Windows 7 Blank blue screen? (not BSOD)

[Jayuk]

Hi All,

I have a new system i have built but it keeps freezing into a black blue screen, i cannot call the task manager or see the cursor at all.

It is not long after boot up, but doesn't seem to be at a certain time (ie its always very soon after start up but rather random, could be a minute, could be upto 4/5).

I have a horrible feeling its a hardware issue - maybe the PSU isn't upto snuff? Its a 400w which should be plenty but i think maybe it happens when under load.


Thanks,


Jay.

 

[Tepid]

It very well could be,,,,,
List your enitre system specs and model numbers.

400w,,, for a typical mid to high system, is not very much. You probably should start at 550W to 600W.
Once you start adding a lot of thngs and then USB devices,, that power can get drained pretty quick.

bad or inadequate PSU can mimic Memory, video Failures and HDD failures.

 

[reghakr]

I have a paltry 250 watt power supply in my cheap E-Machine and have never experienced that problem.

 

[Tepid]

Well,, failing or bad PSU's can produce some really weird problems.
We had a system that we were certain was an hardware or OS issue.
Everything we did we could not narrow it down.... PSU was adequate and tested fine.

Replaced the PSU for poops and giggles, just cause we had exhausted all other reasons.
No more problems.

Put the failing PSU in another system and whammo,,, problems out the wazzu.
So yes,, trust me,, they can do some really weird things.

I also had a bad PSU that caused wired problems,,, ,, replaced it and no more problems.
In fact, the PSU I have now,, is under powered for my system. I have to becareful of the number of USB devices I hook up.

With that said,, it may not be his problem,,, but booting to a blue black screen could be an indication of an under powered or failing PSU
But could be the following.....

Bad Video Card,
Bad Drivers
Bad Monitor
Bad Cable
Corrupt OS
Video Card not seated properly
Failing/Bad PSU

 

[reghakr]

No,

You're right Tepid He should follow your steps.

Just wondering, when you boot to this black screen, do you get a message that says No Signal?

Can you boot into Safe Mode and get a display?

 

[Tepid]

You know,, I don't know why I never think of safe mode,,,, it is one of those things that I never think about, unless I am doing it.

 

[reghakr]

I'm having some issues with my DVI cable and I get a black screen, then says No Signal.

I could however, boot into Safe Mode using the VGA driver. I had an enormous 50ft cable because my PC is directly next to my Home Theater system.

Thought that was the problem so I got two other shorter cables and they did the same thing.

Now I pray on every Reboot

 

[Tepid]

Over a 50ft cable,, that could be interference or signal drop?

 

[reghakr]

True, but you should have seen the diameter of this cable. It was about 3/4" round with gold-plated ends.

 

[Jayuk]

Hi all - thanks for the rapid replies! I can only apologise about not being able to reply myself quite so quickly - busy at work!!

Anyway, it just goes to a pure blank blue screen - into i should maybe have shared at the beginning is that it did the very same thing with Vista on there (decided to use 7 after vista install).

So I am erring on the side of it being the PSU. Its a TFX PSU, but it came with the case, which was only £45 so i guess you get what you pay for!

The spec of the parts is

AMD Athlon II X4 620 Quad Core
4GB Ram
500GB Sata HDD
Onboard GeForce 8200 graphics
Dual TV Tuner Card
HD-DVD/BluRay/DVDRW SATA Drive


i have run this all past a number of PSU calculators and they all say that i am over-powered by a good 200w so I dont think its under-powered, i think it may be a bad quality PSU. I think i will take the psu out of my own HTPC (a full size 500w PSU).

Thanks for the replies, guys! Ill let you know how i get on!

Cheers,

Jay.

 

[Tepid]

Let us know what happens,,, but

I would also try safe mode. This could also be a driver issue.
It is hard to troubleshoot with just a blue screen with no writing.

if it did this under vista also,, then I would error on the side of incompatible hardware or drivers?
However,,, bad PSU is still possible.