-10-black-screen-issues

Windows 10 Black Screen Issues can be a real pain. Even a Blue Screen of Death is more informative than your monitor turning black and giving you nothing. Typically, these black screens happen just after a Windows update or as you log in. It seems no amount of key pressing or mouse clicking can fix it. Fortunately, the experts at Dave’s Computers can.

There are a couple things you can do to fix Windows 10 black screen issues depending on when it occurs. If you’re experiencing this problem, here is what you can do.

Fix Windows 10 black screen issues

There are four ways that we know of to address these black screen problems. Let’s begin with the simplest.

  1. Press Ctrl on your keyboard. While you won’t see anything happen, bear with us.
  2. Type in your Windows 10 login password and then Enter. Windows may log you into the desktop as normal. If it doesn’t, try step 3.
  3. Hit Enter, retype your password and hit Enter once more. This will retest this quick fix and make sure the password is entered in the right place.

Sometimes, login gets stuck loading your profile and will present a black screen. By hitting Ctrl, you select the password box in the login screen. Entering your password should log you in as usual and allow Windows to load your profile and your desktop as normal.

If that doesn’t work and you have just installed or upgraded Windows 10, check your monitor cable. Windows can often default to a different configuration than you would like and may switch between an onboard graphics chip and a graphics card. If your motherboard has onboard graphics, plug your monitor into the DVI/VGA port on the motherboard and retest.

Otherwise:

  1. Start your computer with your Windows 10 installation media inserted and boot from it.
  2. Select Troubleshoot instead of Install in the bottom left of the new screen.
  3. Select Advanced Options, Startup Repair and let Windows do its thing. If there are file issues, this should repair it.

If it doesn’t:

Boot your computer with your Windows 10 installation media inserted and boot from it.

  1. Select Troubleshoot instead of Install in the bottom left of the new screen.
  2. Select Advanced Options and Safe Mode. Press F5 and let Windows reload.
  3. Install the latest graphics driver for your computer and reboot and retest.

In most cases, one of these will fix Windows 10 black screen issues. If you still can’t fix it or have any other computer problem you need help with, contact Dave’s Computers today at 908-428-9558. We’re here to help!

How to use Windows Memory Diagnostic to troubleshoot RAM

Windows Memory Diagnostic

Yesterday I spoke about using MemTest86+to troubleshoot PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA errors. It got me thinking more about memory troubleshooting. MemTest86+ is an excellent tool but it isn’t the only one we can use to check memory issues. In fact, Windows 10 has a memory testing app built in called Windows Memory Diagnostic. Let’s take a look at how to use it.

Windows Memory Diagnostic isn’t quite as thorough as MemTest86+ but it’s a good place to begin your troubleshooting. It is built into Windows and lists its results in Event Viewer.

Windows Memory Diagnostic

Windows Memory Diagnostic is a tool built into Windows that performs a range of tests similar to MemTest86+. It requires a reboot and will interrupt the boot to run before Windows core files are loaded. You can also access it using Advanced Startup if you need to.

  1. Type ‘memory’ to the Search Windows/Cortana box.
  2. Select Windows Memory Diagnostic and select ‘Restart now to check for problems’. This is a command not a setting so your computer will immediately reboot.
  3. The tool will automatically load instead of Windows and will perform the tests. You will see a blue screen with simple text telling you what’s going on and the percentage of completion. Once the tests are complete, your computer will boot into Windows.
  4. Click the Windows Memory Diagnostic popup in the notification area to see the results.

If you’re fortunate, you will see a notice that says ‘no errors were found’. This is a good indication that your RAM is fine. If you do see errors, the popup should take you directly to Event Viewer where you can see what went wrong and where. If you aren’t taken there, go to Event Viewer and find ‘MemoryDiagnostics-Results’.

Advanced Memory Diagnostic

You may notice while in Windows Memory Diagnostic a small notice in the bottom left of the blue screen that says F1=options. This innocuous command is where you can access Windows Advanced Memory Diagnostic. So if the standard diagnostic doesn’t find any faults but you’re still experiencing errors, you can run deeper diagnostics from here.

I would suggest running an Extended diagnostic with two passes to give your RAM a real going over. If it comes out of that test clear, there is nothing wrong with the memory in your computer!

Have you used Windows Memory Diagnostic? How did you find it? Let us know below!

How to stop Windows Firewall from turning itself on

How to stop Windows Firewall from turning itself on

Even though the Windows 10 Firewall is better than ever, it is still difficult to recommend it as your only internet defense. That’s why we always recommend using a third party firewall. There are a number of options, both free and premium and it’s a good idea to use one of these instead. If you’re way ahead of us and already use a third-party firewall, you might notice that every once in a while Windows firewall turns itself back on.

