Windows 10: Windows won’t start – black screen with flickering desktop and no access

Discus and support Windows won’t start – black screen with flickering desktop and no access in Windows 10 Gaming to solve the problem; Hello,I’m experiencing a serious issue with my Windows PC After booting, only the Windows logo appears, followed by a black screen.The taskbar... Discussion in 'Windows 10 Gaming' started by Ben Kupfer, May 19, 2025 at 8:22 AM.

  1. Windows won’t start – black screen with flickering desktop and no access


    Hello,I’m experiencing a serious issue with my Windows PC After booting, only the Windows logo appears, followed by a black screen.The taskbar occasionally appears briefly, but the desktop stays black and keeps flickering constantly.The mouse pointer repeatedly shows the loading spinning icon.I can only log in through the Administrator account, but even there I get the same issue: black screen, flickering, and no usable access.I have tried booting into Safe Mode, but the screen still flickers and stays black – I cannot open anything, not even the browser.I also tried restarting Windows Explo

    :)
     
  2. 95Viper Win User

    Black screen after 'Starting Windows' sequence

    Sounds like the old... windows black screen of death.

    Try this quoted from "VisiHow" article "Repair Windows 7 Black Screen of Death":

    They, also, have some other options there, too.
    Google search and you will find a lot of the "Windows Black Screen of Death with cursor" fixes.
     
  3. AlanR246 Win User
    Screen flicker and hangup on desktop screen

    The short term fix for me was to roll back to Windows 7. I did not have the time to work through the issues but will try again in a week or so. I had a call in to the Microsoft Answer Desk and got a call back after I rolled back. Pasted below are the suggestions
    to attempt find the problem. In my case, I suspect Norton was the culprit since that was the common product on both my desktops and I was not seeing a flicker in Task Manager window.

    From the Microsoft Answer Desk:

    Here are the Steps for the Flickering issue.

    If we see the screen flickering after sign-in there are two possible causes - apps causing Explorer to crash, or display driver issues.

    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.
    Here are the Steps for the Flickering issue.

    If we see the screen flickering after sign-in there are two possible causes - apps causing Explorer to crash, or display driver issues.
     
  4. SUI
    Sui Win User

    Windows won’t start – black screen with flickering desktop and no access

    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.
     
Thema:

Windows won’t start – black screen with flickering desktop and no access

Loading...
  1. Windows won’t start – black screen with flickering desktop and no access - Similar Threads - won’t start –

  2. Windows won’t start – black screen with flickering desktop and no access

    in Windows 10 Software and Apps
    Windows won’t start – black screen with flickering desktop and no access: Hello,I’m experiencing a serious issue with my Windows PC After booting, only the Windows logo appears, followed by a black screen.The taskbar occasionally appears briefly, but the desktop stays black and keeps flickering constantly.The mouse pointer repeatedly shows the...
  3. Black flickering screen…

    in Windows 10 Gaming
    Black flickering screen…: Back in May or June I have automatic updates set up for my hpi3 white laptop. I did school work and closed my laptop and ever since then when I turn it in on the screen is flickering black. No cursor, fans are running, lights are on, and I have no issues when plugging the...
  4. Screen flickering black

    in Windows 10 Gaming
    Screen flickering black: Hello, I recently updated all of my drivers and checked to see everything was up to date on my MSI laptop. It says everything is updated including my Intel UHD Graphics driver and my NVIDIA GeForce driver as well. However I am experiencing constant flickering everything I...
  5. Screen Flickering Black

    in Windows 10 Gaming
    Screen Flickering Black: My screen has been flickering black for about a second several times a day for a few weeks now. I have uninstalled and reinstalled the graphics driver, and tried Ctrl + Shift + Windows + B. I also have checked for any necessary updates in both the "Check For Updates" Windows...
  6. Screen Flickering Black

    in Windows 10 Software and Apps
    Screen Flickering Black: My screen has been flickering black for about a second several times a day for a few weeks now. I have uninstalled and reinstalled the graphics driver, and tried Ctrl + Shift + Windows + B. I also have checked for any necessary updates in both the "Check For Updates" Windows...
  7. Black/flickering screen

    in Windows 10 Software and Apps
    Black/flickering screen: When I start up my computer it shows a black screen after I login. I tried to use safe mode and it shows a flickering screen and I can’t click on any apps while task manager is fine. It all started around the windows 11 upgrade....
  8. Flickering black desktop

    in Windows 10 Support
    Flickering black desktop: Hello everyone, I logged in to my pc yesterday to find to find an empty black desktop and a taskbar that kept on flickering. The last thing I remember was installing a few updates, so when I entered recovery mode, I tried uninstalling the latest update. The process took a...
  9. Black screen and flickering

    in Windows 10 BSOD Crashes and Debugging
    Black screen and flickering: Ever since installing a recent windows update I’ve been having this issue, I’ve tried uninstalling the update and updating to an even newer version, same with my drivers, the issue also causes 100% gpu usage, I’ve tried many fixes with nothing working....
  10. Black screen, cursor flickering. Unable to start Windows

    in Windows 10 Installation and Upgrade
    Black screen, cursor flickering. Unable to start Windows: Hi, I updated my Windows 7 to Windows 10 few weeks ago. The update process went well, atleast it looked like it. After the update i started having weird freezing problems. It looked like that some process took 100% of my cpu but i was unable to see what process it was....