What Causes a Black Screen on a PC


The most common reasons the screen on your PC has gone black.–PC Pitstop.

What Causes a Black Screen on a PC

By Leo Notenboom

My computer switches to a black screen after about 5 to 15 minutes of use. Then I have to turn it off to get another 5 to 15 minutes of use. Can you tell me what part of my computer is causing this black out?

I get questions that boil down to this symptom quite often.

Unfortunately, it’s very hard for me to offer concrete help.

The problem is that there are so many possibilities that could lead to this symptom. There’s simply no single “part of my computer” to point at.

There are many things to look at, and look for, so I’ll review the most common causes and remedies.

Most common: overheating

A suddenly black screen accompanied by what appears to be a completely unresponsive computer is, most often, a symptom that you computer has crashed.

And the most common cause of crashes is overheating.

Your computer needs good ventilation to avoid overheating. Make certain that the ventilation holes aren’t blocked by dust or other debris.

Occasionally, a poorly-designed computer can overheat even if there are no obstructions. Most often this is because the CPU is being used too heavily for too long. This can be due to malware, which I’ll discuss in a moment, or it can be due to running a CPU-intensive program or game continuously for a long time.

If the latter is the case, you may need to take steps to provide extra ventilation, or cool the air flowing around or through your computer.

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