I am stumped.
My laptop is having a problem which appears quite similar to others I have read about (I have of course been Googling furiously), but is oddly complex.
The laptop of mention is an Alienware M14X (a bit over a year old [however, the hard drive is only 2 months old as I had it replaced by a Dell technician]) running Windows 8.1 (fairly sure it's 8.1 pro).
Yesterday I attempted to restart my computer. All the programs closed and Windows began to restart. However, with absolutely zero forewarning, it installed two (I think it was two) updates before turning off. Then, as it should, my laptop sprang back to life, told me it was configuring updates, and displayed the Windows logo.
Here's where the problem occurs.
From that moment, and every time I have turned my computer on since, after displaying the Windows logo, my computer's screen turns blank (blank not black. It is still receiving a signal from the laptop and I can even control the brightness) and stays that way.
Want to know what I think makes this interesting?
I sit here, watching my screen, and every now and then it flashes two icons in each of the bottom corners. The icon on the left tells me my ethernet cable is plugged in. The icon on the right tells me my language: "ENG." Furthermore, I have some degree of control over the mouse. That is, although the cursor doesn't originally display, moving my physical mouse displays the cursor on screen. Every few seconds though, the cursor resets to the centre of the screen and disappears until I move my mouse again.
Please note that this is NOT the issue where I can press CTRL + ALT + DEL and access the Task Manager to reboot the File Explorer. I can NOT "blindly" enter my password. I do not ever see the login screen nor get past it, despite the fact those icons flicker every 10 or 20 seconds.
I have of course tried several ways to fix it. I have tried: two separate restore points; a "bootrec /fixboot" command; booting into low resolution video mode; booting into safe mode (the blank screen and cursor problem persists in safe mode); generic Windows 8 diagnostic fixes.
I have also run a thorough PC Doctor test (which takes hours) from the boot selection screen. PC Doctor claims there is nothing wrong with any component of my computer.
For me, any kind of data loss is an extreme way to fix things. I would really rather not perform a PC refresh or reset. I live in Australia. To download all my programs again at 500 kb/s will be a nightmare. Not to mention, I will hire a professional before I think about losing even one precious photo. I'm sure you can relate.
So I desperately need help. Please.
This is my first post. I hope it's all good.
My laptop is having a problem which appears quite similar to others I have read about (I have of course been Googling furiously), but is oddly complex.
The laptop of mention is an Alienware M14X (a bit over a year old [however, the hard drive is only 2 months old as I had it replaced by a Dell technician]) running Windows 8.1 (fairly sure it's 8.1 pro).
Yesterday I attempted to restart my computer. All the programs closed and Windows began to restart. However, with absolutely zero forewarning, it installed two (I think it was two) updates before turning off. Then, as it should, my laptop sprang back to life, told me it was configuring updates, and displayed the Windows logo.
Here's where the problem occurs.
From that moment, and every time I have turned my computer on since, after displaying the Windows logo, my computer's screen turns blank (blank not black. It is still receiving a signal from the laptop and I can even control the brightness) and stays that way.
Want to know what I think makes this interesting?
I sit here, watching my screen, and every now and then it flashes two icons in each of the bottom corners. The icon on the left tells me my ethernet cable is plugged in. The icon on the right tells me my language: "ENG." Furthermore, I have some degree of control over the mouse. That is, although the cursor doesn't originally display, moving my physical mouse displays the cursor on screen. Every few seconds though, the cursor resets to the centre of the screen and disappears until I move my mouse again.
Please note that this is NOT the issue where I can press CTRL + ALT + DEL and access the Task Manager to reboot the File Explorer. I can NOT "blindly" enter my password. I do not ever see the login screen nor get past it, despite the fact those icons flicker every 10 or 20 seconds.
I have of course tried several ways to fix it. I have tried: two separate restore points; a "bootrec /fixboot" command; booting into low resolution video mode; booting into safe mode (the blank screen and cursor problem persists in safe mode); generic Windows 8 diagnostic fixes.
I have also run a thorough PC Doctor test (which takes hours) from the boot selection screen. PC Doctor claims there is nothing wrong with any component of my computer.
For me, any kind of data loss is an extreme way to fix things. I would really rather not perform a PC refresh or reset. I live in Australia. To download all my programs again at 500 kb/s will be a nightmare. Not to mention, I will hire a professional before I think about losing even one precious photo. I'm sure you can relate.
So I desperately need help. Please.
This is my first post. I hope it's all good.
My Computer
System One
-
- OS
- Windows 8