Surface pro blackscreen after login

Question

My Surface pro has started to go black after login.  To get it to keep going I have to use the keyboard to run the task manager (CTRL+ALT+DEL) and execute explorer.exe.  There are some quirks to this though.  If the user is changed at login, then the surface starts normally.  If a hard reset is performed, it also starts normally.  Is this something to do with a error in the shutdown process?

Answer 1

Hi Davesno1,

Thanks for reaching out to Microsoft Community and posting your inquiry. We're sorry to hear about the black screen issues on your Surface Pro 3. 

This could be a possible issue on the system of your Surface Pro 3. We suggest performing a USB recovery image to re-image the operating system. 

This process will wipe everything out on your device and install a brand-new operating system. Please make sure that you have back up your files and data either in an External Hard drive or use your OneDrive app. You’ll need a USB with at least 16GB/32 GB and format it clean (make sure that you have chosen FAT32 as the file system while formatting the USB). You'll need a PC running Windows 10 or Surface Device to download the system files/recovery image on the Microsoft Website.

Note: USB/Flash drives are the only required device for you to perform the follow steps below successfully.

• We’ll need to convert the USB into a Recovery/Bootable USB:

1. Plug in the 16 GB/32 GB to your working Windows 10 device. 
2. Go to the Search bar on the lower left that says “Type here to search” and type the keyword, Create a recovery drive. 
3. Choose the “Create a recovery drive app” and uncheck the box “Backup system files to the recovery drive” 
4. Click on “Next” then wait for it to finish.

• Download the System Files or Recovery Image:

1. Go to the Download a recovery image for your Surface.
2. If you’re signed in with your Microsoft account, you will be prompt to choose the device from the list of devices on your Microsoft Account. If you’re not signed in, choose a product on the drop-down menu and provide the Serial Number of the device. 
3. Once the download is finished, go to the file, right-click and choose Extract all then choose the USB/Flash drive.

• Perform the USB recovery:

1. Shutdown the device by pressing/holding the power button for 10 seconds until it’s off. 
2. Insert the USB recovery drive into the USB port. 
3. Press and hold the volume-down (-) rocker. 
4. Press and release the power button. 
5. When the Surface logo appears, release the volume-down (-) rocker. 
6. Choose your language options and keyboard layout. 
7. Select Troubleshoot. 
8. Select Recover from a Drive. Choose Remove Everything and Fully Clean the Drive. Recovering this PC. If prompted for BitLocker Key, tap Skip this Drive. 
9. Select “Recovery”.

Please respond to this thread to let me know how the issue progresses. Similarly, if you have more questions, please inform me by replying to this post.

Kind regards,

John Neil_J

Answer 2

This certainly seems to have fixed the problem.  At this stage I have not reloaded all the apps I had on there before.  As I slowly install them I will check on whether any one of them is the cause of the problem.  Thanks for the procedure, it worked well.