Microsoft KB Archive/906510

= The logon screen turns black after you press CTRL+ALT+DELETE to log on to a Microsoft Windows Server 2003-based computer =

Article ID: 906510

Article Last Modified on 2/12/2007

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition (32-bit x86)
 * Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition (32-bit x86)
 * Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Web Edition
 * Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Enterprise Edition for Itanium-based Systems
 * Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
 * Microsoft Windows XP Professional
 * Microsoft Windows 2000 Server
 * Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server
 * Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional Edition

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Important This article contains information about how to modify the registry. Make sure that you back up the registry before you modify it. Make sure that you know how to restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up, restore, and modify the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

256986 Description of the Microsoft Windows registry



SYMPTOMS
After you press CTRL+ALT+DELETE to log on to a Microsoft Windows Server 2003-based computer, the logon screen turns black. Although you cannot see what you are typing, you can successfully log on to the Windows Server 2003-based computer. Then, after you successfully log on, the screen becomes visible.

Note This symptom may occur on both the terminal server sessions and the local console. Additionally, this symptom occurs even if you start the computer in Safe mode.



CAUSE
This issue occurs if all the values under the following registry subkey are set to &quot;0 0 0&quot;:

HKEY_USERS\.Default\Control Panel\Colors

Note The value data &quot;0 0 0&quot; means black.



WORKAROUND
Warning Serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly by using Registry Editor or by using another method. These problems might require that you reinstall the operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that these problems can be solved. Modify the registry at your own risk.

To work around this issue, perform the following procedures.

Export the registry subkey from another Windows Server 2003-based computer
 Click Start, point to Run, type regedit in the Open box, and then click OK. Locate the following registry subkey:

HKEY_USERS\.Default\Control Panel\Colors

 Right-click the Colors registry subkey, and then click Export. In the File name box, type a name for the file. Note the location where you will save the file, and then click Save.

Import the registry subkey into the affected computer

 * 1) Click Start, point to Run, type regedit in the Open box, and then click OK.
 * 2) On the File menu, click Import.
 * 3) Double-click the .reg file that you want to import.
 * 4) Quit Registry Editor, and then restart the computer.

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MORE INFORMATION
The value data for color registry values are in the  format, where   represents the red-green-blue (RGB) values for a color. For example, 0 0 0 is solid black and 255 255 255 is solid white. The following table lists the default values for the HKEY_USERS\.Default\Control Panel\Colors registry subkey.

Additional query words: black screen

Keywords: kbregistry kbcolor kbprb KB906510

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