Friend's pc stuck in black screen when in windows

[TheMatt1984]

EDIT: this guy...he's been running off integrated gfx this WHOLE TIME. likely since it was built for him.
but now he's fighting me saying his gpu is being used. and there's no way he can play his games off the cpu alone (12600k btw)
but all he plays is fallout 4. i've even told him his actual gpu isn't being used like that.
might have to tell him to live with it at this point

so my buddy was messing around with his nvidia settings and now suddenly get's no picture when entering Windows. he gets a picture when booting however but i guess once he gets into windows the screen goes black.
he claims his m2 is the cause but i have my doubts as he's not very tech savvy (i could be wrong though and please tell me if i am lol)
the only info i have about his rig is the mobo Gigabyte z690 aorus elite and a RTX 3080 also a gigabyte.
now we've tried resetting the bios a few times, but to no avail.
the issue is, he refuses to try to enter safe mode with the power button trick (on then off 3x) since he claims it'll brick his m2 drive or something since he witnessed it before.
i told him it shouldn't but still refuses. i was gonna have him boot into safe mode then if he can get in a picture then and uninstall his nvidia control panel with and his drivers with ddu then reboot back to normal mode.
anything else we can try?
sorry i have so little to go on in terms of his specs. he's in another state so i can't just walk over and help him directly sadly.
if you guys need anymore info i'll try to relay it back here from him

 

[GerKNG]

he refuses to try to enter safe mode with the power button trick (on then off 3x) since he claims it'll brick his m2 drive or something since he witnessed it before.

well then let him keep his black screen.

 

[TheMatt1984]

well then let him keep his black screen.

yeah...might have to sadly

 

[Lei]

so my buddy was messing around with his nvidia settings and now suddenly get's no picture when entering Windows. he gets a picture when booting however but i guess once he gets into windows the screen goes black.
he claims his m2 is the cause but i have my doubts as he's not very tech savvy (i could be wrong though and please tell me if i am lol)
the only info i have about his rig is the mobo Gigabyte z690 aorus elite and a RTX 3080 also a gigabyte.
now we've tried resetting the bios a few times, but to no avail.
the issue is, he refuses to try to enter safe mode with the power button trick (on then off 3x) since he claims it'll brick his m2 drive or something since he witnessed it before.
i told him it shouldn't but still refuses. i was gonna have him boot into safe mode then if he can get in a picture then and uninstall his nvidia control panel with and his drivers with ddu then reboot back to normal mode.
anything else we can try?
sorry i have so little to go on in terms of his specs. he's in another state so i can't just walk over and help him directly sadly.
if you guys need anymore info i'll try to relay it back here from him

Boot into safe mode and uninstall gpu drivers

https://www.wagnardsoft.com/

the issue is, he refuses to try to enter safe mode with the power button trick (on then off 3x) since he claims it'll brick his m2 drive or something since he witnessed it before.
i told him it shouldn't but still refuses. i was gonna have him boot into safe mode then if he can get in a picture then and uninstall his nvidia control panel with and his drivers with ddu then reboot back to normal mode.

I see, tell him someone else said he should do this. Not you

 

[3x0]

If he has an integrated GPU he might want to try plugging the monitor in the motherboard and boot that way

 

[TheMatt1984]

If he has an integrated GPU he might want to try plugging the monitor in the motherboard and boot that way

i'll ask him to try that

I see, tell him someone else said he should do this. Not you

i'll try but he's quite stubborn lol

 

[Lei]

i'll try but he's quite stubborn lol

You need a Windows installation USB.

Try the last method in this link:
https://windowsloop.com/boot-into-safe-mode/#usb-drive

You won't be fresh installing another Windows. You'll be troubleshooting your current Windows (aka safe booting into it) good luck

 

[AsRock]

i'll ask him to try that


i'll try but he's quite stubborn lol

Let him learn the hard way then, like to know why he so against safe mode though.

Ask him if he likes his new black screen and if not then he will need to buy another PC or learn some thing.

 

[TheMatt1984]

Let him learn the hard way then, like to know why he so against safe mode though.

he's not against safe mode itself. he just thinks the on off x3 method will brick/wipe his m2 since he claims it did it once before /shrug

EDITED MAIN POST

 

[Lei]

he's not against safe mode itself. he just thinks the on off x3 method will brick/wipe his m2 since he claims it did it once before /shrug

I told u how to get into safe mode without breaking his m2.
Download Windows iso. Make a bootable usb with Rufus and troubleshoot the OS. DDU

 

[3x0]

this guy...he's been running off integrated gfx this WHOLE TIME.

Big oof as they say. So, just plug in his monitor in the GPU?

 

[TheMatt1984]

I told u how to get into safe mode without breaking his m2.
Download Windows iso. Make a bootable usb with Rufus and troubleshoot the OS. DDU

we can't get into windows. and i can't physically go over there due to being states apart?

Big oof as they say. So, just plug in his monitor in the GPU?

he's taking a break right now. i REALLY wish i could just slap him lol.
i don't think he's aware of what integrated gpus are. poor guy's quite the knuckle dragger. he says so himself lol
but yeah... i'll have him do that once he's ready to resume

 

[Lei]

Big oof as they say. So, just plug in his monitor in the GPU?

He's not using his rtx3080. D'oh he is a cabbage

i don't think he's aware of what integrated gpus are. poor guy's quite the knuckle dragger. he says so himself lol
but yeah... i'll have him do that once he's ready to resume

Reminds me of Abraham Lincoln's father.
Lincoln learned math to stop his dad from wasting money on selling his lands below the price.

