Windows 10: Laptop screen blank after closing cover - !@#$%^(*&^ update

I truly DESPISE Windows 10 updates.....

My wife, on her Toshiba Qosmio laptop, running Win 10 Home, which has been running PERFECTLY FINE for months, GOT some kind of update early today. I haven't seen it so I'm not sure what it was, but it was "something with a number"...

Since it wanted her to let it update, she did.

Since then, ANY time she closes the lid, when she reopens it, the screen is blank gray. Mouse moves but there's NO display... I thought MAYBE it was some incredibly stupid new thing being done when it sleeps, so I went into the power settings and changed EVERYTHING to NEVER SLEEP. EVERYTHING.

Close the lid, open the lid, blank screen.

I have to reboot the thing every time she closes the lid.

Again - it has worked PERFECTLY for months. Update. NO MORE WORK. What do NOW?

:)

 

Hello Gracie, *Smile

As a test, make sure that Fast Startup is turned off to see if that may be the issue. It can sometimes cause an issue like on some systems.

Turn On or Off Fast Startup in Windows 10 - Windows 10 Performance Maintenance Tutorials

 

Thanks for the thought, but nope... I went in, turned off Fast start. Turned off hibernate. Turned off sleep. Turned every EVERYTHING I can think of......

BUT, if you close the lid and open it, even after a couple seconds, you get the empty screen. It's not a BSOD, or even a BLACK screen, it's just blank - it's the sort-of black you get during part of the boot... The MOUSE is still there, you can move it around, click on the nothing, but there's no display........

My wife says it was the "Creator" update? I haven't seen it on my desktop yet, but apparently it attacked her laptop yesterday. And WHATEVER it did, it's causing me a LOT OF GRIEF 'cause she keeps having to shut down the whole laptop every time she walks away and closes the lid....... And at LEAST every third time, she TELLS ME she's still having to do it...

What the hell did Microsoft do THIS time? Somebody, anybody?

 

If this laptop has NVIDIA graphics, then you might see if installing the 381.78 hotfix released today below may help.

It fixes Windows 10 Creators Update booting to a black screen on certain notebooks.

Latest NVIDIA GeForce Graphics Drivers for Windows 10 - - Windows 10 Forums

 

Awesome idea. Unfortunately, this laptop is a couple years old and uses an NVIDIA 360M processor and the 381.78 hotfix won't install.

It already has the most current drivers for this controller, which as far as I know is 342.01, so I believe it's current.

Still get a blank screen any time I close the lid. Mouse there, screen blank.

I figure this HAS to be something obvious but I"m not seeing it...

 

What does she have set for the default close lid action?

You might see if setting it to "shut down" may help for now if it's not already set to that.

Change Lid Close Default Action in Windows 10 - Windows 10 Performance Maintenance Tutorials

If that doesn't help, then you might see if troubleshooting with a clean boot may reveal anything.

Perform a Clean Boot in Windows 10 to Troubleshoot Software Conflicts - Windows 10 Performance Maintenance Tutorials

 

Or try setting it to "Do Nothing". It's what I have mine set to, I don't use sleep or hibernate.

 

Unfortunately, everything on this thing is already set to do nothing. I just rechecked to be sure I didn't miss anything, and made sure - no sleeping, no hybernating, no shutting off the display no nothin'...........

SO, both of us being out of patience, I grabbed the Windows 10 CD I created when they started offering W10 in 2015 and told it to blow everything away (there wasn't much additional software installed on here), format the partition and install...

Which MAY work fine though I got the activation screen, tried the original Windows 7 code, which it rejected, tried the Windows 8.1 code, which it ALSO rejected, and finally hit "Skip" because there WAS NO "I don't have a product key" at the bottom...

SO, it's installing but I have NO idea what kind of hissy fit it'll have trying to activate the copy of Windows 10 Home that's been running on this laptop for almost 2 years..... I checked the Internet, but found a lot of wildly contrary information about needing/not needing product key, automatically activating the first time it hits the Internet since it was working before, and SO ON... Since I'm committed now to doing the install, can anybody tell me how to make SURE this thing is going to work without a lot of BS 'cause I do NOT want to go through another week of dealing with an annoyed domestic associate?

 

If you had linked your digital license for the PC with your Microsoft account, it should automatically activate if you setup Windows with your Microsoft account (MSA). If it doesn't activate with your linked MSA, then you could try the Activation troubleshooter to activate with.

Link Microsoft Account to Windows 10 Digital License - Windows 10 Installation Upgrade Tutorials

Use Activation Troubleshooter in Windows 10 - Windows 10 Installation Upgrade Tutorials

 

You probably should have downloaded and run the latest Media Creation Tool. That would have gotten you the CU 1703 build. What you installed was an old build that will prompt you to upgrade to the CU. That's why you saw "Skip" instead of "I don't have one".

 

I've generally refrained from creating a microsoft account. I get enough garbage on a daily basis without adding MS to the horde... If I HAVE to do it I can, but I'd much prefer to have this thing activate without it.

 

They don't spam you , at least they don't spam me. Actually , its kind of helpful and convenient.

 

No spam here either. I get e-mails, but only because I asked for them as an MVP. Microsoft is one of the few companies out there that doesn't send you unsolicited e-mails.

 

Since you are using Win 10 Pro as a last resort I would suggest to see the power management settings in gpedit (I hope you know how to get to it):

Computer Configuration > Policies > Administrative Templates > System > Power Management > Button Settings

 

Thanks for the replies. Mayhap I'll go ahead and set up an MS account for her.

I'm not using Win 10 Pro on this laptop, but Win 10 DID install, activate, run a HERD of updates, and APPEARS to still be working fine... Not crashing, no blank screens, no weirdness. I've gotten rid of just about all the bloatware, apps, trial stuff, and other annoying stupidity, and installed the software my wife customarily uses.

Now I'll see if I can get this thing tuned so it runs as well as possible and see how it goes when I give it back to her... Although, I have to admit, my wife is somewhat of a Typhoid Mary of technology. I can have a computer sitting here, being used for a month. Work perfectly, no flakiness at all. Give it back to her and within 24 hours it'll have completely composted!!!!!!!