Blank Screen May Be Caused By Corrupt Video Driver

• Microsoft Windows NT Workstation versions 3.5, 3.51
• Microsoft Windows NT Server versions 3.5, 3.51

SUMMARY

If you start Windows NT and notice a blank screen, the video driver you are using may be damaged. This article describes how you can verify that the video driver is damaged.

MORE INFORMATION

To verify the video driver is damaged:

1. Boot Windows NT in /basevideo mode. If the video driver is not the standard VGA compatible driver (VGA.SYS), this operation should work.



2. If the video driver is VGA.SYS, do not boot Windows NT in /basevideo mode. Instead, start Windows NT "blind." For additional information, please see the following article(s) in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
   

   ARTICLE-ID: Q103615
   TITLE : Recovering From an Incompatible Video Driver




3. Shutdown Windows NT "blind" and reboot your computer. To verify that the Windows NT has restarted, attempt to connect to a network share on this computer from another computer.

• Boot your computer using the Windows NT Setup Boot Disk (for your version of Windows NT) and select R for Repair. Enable the "Verify Windows NT system files" option, and continue with the Repair process.
  
  -OR-



• Copy VGA.SYS from the I386 directory (for Intel platforms) on the Windows NT Server or Workstation CD-ROM disc to the following directory:
  
  %SystemRoot%\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS

Additional query words: prodnt corrupt black

Keywords : ntboot ntdriver ntui
Version : 3.50 3.51
Platform : WINDOWS
Issue type :