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I just installed Windows 8.1 x64 on my Laptop and I've encountered the following problem:

When I restart the laptop, the screen turns off after Windows logo shows up. Just before the "signing in..." page.

If I connect an external monitor everything works fine. I tried change back to original monitor but nothing happened. As if there is no original monitor.

The really strange thing is, that when I shut down my laptop, I turn it back on and everything works normally. The problem is only with restart.

Why is that happening and how can I solve it?

Note: My GPU is NVIDIA GEFORCE GT540M. If you need more hardware information please let me know.

Edit 1: Screen is not off. It is just black.

Edit 2: Now I have the same problem with shutdown too...

Edit 3: I installed windows 7........ I'm afraid I lost this battle....

Edit 4: I found a workaround but I cannot accept it as a solution but maybe it will help us. I noticed that when I restart my pc and get that black screen, if I put the pc on sleep and wake it up 5 seconds later, I get normal log in screen and everything works normal from that point.

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  • Did you update your GPU drivers recently?
    – astv25
    Mar 1, 2015 at 20:57
  • @astv25 Yes! I downloaded the latest GPU drivers from NVIDIA's site right after downloading Intel drivers from windows update.
    – TheCrafter
    Mar 1, 2015 at 20:57

5 Answers 5

Reset to default
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There are differences in the way windows shuts down opposed to restarts. This is probably why you are only getting the black screen during restart.
Difference between shutting down and turning on vs. restart in Windows 8?
When you say the screen turns off, is it off or just black?
Are you able to pull up the task manager (ctrl+alt+del)?

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  • Screen is black not off. Thanks for pointing that out. And no I cannot pull up the task manager.
    – TheCrafter
    Mar 1, 2015 at 21:25
  • Black is way better than off, you'll want to start searching the web for black screen of death on startup (not as bad as it sounds). Are you able to boot into safe mode.
    – Cosco Tech
    Mar 1, 2015 at 21:27
  • However you get into windows, you will want to do a disk check on the hard drive.windows.microsoft.com/en-ca/windows7/check-a-drive-for-errors and also run sfc/scannow in an elevated cmd support.microsoft.com/kb/929833
    – Cosco Tech
    Mar 1, 2015 at 21:29
  • @Garret Cosco Thanks I will try this. I am formating again now and when I finish I will update the post if I have something.
    – TheCrafter
    Mar 1, 2015 at 21:31
  • What os did you have on the laptop prior?
    – Cosco Tech
    Mar 1, 2015 at 21:32
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This could be the backlight rather than the screen itself. Take a flashlight and shine on the screen and see if you can see anything. It will be somewhat difficult to see depending on the screen but you should be able to tell

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  • Screen works sometimes. And works when I install windows 7. So its not that.
    – TheCrafter
    Mar 2, 2015 at 22:33
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It sounds like your problem is with your video driver. I would suggest uninstalling the updated version that you installed and downloading the driver from your laptop manufacturer's website.

When it comes to OEM systems, the latest and greatest drivers are sometimes more hassle than anything else. In our environment we support just shy of 1,000 laptops and every once in a while somebody decides that they need the newest drivers. Sometimes it is fine, but other times everything seems to break. This is because OEMs have specifically designed systems that use components that they make/use/support.

That said, Microsoft's Windows Update doesn't necessarily have a version that would be recommended by anybody. On my desktop system with an Nvidia card, every time Windows Update installed a new version I find myself booting into safe mode to undo the damage. If you want to try the latest driver, go directly to NVidia.com

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  • Tried that too. Nothing happened, same problem!
    – TheCrafter
    Mar 2, 2015 at 22:34
  • Have you tried using extended desktop and troubleshooting from that perspective once you're logged in? Also, could you post the make/model of your laptop? Your edit that after sleeping and resuming resolves the issue points even more to a display driver problem (Windows Sleep mode is supported/controlled by the display driver).
    – DarkEthics
    Mar 3, 2015 at 15:51
  • I resolved the problem and posted an answer. I updated the BIOS firmware. Something was wrong with intel HD drivers with my firmware apparently.
    – TheCrafter
    Mar 3, 2015 at 17:14
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Are you sure that your laptop screen works through nvidia and not the cpu's internal GPU? You can check that through external monitor and nvidia settings:
enter image description here

There are several Intel users having black screen issues:
https://communities.intel.com/mobile/mobile-access.jspa#jive-content?content=%2Fapi%2Fcore%2Fv3%2Fcontents%2F157133

I'm having the same problem but not so often as you and I live with solution b). The last time I read the posts in the Intel thread the only solution for other users was to change the DVI cable (most of them had it with external monitors). But as we are using an laptop this is not possible for us :(

Possible solutions

a) disable HD graphics through device manager

b) turn PC into standby mode (you should check/set the power button for that) and wake it up again

c) press win+p, 3x arrow right and enter to enable only external screen. Then press win+p and enter to enable laptop screen again. Feel free to press arrow key less often to test different settings.

d) enable legacy mode in BIOS (some drivers result problems in uefi mode)

e) I feel it happend much less after I did the following:
1.) enable nonpresent devices: https://superuser.com/a/93979/129262
2.) after that delete all unused screens:
enter image description here

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  • When I go to nvidia settings from external monitor I can only see the external monitor and not my laptop's so I cannot configure anything. win+p doesnt solve the problem either.
    – TheCrafter
    Mar 2, 2015 at 22:36
  • And what do you see by right clicking the desktop and choosing "screen resolution". Only one screen, too?
    – mgutt
    Mar 3, 2015 at 1:57
  • Yes. Only one. By the way check the post again I have one more status update to the problem.
    – TheCrafter
    Mar 3, 2015 at 8:21
  • Ok, this is what I proposed you in 2.). But you missed to answer one important question: If the laptop screen is working, which GPU delivers the signal? I will attach a screenshot of the nvidia settings where you can see clearly which GPU is working.
    – mgutt
    Mar 3, 2015 at 12:57
  • No laptop works through Intel HD graphics but I cannot turn it to NVIDIA. It won't let me...
    – TheCrafter
    Mar 3, 2015 at 13:28
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After hours of searching, trial and error test and reading, I decided to man up and update BIOS. So I fixed a usb to boot windows 98 and got a flash utility thingy. After BIOS update everything seems to work fine.

If you have the same motherboard and you want to update bios translate this page and follow the instructions.

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