Black screen with a cursor

Applies to: Windows 10 (64-bit).

This article describes the issue of computers loading to a black screen with a cursor.

Symptoms

Computers with this issue can have the following symptoms:

  • The computer loads to a black background/screen.
  • The cursor is “jumpy”.
  • The cursor displays an intermittent loading circle.
  • The computer does not respond to keyboard input.
  • The computer does not respond to the mouse/touchpad buttons.

Causes

Corruption of the following Windows system file has been shown to cause computers to load to a black screen with a cursor.

d3d11.dll

d3d11.dll is a protected Windows system file located in the \Windows\System32\ folder. d3d11.dll is hard-linked from the Windows Component Store (Windows\WinSxS).

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Black screen with a cursor and loading circle

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