I was using my Dell laptop this morning and it started flashing me. It
shows the desktopm, but flashes a white screen.
I am running Windows 10 current updated on a Dell i7 cpu 8GB Ram.
I appeared to loose a shortcut from the desk top, When I tried to copy
the folder shortcut back to the desktop, it started flashing.
I have tried to shut the computer down from the shutdown icon, and by holding the power button down until it shuts down. When restarts it is
still flashing.
knuttle wrote:
I was using my Dell laptop this morning and it started flashing me. It shows the desktopm, but flashes a white screen.
I am running Windows 10 current updated on a Dell i7 cpu 8GB Ram.
I appeared to loose a shortcut from the desk top, When I tried to copy the folder shortcut back to the desktop, it started flashing.
I have tried to shut the computer down from the shutdown icon, and by holding the power button down until it shuts down. When restarts it is still flashing.
Display drivers are the usual cause of such.
Boot into Safe Mode and do an update on Display Adapter in Device Manager.
While in Device Manager check for any item showing an exclamation mark; or, perhaps, maxed out.
Ed
Paul wrote:
On 1/6/2024 1:18 PM, Ed Cryer wrote:
knuttle wrote:
I was using my Dell laptop this morning and it started flashing me. It shows the desktopm, but flashes a white screen.
I am running Windows 10 current updated on a Dell i7 cpu 8GB Ram.
I appeared to loose a shortcut from the desk top, When I tried to copy the folder shortcut back to the desktop, it started flashing.
I have tried to shut the computer down from the shutdown icon, and by holding the power button down until it shuts down. When restarts it is still flashing.
Display drivers are the usual cause of such.
Boot into Safe Mode and do an update on Display Adapter in Device Manager. >>>
While in Device Manager check for any item showing an exclamation mark; or, perhaps, maxed out.
Ed
One question I want answered, is does the flashing loop start before the login procedure
is done, or after the login procedure. This might change the details of how people
answer your question.
This will help determine how easy it will be to re-assert control.
Just about every step at a time like this, is a rat bastard. It's unavoidably
complicated. But I did manage to guide someone to do the Sticky Keys hack, >> and it worked for him. He got back his lost administration capability.
You can't do squat when that happens. It's like wearing handcuffs, to fix that one.
*******
For example, if it remains stable while waiting for you to log in,
you could do the Sticky Keys hack, press the shift key five times when
it is waiting for you to login, and the hack will cause an Administrator
Command Prompt to appear. Once in there
D: # Assumes D: is your DVD drive. Place the latest Win10 install DVD in there
# Even a Rufus.ie prepared USB installer stick can be used for D: if you want.
# It does not absolutely have to be an optical disc.
setup.exe # Start a repair install, using the Windows DVD.
I don't expect you to like this, but at some point, you'll need to be doing the
Safe Mode hack anyway (too many steps !!!), so the other routes to access are no easier.
https://4sysops.com/archives/reset-windows-10-password-by-disabling-windows-defender/
We're not doing this, to hack any password. The password will be remaining as
it always has. We're doing the hack in this case, so we can find a way to
kick off a Repair Install. Which otherwise, might be impossible. If the screen
is not flashing, when the Administrator Command Prompt pops up in response to
five presses of Shift, then the Repair Install can be done.
While you might have a Restore Point, the percentage of users ready to use >> System Protection, is quite low, and writing a procedure would be a waste of time.
On the other machine, I turned that off two hours ago :-) Just for the humor of it :-)
Actually, I wanted the disk space back.
Paul
A simple quick fix might work here for Keith.
I've seen situations were display drivers suddenly get corrupted. So, just uninstall the adaptor and reboot.
Ed
Ed Cryer wrote:
knuttle wrote:
On 01/08/2024 3:55 AM, Ed Cryer wrote:
Paul wrote:OP;
On 1/7/2024 4:56 PM, Ed Cryer wrote:
Paul wrote:
On 1/6/2024 1:18 PM, Ed Cryer wrote:
knuttle wrote:
I was using my Dell laptop this morning and it started flashing me. It shows the desktopm, but flashes a white screen.
I am running Windows 10 current updated on a Dell i7 cpu 8GB Ram. >>>>>>>>>
I appeared to loose a shortcut from the desk top, When I tried to copy the folder shortcut back to the desktop, it started flashing.
