Windows 7 Black Screen with white arrow

I have run into a problem on my windows 7 desktop that seems to be an issue that many people have encountered but have not found a good solution.
goes to "starting windows" screen...

then a black screen with a cursor i can move.

It never gets to the logon screen, i cant boot into safe mode, ctrl + alt + del doesnt work either. (seems to work for some but not me)

booting to last known good configuration doesnt work.

booted with disc to the last couple of restore points but nothing fixes

Booted and scanned with FPROT. Nothing found

i can access the bios, i can start my installation cd, and i can get to the f8 menu....but so far nothing works.

any ideas? If you need me to tell you anything about the pc, let me know and i'll list the specifics.

Please help.

 

I have tried to got back to the last 3 restore points but no luck. Also tried the startup repair several times.

I found some instances on the web where some say this is a microsoft update issue that microsoft says is not the case.

Anyone know what causes the problem?