Computing desk
< July 6	<< Jun \| July \| Aug >>	July 8 >

Welcome to the Wikipedia Computing Reference Desk Archives
The page you are currently viewing is a transcluded archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current reference desk pages.

July 7

sudden black screen

When I am working normally with my laptop, suddenly the screen on my Microsoft Surface 3, Windows 10, will go black and remain that way for a few to maybe 20 seconds. Then the logon screen will come on and the system will immediately recognize my face. After this, everything proceeds normally. Nothing is lost. Any idea what is happening, and what I can do about it? --Halcatalyst (talk) 20:42, 7 July 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Halcatalyst, thank you for your system information and complete description of the problem.

This could be a result of Windows locking the screen for some reason:

Windows+L
Ctrl+Alt+Del
Screen saver timeout unusually low
A background task or service may be interfering.
Remote desktop, remote assistance, or some other desktop sharing software is kicking in. Elizium23 (talk) 22:08, 7 July 2020 (UTC)[reply]

It could also be due to a spurious sleep signal being received. Check the power saving settings and the timeouts before the device is put to sleep, or other mechanism that might cause it to sleep (suspend). Elizium23 (talk) 22:09, 7 July 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Avoid having your screen saver and your ~~"turn of display"~~ "turn off display" using the same delay. Put at least 5 minutes between them. Otherwise they try to access the same resources at the same time and one of them has to wait. --Guy Macon (talk) 22:52, 7 July 2020 (UTC)[reply]

I didn’t know about Windows/L, but that is exactly what happens. Don’t know why you mentioned Ctrl-Alt-Del, but I am familiar with Task Manager. Should I be looking for something specific there?

I have no screen saver. As far as I can tell, there is no background task or service which could be interfering. This is my home computer, so there is no remote desktop, remote assistance, or other desktop sharing software in play.

Sleep settings are: one hour when on battery, never when plugged in. I am plugged in almost all the time. The power plan is “balanced.”

I don’t know what "turn of display" is.

I’ve always tried to avoid sleep mode. This may be irrational, but I’ve always worried the computer would never wake up. In any case, I don’t have any need for it, since as I said I’m usually on power and I have a very good battery. --Halcatalyst (talk) 01:04, 8 July 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Sorry. "Turn Off Display". It's part of power and sleep, but you aren't telling it to sleep so that's not it. This next bit is most likely not it either, but go to Windows Security and do a quick scan then an offline scan. Unlikely to fix the described problem but easy to do just in case I am wrong. --Guy Macon (talk) 01:39, 8 July 2020 (UTC)[reply]

I used Windows Settings search to find Device Security. It had information about Core Isolation, Security Processor, and Secure Boot. I must have been in the wrong place. --Halcatalyst (talk) 13:34, 8 July 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Start button on the lower left --> Windows security --> Virus & Threat protection --> Quick scan
Start button on the lower left --> Windows security --> Virus & Threat protection --> Scan Options --> Windows defender offline scan

--Guy Macon (talk) 13:52, 8 July 2020 (UTC)[reply]

I performed a Malwarebytes brief scan -- not sure if that was what you meant. --Halcatalyst (talk) 03:24, 9 July 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Good enough. The above tells you how to use Microsoft's scanner, but Malwarebytes is a fine product. It is doubtful that you have malware that escaped detection.

I am out of ideas. This is all I have: [ https://theoatmeal.com/blog/fix_computer ]. :( --Guy Macon (talk) 07:06, 9 July 2020 (UTC)[reply]

You know what, given that the manifestation of the "problem" is no more than what you get from Windows/L, maybe it really isn't a problem at all. Sounds good to me. Thank you for your help. --Halcatalyst (talk) 17:09, 9 July 2020 (UTC)[reply]

P.S. How to Fix Any Computer is hilarious!