1 Client 2 Computers, both black screen after reboots. Shutdowns behave normally.

[thecomputerguy]

I have a client who has two physical computers ... One in CA (California), and one in NV (Nevada). He is a VERY simple user in the legal field. He uses Prolaw, Outlook, Adobe & Word Perfect, that's it. By simple I mean this client has had the same icons on his desktop in the same spot for 8 years, and does not use the computer for leisure. He logs into the CA computer from the NV computer while he is out of state.

Both computers are Dell Vostro 260's, old yes I know. The CA computer has had the RAM maxed and an SSD added, the NV computer is stock, i5 4GB 500GB W7.

He contacted me because his NV computer would black screen after rebooting, forcing him to hold the power button in to force a shut off and then turn it back on and it would boot up normally. I explained to him the computer is old, needs to be replaced yadda yadda yadda.

He comes to CA and complains that his CA computer is doing the same thing. I can't believe it so I login and reboot it, sure enough it never comes back online. I call his office and have them shut it off, turn it back on and it comes online.

So basically when you initiate a reboot, the computer begins the windows reboot process shutting down all the applications. When the computer has finished that it will reboot but at the point where the Dell logo would appear nothing happens, just black screen, all lights are on monitor is black screen, and computer does not boot. Nothing shows in the logs because Windows never even attempts to load. When the computer is 'shut down' instead of 'rebooted' all the lights go out, turn the computer back on and it acts normally. It's not the monitor because the computer never comes back online in my Teamviewer either.

Any idea or just call it two Mobo's and replace the old computers (circa 2011)? He has other Vostro 260's in the office that do not do this.

 

[GTP]

Sounds to me like they are stuck on some Windows updates. Can you try booting in Safe Mode?
What about System Restore? Can you boot with a PE and check HDD health status?
If you can image the drives first I would then run a CHKDSK on the drives and see if they boot afterwards.
If he has another Dell in the office can you put the HDD from the non booting in another Vostro and see if it boots?

Iv'e had this on numerous occasions with Win 7 and failed Windows Updates not installing properly.

 

[sapphirescales]

Tried turning off fast startup?

 

[Markverhyden]

So you've not seen it yourself? I agree it's probably something involving fast start up and failed updates. If you do not have physical access some suggestions.

1. Have them film the process of rebooting.
2. Once it's up try restoring to an earlier point.
3. If you have TV try rebooting in safemode w/ networking then try Tweaking's AIO.

While it's possible there were two mobo failures, those statistics are much lower than a OS problem.

 

[nlinecomputers]

Event logs, event logs, EVENT LOGS!

 

[ComputerRepairTech]

So basically when you initiate a reboot, the computer begins the windows reboot process shutting down all the applications. When the computer has finished that it will reboot but at the point where the Dell logo would appear nothing happens, just black screen, all lights are on monitor is black screen, and computer does not boot.

Cant be a fast startup issue, its happening on reboot not shutdown and its before the dell logo..and its windows 7.

I read some forum posts that would hint that the drives might be initialized before the dell logo even shows up? If thats correct did you use the exact same SSD for both systems and if so which one?

Edit: the customer is use to seeing the dell logo right? its not one of those situations where the boot process is trying to show up through an alternate video card that isnt connected then later switches over when windows starts loading?

Edit2: When cold booting how long does the dell logo stay up for? I notice this in the drivers section on the dell website: Dell Wireless 1502 WLAN Mini Card Driver do these systems have wifi? cause..i think that card is atheros based....yeah thats right im hating on atheros even pre windows boot xD

Edit3: Sorry its early...forgot to ask, how long has he waited to see if it starts up on its own without resorting to the power button to force it off?

 

[cypress]

Starting wit the basics but it seems like a similar issue that a client of mine had last week. After rebooting the screen it would just go into a black screen. I also had the same issue on my personal PC a couple months ago, so when I arrived on site I tried the these same steps:

1) Power down PC. Remove power plug from back of power supply.
2) Let it sit for about 1 minute and then plug it back in.

Both PC's powered back up and haven't had any issues since. But I would still take a look at the eventlogs. Could be that the PSU is going bad.

BUT I will say this...

Had something very similar 2 years ago with another client using a Dell Vostro PC and the issue came back.. So I replaced the power supply with a Cosair and haven't had an issue since.

 

[thecomputerguy]

Thanks for all the suggestions everyone ... after a couple hours of onsite testing and an additional 3 computers experiencing the same issue I was able to narrow it down to a Windows Update specifically KB4056894 installed on 1/5/2018

 

[ComputerRepairTech]

Thanks for all the suggestions everyone ... after a couple hours of onsite testing and an additional 3 computers experiencing the same issue I was able to narrow it down to a Windows Update specifically KB4056894 installed on 1/5/2018

Any additional symptom information to add just in case I run into this or is it pretty much just as you previously described?

 

[thecomputerguy]

Any additional symptom information to add just in case I run into this or is it pretty much just as you previously described?

That's about it... nothing in event logs, the computer behaved like it was rebooting normally and everything was fine but it just wouldn't POST which lead me to believe the computer wasn't finishing the shutdown and they only that had changed on them was updates. Fast startup wasn't a possibility due to all systems being W7.

I msconfig'd everything out and the issue persisted.

Also the issue was intermittent, the computer would reboot normally 3 times then fail to reboot 5-10 times so it was difficult to troubleshoot. Computer seemed to reboot fine in safe mode.