Screen turns off as I am using it, back on with black screen and cursor only.

My computer screen randomly shuts off as I am using the computer. This is NOT at boot up. When I turn it back on there is just a black screen with my white cursor. I have to reboot sometimes to make it go away and the problem is solved until it happens again. Scanned with Anti-malewarebtes, avg pro, microsoft online scanner. All came back with nothing. Computer slows down right before the computer screen goes black again. Could this be a driver problem? First started happening last week.

I have a HP Pavilion m8 GX612AA Desktop Computer - 1 x Phenom 9500 2.2GHz - Micro Tower

 

The computer is slow though so it still makes me wonder if it is a virus of some nasty sort. There is plenty of disk space free on my computer and the vents are cleared so I don't think over heating is a problem. The inside looks fine but I am up for any more suggestions, I have been suggested that a capacitor may have blown but they are in top shape.

This is happening as I am actively using the computer. This is not happening on reboot. The screen shuts off, the computer stays on and I turn the screen back on to find a black screen with only my white cursor visible that I can move around. I must reboot to get rid of the issue and it is gone, my computer is fine, but then my computer becomes slow for a while and it happens again a few hours later.

 

Windows Vista, and no I have not connected it to another computer. I only have a small laptop Acer Aspire, which I don't think I can hook up to my screen without obtaining special cords.

 

Another thing to note: My computer gets very slow, opening a window means the computer is labouriously thinking and constantly freezing and I get several "not responding" messages even when opening "my computer". This happens about half an hour before the black screen hits.

 

I don't think it is a monitor issue because turning the monitor back on would show you at the original screen not a cursor.

Do you have more than one stick/module of memory in the computer? It could be a bad memory module.

Edit: Are you sure the computer stays on the whole time and you don't hear anything that sounds like it may experience some sort of microsecond hiccup? No change in the the way the PC box sounds at all? I would think to get to a screen with a cursor something had to happen within the PC box itself.

 

The 500 gigs of memory I have are separated into two internal hard drives. I'm not sure if that answers your question.

The computer stays on the entire time this is happening and the only time the computer is off is when I power it down because the black screen with white cursor does not go away. On reboot the computer is normal until it slows (Not responding messages, freezing, slowing,) then happens again. There is no sound from my computer that accompanies this when it happens.

 

http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/ca/e...3158-12133158-12133158-81574412-81582832.html

Operating system installed
Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium

Processor
AMD Phenom™ 9500 Quad-Core Processor
• 2.20 GHz, 2MB L2 + 2MB shared L3 Cache, 2000 MHz System Bus
Chipset
NVIDIA nForce 430 Chipset
Standard memory
3072 MB (2 x 1024 MB) (2 x 512 MB)
Memory type
PC2-5300 DDR2 SDRAM memory
Memory slots
4 DIMM (240-pin, DDR2) (occupied)
HDD 640 GB (320 x2)

Are we seeing a potential RAID setup?

 

I have 3 GB of RAM and 500 GB of space on my computer. 131 GB are free.

 

Sorry I am not sure what a RAID set up is. I bought my computer over 2 years ago now, and have not added/ changed anything to it. Everything as is when I bought it, which came preloaded with VISTA from where ever I got it. Future Shop or Best Buy or one of those stores. Future Shop I think.

 

I am in the device manager, would this be the NVIDIA GeForce 8500 GT? I see no X,?,! just a list of devices I have. I have never dropped or bumped the tower. It has been moved once a year ago when I moved and it was treated carefully. The rest of the time I'll move it lightly a few inches to remove the cover so I can clean the vents and fan.

 

That white cursor means it's reading the MBR, before booting Windows.

Something is causing it to re-boot, and hang.

I'm thinking HDD diagnostic here. They are at the right age to start "acting up". Five years is about the average lifespan.

 

Thanks for your help anyway! I'm confused as well. I think it may have started after my computer updated. And it seems to happen more frequently when I have my 320 GB portable hard drive plugged in that I formatted to FAT32? It seems when I plug hard drives into my USB port my computer won't burn disks and just seems generally confused. I don't know if these things help in anyway.

 

Actually, it just might be the problem.

If your drives are NTFS, and the portable is FAT32, it could cause some issues.

They are two completely different file systems, and are not really compatible with eachother.

Anyone else feel free to correct me on this one, should I be mistaken...

 

I'm not sure what is going on but I just reread this thread and the OP is left with "a white cursor that he/she can move around". So, in my mind, Windows is still running but has experienced a problem. (Probably, graphics related but I don't know this)

I'm just restating the problem in case anyone else misunderstood the problem like I did.

 

Yes, in the most basic description, my computer is running and as I am using it, it lags and I get "not responding" messages for windows, then suddenly as I am actively using it (have NOT turned off computer screen myself, have NOT shut down/rebooted), the screen shuts off and I turn it back on again to find a black screen with a white cursor I can move that seems to be responding to what is on the desktop, though I cannot see it. So I shut off my computer to fix the issue and it is fixed for several hours.

 

Ahh, yes, I agree Sach. You are correct.

This PC does have a factory supplied Graphics Card from nVidia.

When was the last time you updated the graphics card software suite?

 

It doesn't happen when I reboot windows, only as I am using the computer actively and when I go to open or type, it suddenly shuts off on me (ONLY the computer screen, not the computer) and I turn it back on to see a responsive cursor with a black screen, only the cursor is visible. How would I go about doing a HDD diagnostic? Is this something I need to take it in for??
But yes, thank you. It could possibly be the issue, that my FAT 32 portable usb HD is somehow confusing the computer, because I have a NTFS internal hard drives.

 

I do not think I have ever updated the graphics card. How would I go about doing this? In the device manager, it seems to give me the option of "updating" a lot of my devices. Is this something that is done automatically online if I press the "update" button? Is this something that I should be doing every so often?

 

I'd try updating your graphics software/drivers first.

Then bigger fish can come later, if necessary.

 

I have to fix dinner. One quick thought is to make sure that your graphics card is fully seated in its slot. Since you do clean inside the case on a regular basis, it is possible that something has been moved. Just give the graphics card a good push to make sure it is firmly in its slot. While there it couldn't hurt to press any connectors that you see to make sure they are also firmly in place.

 

I tried this but I keep getting a message as it attempts to install that the install failed.

 

Also from a hardware standpoint, check your cables, and that all the pins are intact. Do you have cats? Sometimes they chew wires. Also, have you run an antivirus scan?

If your card is seated properly, you don't have cats, and have run a virus scan with MalwareBytes, you can find an update here.

http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx

It can't hurt to uninstall all the old software, and the device itself from hardware manager. As I remember, you know how to use it. After restart, run the update software. This might do the trick (corrupt software), or nothing at all (physical problem?)

Enter your model, and what OS you have. It will give you a download link. Just click, download, and save it to run after uninstall, and reboot. You do have a nice PC, and she should be going on three, as I'm reasonably sure that it was part of the early 2008 model year.