Windows 10: Random Black screens and intermittent slow response

In the past month, we have started experiencing several systems, mostly laptops but some desktops with random issues. The problems have been sporatic over the past few months, but in the past month have become chronic.


Note that I have seen this with a mix of Windows 10 Pro (Dell OEM) and Microsoft Enterprise 1803 and 1809 Builds.


We have Cylance as the antivirus solution. These are all Dell systems, but various Latitude E5x70 and E5x80 series are the majority. Have had a couple of OptiPlex Desktops exhibit this but rarely.


Symptom #1:

User boots their laptop/desktop, and they login to their user account. Screen goes black at some point and the Desktop can take 5 to 10 minutes and in some cases can hang for hours. Even if the system does present the desktop it is sluggish at best after the Black Screen occurs


If I hit Control Alt Delete, then bring up Task Manager, I can see that Windows Explorer is running. I can kill it, try to force it to run, but usually can not get the desktop going. Also noticed that on systems that don't have SSD drives, the Hard drive is pegging at 100% (more information about this later). A reboot and the system possibly run the next boot.



Symptom #2:

A variation of the first one. System boots and loads the Desktop. At some point in using the computer the screen goes black. Again similar results as with Symptom #1. Even if the system recovers from the Black Screen, it is sluggish for at least several minutes if not indefinitely.


Symptom #3:

System boots and runs fine. This may be shortly after booting or even after running for along period of time. User attempts to type in the Cortana Search and it won't type but mouse tracks normally. It can take several seconds to even get a character to type, usually frustration sets in and reboot the computer. Note the system may have worked perfectly fine for several minutes, but it is almost like the system goes into slow motion. Note this has occurred on SSD systems, Latitude 5414 and Latitude 7480 systems.


Symptom #4:

System boots and runs fine: But when user clicks on applications, the computer doesn't show any sign that the application was selected. It can be two to up to five minutes later the application loads. Again this occurs on both Conventional and SSD hard drives.


We do tend to keep the BIOS up to date, and on a system that had no symptoms, I upgraded the BIOS and immediately this system exhibited the same symptoms that have been randomly affecting other computers. I downgraded the BIOS and the symptom cleared up immediately.


---------------------------------------------------------------------

So my thoughts are that some security mitigations (Spectre/Meltdown) that are enabled in the BIOS as well as Windows security updates.


Things that seem to reduce or even seem to fix the situation:


On systems with conventional hard drives (Symptoms 1-2) any one of the following changes seems to greatly reduce or seemly fix the issue.


1. Remove Cylance from the computer

2. Disable the SysMain service (SuperFetch)

3. Replace the Convention Hard drive with an SSD drive

4. Downgrade the BIOS from a current version to an older version


On systems with SSD drives, Both the Black Screen and the slow application load can still occur.


And changing the BIOS may impact the symptoms on SSD based systems but even downgrading or upgrading the BIOS hasn't been a consistent fix for them. But fear we are possibly reducing the security fixes needed to protect from Spectre/Meltdown in order to get usable systems.


Since I am dealing with several models, validating each issue has been challenging. I can easily blame the BIOS update, Cylance Antivirus, even the type of hard drive and not know the real cause.


If others are facing something similar or have suggestions, they would be greatly appreciated.

:)

 

Intermittent black screen problem in Windows 10

Hi Warren,

There are several reasons why you are facing an intermittent black screen issue. One of these is due to outdated or incorrect device drivers. For us to figure out what's causing this, provide more details by answering the listed questions:

• On which scenarios did the black screen issue happen again?
• Have you recently installed any updates?
• Have you made any particular changes to your device prior to this happening?
• Are there any 3rd party programs or software installed on your computer?
• To make sure we have not missed on anything, may we know the list of steps that you have done to resolve the issue?

Your response is greatly appreciated.

 

Black screen error

Hello,

There are several reasons why you are facing a black screen issue. One of these is due to outdated or incorrect device drivers. For us to figure out what's causing this, provide more details by answering the listed questions:

• Can you confirm to us if you are using a laptop or a computer?
• Have you made any recent changes to your device prior to this happening?
• What exactly were you doing when the error occurred?
• Have you tried any troubleshooting steps to resolve this? If yes, specify all of the steps that you have done.

As an initial part of troubleshooting, we suggest following the steps given on this article:

Troubleshoot black screen or blank screen errors. This will help you diagnose and rectify most of the known black screen concerns.

We will wait for your response.

 

Random Black Screen

Re-installed Catalyst 8.35 drivers (from the original cd) - no luck. Still getting the random black screen.