Flashing Screen & Taskbar has disappeared (Win 10 - Laptop)

A

Admaaaaa

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 15, 2022
Posts
109
Hi,

I've had help before on the forum a while ago when a PC had issues and it was able to be successfully saved. I'm now having issues with my Laptop (Win 10), which started flashing about 6 weeks ago.

I couldn't understand what was causing it, i thought at first it might be related to the battery as it started when it wasn't plugged in and seemed to stop after being plugged in.
But in the last few 2 weeks or so, plugging it in no longer stops the flashing from happening, however the flashing had been intermittent, it would sometimes not happen at all (when booting up and staying in the same place), other times it would start, stop then start again. Often this would be when i disconnected the power-supply then re-connected it (when moving between rooms). What i had been doing was running SFC /SCANNOW every few weeks which would (sometimes) find an error and fix it (which would in-turn stop the flashing), only for it to return a day or 2 later. However this got progressively worse a few days ago when the flashing was continuous irrelevant of what i did, SFC /SCANNOW would come back clear as would DISM, keeping the laptop on the power-supply from start up and not moving rooms made no difference. So i ran a chkdsk (/f /r /x) just to see if it wasn't a faulty sector, this required me to restart the laptop (which i did overnight), when i came back the next morning, the laptop had booted back into Windows but the taskbar was now not appearing and the screen was still flashing. Which obviously concerned me far more. I had a look in the Event Viewer and noticed it said that there were 2 entries for 'Bad Sectors'. I initially ran SFC /SCANNOW again and it ran successfully and returned the taskbar (but the flashing remained), however when i turned it off that night and turned it back on the next morning the taskbar was once again gone, as of this morning running SFC /SCANNOW failed twice at 16% exactly. I've run chkdsk again after and it's completed, gone back into windows (i didn't see it finish) but once again without the taskbar and still flashing.


I'm starting to think the harddrive maybe the issue and so i'm prepared to purchase a new harddrive and move everything over, however i would like to try and 'fix' this one before hand if possible. It's got the latest Windows 10 updates, i can still access everything on it (although without the taskbar it's obviously awkward), i can run command prompt and get into all the system folders too so hopefully an attempt to fix it can be made.


The Laptop details are:
Samsung Series 3 - NP350V5C A06UK
Intel i7 - 3630QM
8GB DDR3
1tb 5.44kr SATA
 
Little bit of an update, i restarted the Laptop a short while ago. Started it up again (still taskbar not appearing and flashing persisting) but the SFC scan did fully run, however it said there were errors that it couldn't fix.
 
He means physical image backups, not system restore.

Halseo is the one that I'm currently using since Macrium is no longer free. Macrium is a great product, I still use the paid version at work.

I've completed a handful of restores with Hasleo and it works similar to Macrium.

Make yourself a backup of the drive. Make a rescue usb from within Hasleo to boot from in case you have further issues.
 
The Backup and Restore (Windows7) works with 10, but I'd depend on what xrobwx71 suggested since the built in is no longer supported by Microsoft. I'd also suggest the cloud like One Drive. All that before you run chkdksk /r.
 
I'll run that software and do a backup later this afternoon. Is there any software i should run or provide any reports on here in the mean time?
 
Did 'System Backup' (was that the option i was supposed to use? I couldn't see an option which was specifically named 'Physical Image Backup'). It's saved it as 'System Backup' and is 97 gig. It's saved it in a format that's saying it's Hasleo though (.DBI), is that right?

I've run, CHKDSK /r (it said it would have to run it after the next restart), so i restarted and ran it. It completed overnight. No change to any of the problems i'm having though.
 
Hi.

Let's see the chkdsk results:
  • Download ListChkdskResult by SleepyDude and save it on your Desktop.
  • Double click on the created icon.
  • A notepad file will open. Copy its content and paste it in your next reply.
 
Log is below.







ListChkdskResult by SleepyDude v0.1.7 Beta | 21-09-2013

------< Log generate on 20/04/2024 23:58:41 >------
Category: 0
Computer Name: Mi-Ma
Event Code: 1001
Record Number: 258000
Source Name: Microsoft-Windows-Wininit
Time Written: 04-20-2024 @ 07:05:02
Event Type: Information
User:
Message:

Checking file system on C:
The type of the file system is NTFS.

