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Windows 7 boots to black screen with cursor before login screen after changing permissions on the system32 directory

Anonymous
2010-12-15T22:45:28+00:00

Original Title: Windows 7 boots to black screen with cursor before login screen, nothing works

I turned my computer on yesterday to find that, after the Windows loading screen, everything went black. The cursor is there and will move around, but right clicking does nothing, Ctrl-Alt-Del does nothing, safe mode does nothing, system restore does nothing, startup repair does nothing, sticky keys does nothing, absolutely nothing on earth will get me to the login screen. I've tried every solution on every website I could find and none of them did anything.

If it helps, I was tooling around with ownership of the System32 file before this started and, well aware of the inherent risks, I transferred ownership of the folder to myself so I could replace ONE DLL with a newer version. The name of the DLL is dwmapi.dll. Then, after turning off my computer, everything went to black. What should I do?

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Performance and system failures

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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  1. Anonymous
    2010-12-15T23:50:09+00:00

    There are several ways to replace a file in the System32 folder. Messing around with NTFS permissions is not one of them. You could now try this:

    1. Keep tapping F8 at boot time in order to boot into Repair Mode.
    2. Open a Command Prompt.
    3. Identify the drive letter for your System drive. It is usually C: but it could be D: or E:. It won't be X:. I will call it Q: for the purpose of this exercise.
    4. Type the following commands and press Enter after each. Make sure to type them accurately - do not take any liberties!

    path  %path%;Q:\Windows\System32

    cacls  Q:\Windows\System32  /E  /T  /C  /G everyone:F

    (this command will probably take a long time to run) 5. Reboot normally. If your problem was caused by inappropriate permissions then Windows should now work. 6. Click Start. 7. Type the three letters cmd into the Search box. 8. Press Ctrl+Shift+Enter 9. Click "Run as Administrator". 10. Type the following commands and press Enter after each of them:

    cacls  C:\Windows\System32  /E  /T  /C  /G  System:F  Administrators:R

    cacls  C:\Windows\System32  /E  /T  /C  /G  everyone:R

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  1. Anonymous
    2015-02-03T13:30:42+00:00

    Hi Johneliasen,

    Sorry for delayed response.

    What is the exact make and model of the computer?

    The black screen issue that you’re facing could be related to drivers and could be resolved by updating the display drivers. Without the correct driver, the hardware or device that you want to use won't work properly.

    I suggest you to follow the article by Sharath Srinivasa replied on April 5, 2012 mentioned below.

    http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows\_7-system/windows-7-boots-to-an-unresponsive-black-screen/88cab12b-6977-4d47-bb0e-f6b6c7642e7e

    Hope the information helps.

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  1. Anonymous
    2011-04-21T18:01:58+00:00

    hi i tried your method and it worked but now instead of a black screen  it loads to the login screen but it flashes and the login bar doesnt appear!

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  3. Anonymous
    2012-04-11T02:13:20+00:00

    Hey devenjones. Just wondering if you fix your problem, because I happen to have the exact same issue as yours.

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