Windows 7 does not start & only shows black screen

A black screen, Windows 7 does not start. This practical tip shows you what you can do to repair your PC.

Windows 7 does not start: Advanced start options

If the animation does not even load when Windows is booted, you will only get to your PC via detours.

After you have started the PC, there is a picture of your BIOS. You then have a short time to press the [F8] key. This button opens the Windows advanced startup options.
First select "Safe Mode" here. If this does not work, select "Activate start logging". These modes start Windows without the large number of additional services installed.
If you have recently installed new drivers, you should reset them. You should always find older software and driver versions on the manufacturer's website. Uninstall the new drivers completely and restart your computer if necessary. Then install the last working driver manually.

If the above tip is not the cause of the starting difficulties, try a clean restart.

Start your PC in the "Activate start logging" mode as just described.
In Windows, press the [Windows] + [R] keys and enter "msconfig" in the window. Confirm with your click on "Ok".
Now click on the "System start" tab and then on "Deactivate all".
Now switch to the "Services" tab and hide all Microsoft services using the corresponding "Hide all Microsoft services" button. Then deactivate any remaining services.
Now carry out a regular system start by shutting down your PC and then starting it up yourself.
If everything works now, a recently installed or changed service is to blame for the boat difficulties. You can try to locate the service using exclusion procedures by gradually re-enabling services.

To continue searching for errors in the boot instance and repairing them, you can use the Windows DVD start help.

To do this, insert your Windows DVD into your drive and then restart your PC.
Set the DVD drive as the default boot device in the BIOS. In this practical tip, we will tell you how you can change your default boot device order.
After the restart, the message "Press any key to start from CD or DVD ..." should appear on your screen. You don't need to press a button here, your PC should automatically boot from the DVD.
Then select the start help option and let the Windows installation check the boot sequence. This can take some time.
After a restart, you must restore the correct boot device priority in your BIOS. If you have more than one hard disk, make sure that you select the hard disk with the Windows installation as the first hard disk.
In an emergency, a Windows restore point can help. Make sure, however, that you back up your data and files beforehand!

In addition to the software errors in Windows itself, configurations and hardware problems can also be responsible for the failure of Windows.

Disconnect all USB devices that are not absolutely necessary and also hard drives that are not required for booting. There may be a defect here.
USB keyboards and mice are often a problem for the BIOS. You can deactivate the USB legacy function in the BIOS. This means that USB devices are only loaded after the boot process. However, caution is required here: If you do not have a PS / 2 keyboard, you can no longer undo this change!
The graphics card can also be the cause of the error if the contacts are oxidized or there is another defect. If you have the option of using onboard graphics, remove your graphics card as a test and then try to start your PC.
If you have overclocked your PC or changed other settings in the BIOS, you can try to reset the BIOS to the default values.
If none of the tips helped you, you can try reinstalling Windows. However, all data will be lost. So back up all your data and files!
Otherwise there may be a hardware defect on the power supply, hard disk, mainboard or other hardware components. To test this, you have to test all parts using the exclusion principle.

This practical tip shows you how you can reset your Windows installation to the factory state without a Windows DVD.