A disk check has been scheduled.
Windows will now check the disk.

Stage 1: Examining basic file system structure ...
1083904 file records processed.


File verification completed.
Phase duration (File record verification): 1.58 minutes.
39849 large file records processed.


Phase duration (Orphan file record recovery): 0.00 milliseconds.
0 bad file records processed.


Phase duration (Bad file record checking): 1.06 milliseconds.

Stage 2: Examining file name linkage ...
94983 reparse records processed.


1704742 index entries processed.


Index verification completed.
Phase duration (Index verification): 8.33 minutes.
0 unindexed files scanned.


Phase duration (Orphan reconnection): 11.63 seconds.
0 unindexed files recovered to lost and found.


Phase duration (Orphan recovery to lost and found): 712.21 milliseconds.
94983 reparse records processed.


Phase duration (Reparse point and Object ID verification): 11.68 seconds.

Stage 3: Examining security descriptors ...
Cleaning up 59 unused index entries from index $SII of file 0x9.
Cleaning up 59 unused index entries from index $SDH of file 0x9.
Cleaning up 59 unused security descriptors.
Security descriptor verification completed.
Phase duration (Security descriptor verification): 198.65 milliseconds.
310420 data files processed.


Phase duration (Data attribute verification): 1.20 milliseconds.
CHKDSK is verifying Usn Journal...
36162720 USN bytes processed.


Usn Journal verification completed.
Phase duration (USN journal verification): 465.24 milliseconds.

Stage 4: Looking for bad clusters in user file data ...
1083888 files processed.


File data verification completed.
Phase duration (User file recovery): 1.53 hours.

Stage 5: Looking for bad, free clusters ...
203755883 free clusters processed.


Free space verification is complete.
Phase duration (Free space recovery): 0.00 milliseconds.

Windows has scanned the file system and found no problems.
No further action is required.

956917603 KB total disk space.
140104156 KB in 684664 files.
561828 KB in 310421 indexes.
4 KB in bad sectors.
1228083 KB in use by the system.
65536 KB occupied by the log file.
815023532 KB available on disk.

4096 bytes in each allocation unit.
239229400 total allocation units on disk.
203755883 allocation units available on disk.
Total duration: 1.70 hours (6152068 ms).

Internal Info:
00 8a 10 00 bf 2e 0f 00 e2 09 19 00 00 00 00 00 ................
c8 01 00 00 3f 71 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ....?q..........

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Category: 0
Computer Name: Mi-Ma
Event Code: 26212
Record Number: 257936
Source Name: Chkdsk
Time Written: 04-19-2024 @ 21:31:04
Event Type: Information
User:
Message: Chkdsk was executed in read-only mode on a volume snapshot.

Checking file system on

Stage 1: Examining basic file system structure ...
256 file records processed.

File verification completed.
Phase duration (File record verification): 35.50 milliseconds.
0 large file records processed.

Phase duration (Orphan file record recovery): 0.06 milliseconds.
0 bad file records processed.

Phase duration (Bad file record checking): 0.06 milliseconds.

Stage 2: Examining file name linkage ...
282 index entries processed.

Index verification completed.
Phase duration (Index verification): 4.62 milliseconds.

Phase duration (Orphan reconnection): 0.16 milliseconds.

Phase duration (Orphan recovery to lost and found): 0.04 milliseconds.
0 reparse records processed.

0 reparse records processed.

Phase duration (Reparse point and Object ID verification): 0.18 milliseconds.

Stage 3: Examining security descriptors ...
Security descriptor verification completed.
Phase duration (Security descriptor verification): 20.43 milliseconds.
14 data files processed.

Phase duration (Data attribute verification): 0.04 milliseconds.
CHKDSK is verifying Usn Journal...
287160 USN bytes processed.

Usn Journal verification completed.
Phase duration (USN journal verification): 4.23 milliseconds.

Windows has scanned the file system and found no problems.
No further action is required.

1020927 KB total disk space.
759704 KB in 10 files.
76 KB in 15 indexes.
6079 KB in use by the system.
4864 KB occupied by the log file.
255068 KB available on disk.

4096 bytes in each allocation unit.
255231 total allocation units on disk.
63767 allocation units available on disk.
Total duration: 65.47 milliseconds (65 ms).

