- Troubleshooting Blank Services Screen During Windows 10 Setup
- What Causes the Blank Services Screen Problem?
- How do I fix a blue screen on Windows 10?
- How do I fix a blue screen of death?
- Method 1: Reset and Retry Windows 10 Setup
- Method 2: Boot into Safe Mode and Modify Services
- What causes a black screen on Windows 10?
- Why is my windows 11 10 Screen Black?
- Why is my computer screen black on startup?
- Method 3: Reboot into Recovery Environment
- How to fix black screen after Windows Update?
- How do I fix a blue screen error on Windows 10?
- What does blue screen of death mean Windows 10?
- Are black screens a symptom of a malware infection?
- Method 4: Modify BIOS Settings
- Method 5: Clean Install Windows 10
- Wrapping Up
- Will windows 11 downgrade to Windows 10?
- How do I repair Windows 10?
- References
Troubleshooting Blank Services Screen During Windows 10 Setup
Encountering a blank services screen when setting up Windows 10 can be incredibly frustrating. Unfortunately, this is a somewhat common issue that prevents users from completing the initial setup and accessing the operating system. Based on insights gathered from Windows experts on community forums, we walk through several potential solutions to get past the blank services screen and successfully install Windows 10.
What Causes the Blank Services Screen Problem?
Before jumping into the step-by-step troubleshooting guide, let’s quickly look at why this blank screen problem occurs in the first place. Potential culprits include:
-
File corruption during Windows 10 installation process. The setup files may get damaged when being copied over.
-
Problem with the ISO image used for installation. The source ISO could be incomplete, corrupted, or incompatible.
How do I fix a blue screen on Windows 10?
Press F2 / Del button during boot, and it will enter BIOS. Next, under security, disable secure boot, and switch to UEFI. Restart. This should resolve the problem with the blue screen. If you are installing this on a fresh SSD, you can select the custom install option. Then select the custom install option, and follow the steps ahead.
How do I fix a blue screen of death?
Run the Blue Screen troubleshooter. If this is the first time you’ve encountered a Blue Screen of Death on your computer, you can run your PC’s Blue Screen troubleshooter to try to diagnose the issue: . . Click Update & Security. Click Blue Screen. Click Run the troubleshooter. Review the resulting solutions and follow any on-screen instructions.
-
Device driver issues or hardware problems leading to poor performance.
-
The "App Readiness" startup type causing conflicts during startup.
The exact trigger can be tricky to pinpoint. The blank screen tends to appear when the setup reaches the services step after having progressed through others like account creation, network configuration etc. Now let’s look at some proven techniques to overcome this frustrating roadblock.
Method 1: Reset and Retry Windows 10 Setup
The simplest approach is to reset the PC which wipes the current failed installation state. Then retry going through the initial Cortana-guided setup prompts again till you reach the WiFi connectivity screen. At this point, choose the "I don’t have internet" option to skip connecting to WiFi which often allows the setup to proceed past the problematic services section successfully.
This workaround avoids getting stuck on the blank services screen by essentially circumventing that step altogether. You can then go back and configure WiFi after getting into Windows 10 properly.
Method 2: Boot into Safe Mode and Modify Services
If a simple retry doesn’t help, the next option is to boot into Safe Mode by restarting the PC and pressing F8. This launches Windows using just the bare essential drivers and services.
What causes a black screen on Windows 10?
Incorrect projection settings are another possible reason for black screen issues. If the black screen doesn’t prevent the PC from displaying the projection settings, you can access them with the command Win + P (Figure 7). Correcting any misconfigured settings might fix the black screen problem. Figure 7.
Why is my windows 11 10 Screen Black?
If your Windows 11/10 PC screen is black, your display driver might have been corrupted. You should boot into Windows Safe Mode and update your graphics driver from there. Another cause of this problem is the corrupted system image files. Also, check your monitor connections. It is also possible that the cable connecting your monitor is damaged.
Why is my computer screen black on startup?