You friend got a 3080 and shoved the cable into igfx.

we can't get into windows. and i can't physically go over there due to being states apart?

Ask him to go live on Instagram, so you can instruct him remotely

 

[kozad]

He has a 3080 for Fallout 4? Whew... The iGPU could run that on low settings at 1080p I imagine. See if you can't talk him into plugging the monitor into the onboard as 3x0 suggested.

Personally, if I encountered a black screen on log in I'd power cycle my monitor, them unplug it from the GPU if that did not help, wait a few seconds, then plug it back in. If that did not work, I'd use another socket on the GPU. If there was still no output, then I'd do that safe mode and uninstall the GPU drivers.

Best of luck getting the friend to cooperate, he sounds like a sort of techie who knows a little but assumes they know everything.

 

[TheMatt1984]

He has a 3080 for Fallout 4? Whew... The iGPU could run that on low settings at 1080p I imagine. See if you can't talk him into plugging the monitor into the onboard as 3x0 suggested.

Personally, if I encountered a black screen on log in I'd power cycle my monitor, them unplug it from the GPU if that did not help, wait a few seconds, then plug it back in. If that did not work, I'd use another socket on the GPU. If there was still no output, then I'd do that safe mode and uninstall the GPU drivers.

Best of luck getting the friend to cooperate, he sounds like a sort of techie who knows a little but assumes they know everything.

he's a very single minded gamer lol...i can't knock him for that. i'm almost the same way. i rotate between like 5 or so games while he only plays fallout 4.

and it's not even like he thinks or assumes he knows it all. it's just when something goes wrong he seems to draw his own conclusions and then that's it, there's almost no convincing him otherwise
but i digress

 

[3x0]

I think I speak for everyone when I say you should slap him twice, once for plugging in the integrated GPU and the second time for being stubborn

 

[kozad]

he's a very single minded gamer lol...i can't knock him for that. i'm almost the same way. i rotate between like 5 or so games while he only plays fallout 4.

and it's not even like he thinks or assumes he knows it all. it's just when something goes wrong he seems to draw his own conclusions and then that's it, there's almost no convincing him otherwise
but i digress

Maybe just be like, "Hey, let me try to fix this for you home slice" and send him out for pizza while you fix it?

 

[TheMatt1984]

I think I speak for everyone when I say you should slap him twice, once for plugging in the integrated GPU and the second time for being stubborn

LOL if he wasn't in another state it'd be VERY tempting!

Maybe just be like, "Hey, let me try to fix this for you home slice" and send him out for pizza while you fix it?

i wish i could but i need him to boot the pc into safe mode or at the very least plug the hdmi cable into the GPU. my guess is that the reason he was having issues, is because he's likely got 3080 drivers installed when he's using the IGPU. but i can't say for sure. i'll message him tomorrow and see if he'll listen to reason. if not? then...he can enjoy his black screen.

 

[Lei]

I think I speak for everyone when I say you should slap him twice, once for plugging in the integrated GPU and the second time for being stubborn

Expel him out of United States. Send him to Azkaban. Let dementors suck his soul

 

[junglist724]

EDIT: this guy...he's been running off integrated gfx this WHOLE TIME. likely since it was built for him.
but now he's fighting me saying his gpu is being used. and there's no way he can play his games off the cpu alone (12600k btw)
but all he plays is fallout 4. i've even told him his actual gpu isn't being used like that.
might have to tell him to live with it at this point

You can use an iGPU's HDMI/DP/TB/USB-C output while still rendering on a dGPU. That's how laptops are able to use an eGPU but still output to the built in display and how they can use the built in display without a mux switch for the dGPU. There's a potential performance loss at extremely high framerates, but unlike an eGPU a desktop will have potentially 16 lanes of pcie gen 4 so it's insignificant.

You can change the preferred gpu in windows graphics settings but it should default to the higher performance GPU.

Does he have multiple monitors or even multiple display cables run to the same monitor? The wrong monitor or display input could be set as the primary display. My HTPC once randomly forgot my display settings and decided my soundbar would be the primary display. The only reason I found out was because I was eventually able to move my mouse onto the TV screen. Other monitors are still active at the windows login screen, they just show a black background.

He could still try logging into windows once it boots up. Hitting a key at the login screen will bring up the password prompt, then he can type the password and hit enter. That could rule out display config issues since you'll still see the taskbar and desktop even if it's not the primary display. If he needs to fix display settings and the window is on the wrong display you can use WIN+SHIFT+Left or Right arrow keys to move windows to different displays.

He may have also somehow set the display to a resolution/refresh rate that either it or the display cable can't handle, maybe with a custom resolution. If he switches from hdmi to displayport or vice versa it should be detected as a different monitor and won't use the same display settings. Then you can use something like Custom Resolution Utility to reset the display settings for all monitors he's ever used back to defaults. Could also use another monitor/tv for this if he has one.

 

[Night]

You can boot into safe mode through advanced startup options on Windows.










PC will boot in safe mode.

 

[junglist724]

You can boot into safe mode through advanced startup options on Windows.
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PC will boot in safe mode.

They're not going to be able to get there if they're stuck at a black screen in windows.

You can also get to safe mode using windows installation or recovery media.

 

[TheMatt1984]

So....he got it sorted and it's working as intending now so... yay? lol

 

[3x0]

He didn't mention the method that he used to fix it did he? Probably not wanting to admit you were right

 

[Lei]

He didn't mention the method that he used to fix it did he? Probably not wanting to admit you were right

He reinstalled Windows