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Category: 0
Computer Name: Mi-Ma
Event Code: 26212
Record Number: 257935
Source Name: Chkdsk
Time Written: 04-19-2024 @ 21:31:02
Event Type: Information
User:
Message: Chkdsk was executed in read-only mode on a volume snapshot.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Category: 0
Computer Name: Mi-Ma
Event Code: 1001
Record Number: 257531
Source Name: Microsoft-Windows-Wininit
Time Written: 04-17-2024 @ 14:40:02
Event Type: Information
User:
Message:

Checking file system on C:
The type of the file system is NTFS.

A disk check has been scheduled.
Windows will now check the disk.

Stage 1: Examining basic file system structure ...
1036288 file records processed.


File verification completed.
Phase duration (File record verification): 5.17 minutes.
Deleting orphan file record segment FC50C.
Deleting orphan file record segment FC50D.
Deleting orphan file record segment FC50E.
39934 large file records processed.


Deleting orphan file record segment FC50F.
Phase duration (Orphan file record recovery): 0.00 milliseconds.
0 bad file records processed.


Phase duration (Bad file record checking): 1.10 milliseconds.

Stage 2: Examining file name linkage ...
94750 reparse records processed.


Index entry AMC7BC~1.423 of index $I30 in file 0x92284 points to unused file 0xfc50c.
Deleting index entry AMC7BC~1.423 in index $I30 of file 92284.
Index entry AMD370~1.423 of index $I30 in file 0x92284 points to unused file 0xfc50f.
Deleting index entry AMD370~1.423 in index $I30 of file 92284.
Index entry amd64_microsoft-windows-appx-sysprep_31bf3856ad364e35_10.0.19041.4239_none_ec4ad0b0aa3d04e0 of index $I30 in file 0x92284 points to unused file 0xfc50f.
Deleting index entry amd64_microsoft-windows-appx-sysprep_31bf3856ad364e35_10.0.19041.4239_none_ec4ad0b0aa3d04e0 in index $I30 of file 92284.
Index entry amd64_microsoft-windows-c..esources-mrmindexer_31bf3856ad364e35_10.0.19041.4239_none_dd7920568489e849 of index $I30 in file 0x92284 points to unused file 0xfc50c.
Deleting index entry amd64_microsoft-windows-c..esources-mrmindexer_31bf3856ad364e35_10.0.19041.4239_none_dd7920568489e849 in index $I30 of file 92284.
1657130 index entries processed.


Index verification completed.
Phase duration (Index verification): 13.99 minutes.
CHKDSK is scanning unindexed files for reconnect to their original directory.
6 unindexed files scanned.


2 unindexed files recovered to original directory.
Phase duration (Orphan reconnection): 0.00 milliseconds.
CHKDSK is recovering remaining unindexed files.
4 unindexed files recovered to lost and found.


Lost and found is located at \found.001

Phase duration (Orphan recovery to lost and found): 0.00 milliseconds.
94750 reparse records processed.


Phase duration (Reparse point and Object ID verification): 45.66 seconds.

Stage 3: Examining security descriptors ...
Cleaning up 43 unused index entries from index $SII of file 0x9.
Cleaning up 43 unused index entries from index $SDH of file 0x9.
Cleaning up 43 unused security descriptors.
Security descriptor verification completed.
Phase duration (Security descriptor verification): 186.83 milliseconds.
310422 data files processed.


Phase duration (Data attribute verification): 1.18 milliseconds.
CHKDSK is verifying Usn Journal...
Usn Journal verification completed.

Stage 4: Looking for bad clusters in user file data ...
1036272 files processed.


File data verification completed.
Phase duration (User file recovery): 1.56 hours.

Stage 5: Looking for bad, free clusters ...
204928583 free clusters processed.


Free space verification is complete.
Phase duration (Free space recovery): 0.00 milliseconds.
Correcting errors in the master file table's (MFT) BITMAP attribute.
CHKDSK discovered free space marked as allocated in the volume bitmap.

Windows has made corrections to the file system.
No further action is required.

956917603 KB total disk space.
135496704 KB in 681992 files.
561648 KB in 310425 indexes.
4 KB in bad sectors.
1144915 KB in use by the system.
65536 KB occupied by the log file.
819714332 KB available on disk.

