Windows 10: USB disconnects on its own, general unresponsiveness, and flickering start bar

Hi, I've come here because I don't know what to do anymore. I've tried a lot of things and am still at a loss for why what is happening is happening. A couple days ago, the 15th I think it was, an external Toshiba hard drive that has a large amount of documents on it, but no programs or anything highly taxing I have plugged into my J: Drive that I got about 7 or so years ago 2TB with about 340 GB free would randomly make the USB disconnect sound and I would not be able to access the files for about a second, and then it would recover. So I figured I would monitor it, and if it got worse I wo

:)

 

Screen starts to flicker after logging in for a while

Hello

This is an entirely new issue. My screen starts to flicker after logging in/turning on computer for a while, and/or if I launch an app that uses my Nvidia card (my laptop has Optimus), I'm not exactly sure which of these two causes it. For the first while after a restart, the screen appears fine. The flickering appears on desktop background + internet browser as well, so I'm pretty sure it's not a program compatibility issue. The flickering is not severe (the type that looks like horizontal bars sliding up) but it's an annoyance.

Tried:

• Disabling Windows error reporting + problem reporting service in msconfig
• Restart computer
• Resetting Nvidia global settings to default in Nvidia control panel
• Checking for display drive updates in device manager (all up to date)
• Checking monitor refresh rate (60Hz, can't be changed)

Laptop I'm using:

• i7-4700MQ 2.4GHz
• 1900x1080
• Intel HD 4600 + Nvidia GT750M

Thanks for suggestions.

 

Flickering black desktop

Thank you for your reply. I tried safe mode, and that stopped the task bar from flickering but nothing else responds other than the control alt delete menu. I can't open anything other than command prompt though, so I can't try most of the other suggestions on that list.

 

Flickering Home Screen and No Start Menu

Hi Ben,

This issue could be caused due to some corrupt files or app conflicts. I would suggest you to try these steps and check:

To start, press this key combination: CTRL+SHIFT+ESC

If this opens Task Manager and that window is NOT flickering:

The likely cause is Software Compatibility issue causing Explorer.exe to crash repeatedly.

• Use the File, Run option in Task Manager to open additional tools as-needed. Be sure to check the box to run tools as Administrator. These could include:
  
  appwiz.cpl: Opens Programs and Features
  
  compmgmt.msc: Opens Computer Management
  
  cmd.exe
• You can search for crash events in the Event Logs and find if any third party DLLs are the faulting module in the Explorer,.exe crashes Or uninstall software that is likely to include shell extensions.
  
• If removing software does not resolve the issue, use these commands to repair Windows:
  
  dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth
  
  sfc /scannow

We have reports that removing these apps help resolve the issue:

• Norton Antivirus
• Other AV solutions
• iCloud
• IDT Audio (faulting module IDTNC64.cpl)

If Task Manager is flickering, or it didn’t open, proceed with display driver troubleshooting:

The likely cause is a display driver or display hardware issue.

• Boot to Safe Mode with Networking.
• Use the same steps here as for Black Screen issues – if dual chipset, disable built-in graphics, if still flickers, try with only the other chipset enabled.
  
• If this does not work, or there is only a single chipset, uninstall the device and remove the driver software.
  

[*]Then boot into Windows and update the drivers to the latest from the manufacturer.