It always seems to happen after a significant Windows update but can also happen quite randomly. So even after you have turned off Windows Firewall in the Control Panel, it somehow manages to activate itself. If you’re having trouble keeping Windows Firewall turned off, here’s how to do switch if off permanently.

  1. Type ‘services.msc’ into the Search Windows box.
  2. Find Windows Firewall and right click it.
  3. Stop the service and select ‘Disabled’ in the drop down menu.
  4. Click Apply and then OK to quit out of the window.

There should be no need to reboot or log out and back in again to implement your settings.

Firewall use

There is nothing wrong with using multiple firewalls but if you use a competent third-party one, there is no need. Windows Firewall will only take up unnecessary resources and potentially slow down your network connection.

As an added note, you may find Windows Store may not allow you to download or update apps when Windows Firewall is disabled. If that is the case on your computer, simple enable the service perform your download and/or update and disable it again.

I cannot see the internet icon in the notification tray in Windows 10. Help!

I cannot see the internet icon in the notification tray in Windows 10

Disappearing notification icons are actually a common occurrence in Windows 10, with the internet and Wi-Fi icons being primary among them. For some reason, what should be a very simple element of Windows 10 is more problematic than it should be. If your internet or Wi-Fi icon has disappeared from the notification tray, here’s how to fix it.

Return the internet icon to the notification tray in Windows 10

Getting the icons back into the notification tray should be as simple as re-enabling them. However, first we should check that your network and/or Wi-Fi are actually working.

  1. Navigate to Control Panel, Network and Internet and View status and tasks.
  2. Click ‘Change adapter settings’ on the left to bring up a new window with all your network hardware.
  3. Check your Ethernet and Wi-Fi cards are enabled.

If they are enabled and seem to be working correctly, check the notification area itself.

  1. Navigate to Settings, System, Notifications & actions.
  2. Make sure ‘Show app notifications’ is turned on.
  3. Click the ‘Turn system icons on or off’ text link.
  4. Select Network and switch it off then back on again.
  5. Select Wi-Fi (if enabled) and switch it off then back on again.

In the vast majority of cases forcing Windows to turn network notifications on and off again is enough to bring the icons back to the notification area. The icons should now behave normally, for a while at least!

I’m getting ‘Windows Error 0xc000007b’ what do I do?

I’m getting Windows Error 0xc000007b what do I do.

If you’re seeing an error that says ‘The application was unable to start correctly (0xc000007b)’ it means something has gone wrong with the program or with Windows files that the program needs to access. While it sounds serious, it is actually quite straightforward to address.

With some basic Windows troubleshooting techniques, we can fix the error and get your program working properly again.

Fixing ‘The application was unable to start correctly (0xc000007b)’ errors

When fixing file errors in Windows 10, we take a systematic approach. It is often a process of elimination beginning with the simplest fix and moving onto the more involved ones. Perform each step, retest the program that was giving the error and stop once it works properly again. Otherwise continue onto the next step.

  1. Reboot your computer.
  2. Run the program as an administrator. Right click the program executable (ends in .exe or labeled as Application in Windows Explorer) and select ‘Run as administrator’.
  3. Run the program in compatibility mode. Right click the program executable and select ‘Troubleshoot compatibility’. Choose the previous version of Windows and retest.
  4. Ensure you have the latest Windows updates, graphics and sound drivers. Update as necessary and reboot your computer.
  5. Reinstall Microsoft C Runtime packages. You can download these files directly from Microsoft. Install them, reboot and try again.
  6. Re-install the program giving the error.
  7. If it’s a game giving the 0xc000007b error, you may be missing essential DLL files and .NET framework files. Re-install or download the files as necessary.
  8. Open a CMD window as an administrator and type or paste ‘chkdsk c: /f /r’. This will check your file system for issues. It won’t pick up everything but is a good troubleshooting tool.
  9. Reinstall DirectX. DirectX is packaged with graphics drivers Microsoft also makes it available as a separate download.
  10. Uninstall your graphics drivers and reinstall them. Make sure to use the uninstall facility within the driver software, reboot, then perform the reinstall.

 

‘The application was unable to start correctly (0xc000007b)’ errors can be caused by a variety of missing files, which is why we have to perform this process of elimination. In the vast majority of cases, one of these steps will fix the issue.

 

If you know of any other ways to fix it, let us know below!