4096 bytes in each allocation unit.
239229400 total allocation units on disk.
204928583 allocation units available on disk.
Total duration: 1.90 hours (6854091 ms).

Internal Info:
00 d0 0f 00 51 24 0f 00 e1 f8 18 00 00 00 00 00 ....Q$..........
c8 01 00 00 56 70 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ....Vp..........

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Category: 0
Computer Name: Mi-Ma
Event Code: 26228
Record Number: 257447
Source Name: Chkdsk
Time Written: 04-16-2024 @ 23:08:02
Event Type: Information
User:
Message: Chkdsk was executed in verify mode on a volume snapshot.

Checking file system on \Device\HarddiskVolume4

Examining 1 corruption record ...

Record 1 of 1: Corrupt File "<0x1,0xfc50f>" ... no corruption found.

1 corruption record processed in 0.2 seconds.

Windows has examined the list of previously identified potential issues and found no problems.
No further action is required.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Category: 0
Computer Name: Mi-Ma
Event Code: 1001
Record Number: 257349
Source Name: Microsoft-Windows-Wininit
Time Written: 04-16-2024 @ 15:46:53
Event Type: Information
User:
Message:

Checking file system on C:
The type of the file system is NTFS.

A disk check has been scheduled.
Windows will now check the disk.

Stage 1: Examining basic file system structure ...
1036288 file records processed.


File verification completed.
Phase duration (File record verification): 1.17 minutes.
39940 large file records processed.


Phase duration (Orphan file record recovery): 0.00 milliseconds.
0 bad file records processed.


Phase duration (Bad file record checking): 1.06 milliseconds.

Stage 2: Examining file name linkage ...
94750 reparse records processed.


1657116 index entries processed.


Index verification completed.
Phase duration (Index verification): 7.77 minutes.
0 unindexed files scanned.


Phase duration (Orphan reconnection): 11.05 seconds.
0 unindexed files recovered to lost and found.


Phase duration (Orphan recovery to lost and found): 37.95 seconds.
94750 reparse records processed.


Phase duration (Reparse point and Object ID verification): 212.26 milliseconds.

Stage 3: Examining security descriptors ...
Cleaning up 536 unused index entries from index $SII of file 0x9.
Cleaning up 536 unused index entries from index $SDH of file 0x9.
Cleaning up 536 unused security descriptors.
Security descriptor verification completed.
Phase duration (Security descriptor verification): 212.77 milliseconds.
310415 data files processed.


Phase duration (Data attribute verification): 1.19 milliseconds.
CHKDSK is verifying Usn Journal...
40350408 USN bytes processed.


Usn Journal verification completed.
Phase duration (USN journal verification): 447.28 milliseconds.

Stage 4: Looking for bad clusters in user file data ...
1036272 files processed.


File data verification completed.
Phase duration (User file recovery): 1.52 hours.

Stage 5: Looking for bad, free clusters ...
202215847 free clusters processed.


Free space verification is complete.
Phase duration (Free space recovery): 0.00 milliseconds.

Windows has scanned the file system and found no problems.
No further action is required.

956917603 KB total disk space.
146308072 KB in 680613 files.
561744 KB in 310416 indexes.
0 KB in bad sectors.
1184395 KB in use by the system.
65536 KB occupied by the log file.
808863392 KB available on disk.

4096 bytes in each allocation unit.
239229400 total allocation units on disk.
202215848 allocation units available on disk.
Total duration: 1.68 hours (6083887 ms).

Internal Info:
00 d0 0f 00 e7 1e 0f 00 0f ee 18 00 00 00 00 00 ................
c8 01 00 00 56 70 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ....Vp..........

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Category: 0
Computer Name: Mi-Ma
Event Code: 26212
Record Number: 230947
Source Name: Chkdsk
Time Written: 12-10-2023 @ 18:22:16
Event Type: Information
User:
Message: Chkdsk was executed in read-only mode on a volume snapshot.

Checking file system on C:
The type of the file system is NTFS.

WARNING! /F parameter not specified.
Running CHKDSK in read-only mode.

Stage 1: Examining basic file system structure ...
1017344 file records processed.