I have tried to shut the computer down from the shutdown icon, and by holding the power button down until it shuts down. When restarts it is still flashing.
Display drivers are the usual cause of such.
Boot into Safe Mode and do an update on Display Adapter in Device Manager.
While in Device Manager check for any item showing an exclamation mark; or, perhaps, maxed out.
Ed
One question I want answered, is does the flashing loop start before the login procedure
is done, or after the login procedure. This might change the details of how people
answer your question.
This will help determine how easy it will be to re-assert control. >>>>>>>
Just about every step at a time like this, is a rat bastard. It's unavoidably
complicated. But I did manage to guide someone to do the Sticky Keys hack,
and it worked for him. He got back his lost administration capability. >>>>>>> You can't do squat when that happens. It's like wearing handcuffs, to fix that one.
*******
For example, if it remains stable while waiting for you to log in, >>>>>>> you could do the Sticky Keys hack, press the shift key five times when >>>>>>> it is waiting for you to login, and the hack will cause an Administrator
Command Prompt to appear. Once in there
D: # Assumes D: is your DVD drive. Place the latest Win10 install DVD in there
# Even a Rufus.ie prepared USB installer stick can be used for D: if you want.
# It does not absolutely have to be an optical disc.
setup.exe # Start a repair install, using the Windows DVD.
I don't expect you to like this, but at some point, you'll need to be doing the
Safe Mode hack anyway (too many steps !!!), so the other routes to access are no easier.
https://4sysops.com/archives/reset-windows-10-password-by-disabling-windows-defender/
We're not doing this, to hack any password. The password will be remaining as
it always has. We're doing the hack in this case, so we can find a way to
kick off a Repair Install. Which otherwise, might be impossible. If the screen
is not flashing, when the Administrator Command Prompt pops up in response to
five presses of Shift, then the Repair Install can be done.
While you might have a Restore Point, the percentage of users ready to use
System Protection, is quite low, and writing a procedure would be a waste of time.
On the other machine, I turned that off two hours ago :-) Just for the humor of it :-)
Actually, I wanted the disk space back.
Paul
A simple quick fix might work here for Keith.
I've seen situations were display drivers suddenly get corrupted. So, just uninstall the adaptor and reboot.
Ed
What I don't understand, is the trigger event.
How would a file that is protected by Windows File Protection,
suddenly get corrupted ? To start with, it should be loaded into RAM. >>>>> It could be a RAM error. But the problem manifests each time the
system is booted.
It's "trying to do something", but what would that something be ?
And how many somethings, survive a reboot like that ?
Paul
I run "sfc/ scannow" occasionally; and sometimes it finds file corruptions which it fixes. How those corruptions occur I can't be sure; but they seem to be caused by major Windows updates.
I've also had sudden display star-shells, and a reload of the video drivers has solved them.
Ed
I found that when I signed out of the flashing went away, so to me it did not seem to be a driver problem. When flash most access to the computer were dead.
It did a reset with keeping my data. That did nothing to fix the problem. >>>
In desperation; I restored the computer to factory conditions. The flashing was gone. I reinstalled a ton of updates, and as of now everything is normal.
I still don't understand what caused the flashing problem in the fist place.
You are to be commended, Keith, for effort. My heart goes out to people who take on heavy jobs like that and see them through.
I sure hope the problem doesn't arise again.
Have you fully updated Windows 10 with everything MS has to offer?
Ed
P.S. An important issue has just occurred to me.
Do you have an on-board graphic card? Or does your computer use part of RAM to handle graphics?
Ed
I stick by my own well tried and tested formula.
1. Once a month Macrium image to external drive.
2. System Restore set for C drive. That ensures restore points are done before all MS updates.
In the event of a problem such as the OP's here, I backtrack through the security.
1. Try undoing the immediately preceding action.
2. System Restore.
3. Macrium image restore.
4. Win10 re-install; latest from MS website, with all data retained.
5. Complete reformat and rebuild; as the OP did here.
I can't help but admire what Keith did. He just bypassed the whole suck-it-and-see episodes,
and went straight for the work-heavy option that's most likely to work.
Ed
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