HP Windows 10 Computer Sits with Black Screen After Login for 10 Minutes

UPDATE: This fix from HP appears to work: http://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp81501-82000/sp81965.exe

  1. Install the update
  2. restart
  3. re enable App Readiness
  4. Restart again

You should be good.
END OF UPDATE

Certainly an exciting blog post title, particularly for a rare more than one per month post. I hope I can help someone out there with this information.

When I booted up my fairly new HP Envy laptop this morning, after entering my password, the screen went blank. I could hear the fan going, so it appeared to be doing something. If I touched the touchpad, it would show the cursor. I could run task manager by clicking ctrl-alt-delete. I could run Chrome or other programs from the File>Run new task option in Task manager. But the screen stayed black.

I tried everything. Safe mode, drive checks, you name it. Then I let it sit. After 8-10 minutes, the main window came up and everything worked fine. Until I restarted. When I restarted the computer, the error re-occurred. Time for the magic of the internet.

The key was the search phrase “Windows 10 black screen with cursor after login for 10 minutes.” That led me to a post in HP’s support forums which had the solution. You need to disable the App Readiness service.

Here is how you do it:

  1. Hit the Windows Key and type “system configuration” and select the system configuration tool

    Finding the system configuration tool from the Windows menu

  2. Select the Services tab in the System Configuration tool

    Select the Services tab from the System Configuration tool

  3. Un-check the box next to the “App Readiness” serivce

    Disable the App Readiness service by un-checking the box next to that item

  4. Reboot your computer

That fixed it for me. The system now completes the startup process normally. I hope this helps someone.