Gray screen issue

Hey guys, so I was working on my desktop tonight when out of nowhere, a message popped up saying the system needed a restart... So, I rebooted, and everything seems fine at first—it boots right up to the user password screen—but once I log in, the screen just goes gray. Total blackout. The only thing that actually works is Ctrl+Alt+Del, and I can still move my mouse cursor around, but that's about it. I'm running Windows 8 on this machine, and honestly, the only thing I know for sure is that it's a Gateway computer. Any idea what I should do? Thanks in advance!

Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord 😢

It looks like your graphics card might have kicked the bucket.
Your best bet is probably just taking it to a repair shop.

If Godot Engine had actually taken that PC in for repairs, he would’ve had it back by now.

briskskipper71 said:Hey, so I was just sitting at my desktop tonight working away when out of nowhere this message pops up saying I need to restart... So I reboot, right? Everything seems fine until it gets to the user login screen, but then once I get past that, the whole screen just goes gray. The only things that actually work are Ctrl+Alt+Del and moving the mouse cursor around. It’s running Windows 8 on some random Gateway machine, which is about all I know about it. What should I do? Thanks in advance

Maybe try just forcing a restart a few times in a row... like, once you see the Windows logo, just hit the reset button on the case. Do that maybe two or three times until it finally offers you Startup Repair... then run that and see if it actually fixes anything. If that doesn't do the trick, I guess you're looking at a fresh installation of Windows...

Do you think you might be able to get into Safe Mode? When you’re powering up, try tapping F8 repeatedly—you know, that old-school trick—to bring up the menu and select Safe Mode from there. If that actually works, head straight over to the Control Panel and strip out everything related to your graphics card—I'm talking all those Nvidia or AMD programs and utilities. Once you've cleared that out, give it a shot trying to boot back into Windows normally. If the system manages to kick in, just go ahead and download the latest drivers for your card and reinstall them from scratch. Now, if that doesn't do the trick... well, then we're looking at a Windows repair. You'll need to run that using an installation DVD that matches the exact version of Windows you originally installed.

Jonathan Mendoza17 said:I mean, can you even get into Safe Mode? Like, when you're booting up, just mash F8 and try to pick Safe Mode. If that actually works, go straight into the Control Panel and wipe out everything related to your graphics card—all those Nvidia or AMD programs and whatever. Then, give it a shot trying to boot back into Windows normally. If it actually loads, just grab the drivers again and reinstall them. But if that doesn't work, I guess you'll have to run a Windows repair. You'd need an installation DVD for the exact same version of Windows you used to set it up in the first place.

Since when does Windows 8 even let you hit F8 for Safe Mode?

electricharbor30 said:Since when did Windows 8 start offering Safe Mode via F8?

Well, if you knew that, why didn't you mention how to actually trigger Safe Mode on Windows 8 in your first place?
It’s been changed—you have to use Shift + F8 now.

Jonathan Mendoza17 said:Well, you didn't exactly mention how to actually get into safe mode on Windows 8, did you?
Yeah, they changed it so you have to use Shift + F8

From what I gather, the only way you're gonna see that repair option is if the system crashes a couple more times, which is basically what I told him... I honestly don't know anything about using F8 or Shift + F8 myself.

Alright, let's try looking at it this way:

http://www.howtogeek.com/107511/how-...-the-easy-way/

Hopefully—fingers crossed here—these instructions will finally get them into Safe Mode successfully.

Jonathan Mendoza17 said:Alright, look, here’s the deal

http://www.howtogeek.com/107511/how-...-the-easy-way/

So, I guess if he follows these steps, he might actually be able to get into safe mode.

The thing is, that option is for getting into safe mode *after* you've already logged in... but the guy can't even log in because he's just stuck staring at a gray screen on the login screen...

Take a look at the section titled If you can't boot to the login screen

Actually, looking at it again—maybe we could just bypass the whole Safe Mode ordeal entirely and head straight for a direct recovery.

😂 Who on earth are you two fighting with?