File verification completed.
Phase duration (File record verification): 1.83 minutes.
42775 large file records processed.

Phase duration (Orphan file record recovery): 0.00 milliseconds.
0 bad file records processed.

Phase duration (Bad file record checking): 2.12 milliseconds.

Stage 2: Examining file name linkage ...
67272 reparse records processed.

1521354 index entries processed.

Index verification completed.
Phase duration (Index verification): 7.16 minutes.
0 unindexed files scanned.

Phase duration (Orphan reconnection): 11.31 seconds.
0 unindexed files recovered to lost and found.

Phase duration (Orphan recovery to lost and found): 3.49 milliseconds.
67272 reparse records processed.

Phase duration (Reparse point and Object ID verification): 278.19 milliseconds.

Stage 3: Examining security descriptors ...
Security descriptor verification completed.
Phase duration (Security descriptor verification): 297.21 milliseconds.
252006 data files processed.

Phase duration (Data attribute verification): 3.22 milliseconds.
CHKDSK is verifying Usn Journal...
37802296 USN bytes processed.

Usn Journal verification completed.
Phase duration (USN journal verification): 1.02 seconds.

Windows has scanned the file system and found no problems.
No further action is required.

956917603 KB total disk space.
140138092 KB in 543282 files.
487368 KB in 252007 indexes.
0 KB in bad sectors.
1162479 KB in use by the system.
65536 KB occupied by the log file.
815129664 KB available on disk.

4096 bytes in each allocation unit.
239229400 total allocation units on disk.
203782416 allocation units available on disk.
Total duration: 9.21 minutes (553154 ms).

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
 
A few days ago (17 April) corrections to the file system were done. Although now there are no obvious errors in the disk, it seems that the first signs of failing appeared.

Let's make another disk check with 3rd party program:
  • Download CrystalDiskInfo from here and save it to your Desktop.
  • Run the installer to install the program.
  • When finished, open the installed program by double clicking on it.
  • If everything is working properly, you should see the status “Good“ displayed. Other statuses you might see include “Bad” (which usually indicates a drive that’s dead or near death), “Caution” (which indicates a drive that you should most likely be thinking about backing up and replacing), and “Unknown” (which just means that information could not be obtained).
  • Take a screenshot of what you get.
 
As you can see, the indication shows CAUTION. That means the disk started failing. You can't be sure about when it will completely fail, but it will gradually be causing issues. My recommendation is to backup whatever you want/need and go for a replacement.
 
I'll look at getting a replacement. Is there anything i can do about the flashing screen or lack of taskbar though? Otherwise, surely copying over data that is corrupt will only mean i've got a nice HD but with the same issues. If i couldn't resolve them i'd need to replace the laptop.
 
You said that SFC returned good results, meaning no corruptions.

However, my recommendation (and this is a personal opinion) is when you make a fresh start, transfer only files (Documents, Music, Videos, Pictures) in the new disk, and not a system's image. You never know what you can transfer from the old to the new disk. And for sure, you don't need to replace the laptop!
 
Well it seems to give back clear results then claims it's found errors. I'd personally prefer to try and fix the issues before transferring everything over to a new HD, i've concerns that the flashing could possibly be a problem with the graphics card (as the flashing is no longer intermittent but persistent), and if that's the case i'd likely need to buy a new laptop anyway.
 
Transferring files won't transfer disk's corruptions. That's why I didn't recommend to you to make a system image now.

Fix disk's corruptions? There is no way "to bring a dead back". Your disk is not dead yet, but everything leads to the conclusion that it started failing. And as soon as this happens, there is no way to repair it.

It's up to you, of course, what you want to do with your computer.
 
I think we're at slightly cross-purposes.

It's not the 'failing' HD that concerns me, it would be cloning over a OS (as a disk image) to a fresh HD that has errors. My laptop came pre-installed with Windows and i do not have a backup copy of Windows to install fresh, so (unless there is another option) i would look to copy over the OS to a new HD, but cloning an erroneous OS will surely just copy over the same errors? I'd like to try and eliminate these as much as can be done prior to moving everything over to a new HD. I've also been doing some additional digging as to what might be causing the screen to flash, i've read it could be the screen itself but is there anyway to test and discount aspects of what could be causing this in particular?
 

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