External hard drives, USB connections, Wi-Fi antennas, VR headsets, and other accessories can cause issues during boot. If your computer screen is black on startup, unplug everything that’s not essential for your PC to work. Leave only your monitor, mouse, and keyboard plugged in, and restart your computer.
Once in Safe Mode, bring up the System Configuration utility and disable the "App Readiness" service by setting the Startup type to "Disabled". This prevents the App Readiness service from running during subsequent reboots.
Now restart the system normally and check if you can proceed past the services screen that was causing problems earlier. App Readiness is known to sometimes conflict during first-time setup.
Method 3: Reboot into Recovery Environment
Press Shift+F10 when you hit the blank services screen to open a Command Prompt window.
Type the following command and press Enter:
shutdown -r -t 0This will immediately restart the PC and boot you into the Recovery Environment. Navigate to Troubleshoot > Advanced Options > Command Prompt to open an admin Command Prompt.
Now type the following sequence of commands pressing Enter after each one:
Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth sfc /scannowThe DISM commands scan for and fix corrupt OS image files. SFC scans for other system file errors. Once done, reboot normally and check if you can proceed beyond the services section.
How to fix black screen after Windows Update?
Use the following solutions to fix the black screen issue after Windows Update. Check your display cables (solution for Desktop users) Close the lid and open it again (solution for laptop users) Disconnect all external hardware Use a key combination to wake up your display Repair your system files Update your display adapter
How do I fix a blue screen error on Windows 10?
Save the settings and exit. Press the [F10] key on your keyboard and click [Ok]⑦, then the computer will reboot. Afterward, check if the Windows blue screen error is resolved. Note: If the Windows blue screen error still persists, revert the VMD settings back to their original configuration and proceed to the next troubleshooting step.
What does blue screen of death mean Windows 10?
Blue Screen of Death in Windows 10. The error will always appear on a STOP message, more commonly called a Blue Screen of Death (BSOD). You could see it when your computer first starts up, right after you log in when doing something specific like playing a video or opening a program, or even right after a fresh Windows 10 install.
Are black screens a symptom of a malware infection?
A malware infection might cause a system to behave erratically, and that erratic behavior can include black screens. At best, black screen errors are an inconvenience that waste time and cause user frustration. But it seldom stops there. Black screens can lead to lower productivity, the loss of unsaved work and even the permanent loss of data.
Method 4: Modify BIOS Settings
If you still face issues, enter the system BIOS and disable CSM support. Also enable UEFI mode explicitly if the Windows 10 install is getting stuck on a blank blue screen.
Tweaking the BIOS settings in this manner circumvents certain pre-OS compatibility checks that could be failing and resulting in the setup hang.
Method 5: Clean Install Windows 10
As a last resort, create Windows 10 bootable installation media on a USB drive. Boot from the USB, erase the existing partitions and perform a completely clean install.
This "nuclear option" rewrites everything from scratch so avoids any remnants from the original failed setup attempt.
Be sure to backup any data first as a clean install erases all programs and files on the system drive. Follow Microsoft’s guide on clean installing Windows 10/11 using bootable media.
Wrapping Up
Being unable to proceed past the blank services screen during Windows 10 installation can be immensely frustrating. Hopefully the 5 troubleshooting methods outlined above will help resolve the issue for you. Let us know in the comments if any other approaches worked in your case. We’ll update the guide to help out more people stuck in this situation.
Will windows 11 downgrade to Windows 10?
I am Dave, I will help you with this. If you perform a Windows 11 reset, that will result in a clean version of Windows 11, provided it has been ore than 10 days since you upgraded to Windows 11, your system will not downgrade to Windows 10, provided you use the built-in Windows reset option in the Settings App, not a manufacturers factory reset.
How do I repair Windows 10?
When you see the ‘Install Windows’ page, tap or click ‘Repair your computer’ link to start the Windows Recovery Environment. In the Windows Recovery Environment, on the Choose an option screen, click ‘Troubleshoot’. Click, Advanced Options and then click on ‘Startup Repair’.
