Out of ideas!


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Old 08-25-19, 12:04 PM
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Out of ideas!

Hello,

My W10 desktop's display suddenly has the top and bottom bars, and backgrounds for things like "Settings" in black, although the web pages display correctly. "Background" in Settings is set for a Grey shade, but that only changes the Desktop background. Also, in MS Word, for example I no longer can see the pop-up boxes for opening files, etc. So, the colors are not exactly reversed, it is just that some things won't display.

I eliminated the Acer display as being the problem by plugging in a different monitor - same issue. The MB has an integrated video, so I figured maybe that might be the trouble, purchased a new stand-alone VC, but still have the same issue.

I have seen web answers regarding inverting colors, and tried, but that just - of course - reverses the colors, and doesn't resolve the problem.

Can't seem to turn off High Contrast as suggested in some posts. When I try to turn it off, the pop-up says it can't be applied to the desktop.

Having had issues pop up after W10 updates in the past, I'm suspicious that this occurred after an update, but have no evidence.

Any thoughts??? I'm stumped at this point.

Thanks for any advice.
 
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Old 08-25-19, 01:07 PM
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I think you can roll back to a previous update in windows and see if that fixed the issue. Also, you can update the drivers for your video hardware. It sounds like a windows issue but it is worth a shot.
 
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Old 08-25-19, 02:45 PM
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EDIT: W10 update was >10 days ago, so I can't revert to an earlier version. Will look into a driver update, but that doesn't seem likely to be the solution. Maybe re=install W10?
 
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Old 08-25-19, 03:12 PM
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Reinstalling the OS will likely solve the issue. As a plus, your computer will run faster.
 
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Old 08-25-19, 05:25 PM
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If you right-click on your desktop, pick "personalize" and scroll down to "related settings" and click on "high contrast settings", there's an option to turn it on and off. Have you tried that yet? Sorry if you already did, but don't know what you've tried or not.
 
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Old 08-26-19, 07:00 AM
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Yes, per the OP, I have tried to turn off the High Contrast, but get the message it can't be applied to the desktop. Not sure what that means but have not found a way past it.
 
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Old 08-26-19, 07:25 AM
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Okay. Something else to try. Right-click again and pick "personalize", then go to Colors, scroll down and see if dark is checked on "default app mode".
Another thing to try, have you tried picking a different "theme" to see if that helps?
 
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Old 08-26-19, 06:14 PM
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Yes, I've already attempted to change that, but it is set on Dark and won't allow me to change to Light. At the top of that page it says "Some settings are not available in High Contrast mode." so I suspect that is why it won't change. Something is hanging this whole thing up, I just can't find what is going on. I had not changed anything when this started!
 
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Old 08-27-19, 04:56 AM
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Use this keyboard shortcut to directly control High-Contrast mode ...

Left-Shift, Left-Alt, PrintScreen
 
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Old 08-27-19, 05:50 AM
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A few months back, one of my computers was in a similar situation. Different problem but couldn't fix it or change anything. Had to use the option to revert it back to when I bought it. Of course everything had to be reinstalled and updated, but the only way out. I'm afraid you may have to go with Tolyn's suggestion of either reinstalling or reverting back.
 
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Old 08-27-19, 02:06 PM
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@hal_s, Yes, tried that, has no more effect than clicking the radio buttons. Thanks
 
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Old 08-27-19, 02:17 PM
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Unhappy Re-install didn't help

Well, folks, I did the complete W10 reinstall, and no joy. The screen still looks the same, still can't turn off the High Contrast. However, now of course most of my previously installed apps (programs to us old guys ) are gone and have to be reinstalled. [sigh]

I dunno, I guess it must be something wonky in the MB, seem to have eliminated all other possibilities.

Thoughts?
 
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Old 08-27-19, 04:14 PM
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That's odd. Can you post a picture of your screen? I would not think to Mobo would have anything to do with the display settings. You are running off the separate graphics card now with fully updated drivers correct?
 
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Old 08-27-19, 04:22 PM
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Have you did the revert back to the factory install? That should bring it back to the way it was when you bought it. Since you have to reinstall other programs anyway, you have nothing to lose. Not sure if that's what you did or just a re installation of 10.
 
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Old 08-27-19, 06:52 PM
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Screenshot

Here's what it looks like. Hope this works!
 
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Old 08-27-19, 06:55 PM
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@shadeladie, I went to:
Recovery
Reset this PC
Remove everything
 
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Old 08-28-19, 08:00 AM
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This has to be frustrating for you! Especially now that you've done a recovery/reinstall and didn't get any results!

Have you tried this (read it somewhere and just thought I'd suggest it):

"In the Settings application, under Ease of Access, in other options, is "Show Windows Background" turned on? If not, I suggest you to turn on “Show Windows Background”.


Might be worth a try if nothing else has worked! Best of luck!
 
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Old 08-28-19, 06:04 PM
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Does that happen on all windows or just that browser? Have you tried other browsers and programs?
 
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Old 08-29-19, 04:43 AM
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@mxmom, as far as I know, that procedure only turns on the_desktop_background, but yes it's turned on. Thanks
 
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Old 08-29-19, 04:47 AM
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@tony, yes it is like this with other browsers, but it really has nothing to do with browsers. Per my OP, this situation is also causing problems in apps like MS Word. Thanks
 
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Old 09-14-19, 08:09 PM
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Mostly fixed!

It turns out I need to send a sarcastic "thank you" to Microsoft! Not only - per my OP - did my desktop display the black screen, but a week or so later my laptop went into the same type of messed-up display. After a few days of fiddling with the laptop, following various online suggestions for fixing it (do a search for Windows 10 black screen, and an amazing number of sites pop up with a wide range of complex solutions), I was able to get mostly back to normal by getting rid of the high contrast (which had apparently been turned on by a MS update) and setting a new theme. Doesn't look exactly like it used to, but it is usable.

The desktop, however, possibly due to having a different processor, required me to change from my slideshow of photos to a standard Windows desktop. ONLY then I was able to turn off high contrast. Once I did that, I was able to play with colors and get back to a semi-normal display. I also had to go into MS Word and turn off high contrast there, plus make some changes within Excel. Why? Who the heck knows?? This was a total mess, and yes it is the latest version of W10 in both cases. I read somewhere that this is a known flaw with certain families of processors and MS has yet to find a solution.

I use Opera as a browser, and the tabs are still difficult to read, as there is little contrast between the tab color and the text color, with no apparent way to change them. Chrome, on the other hand, seems to display legibly.

End of report.
 
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Old 09-15-19, 05:10 AM
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Thanks for the report.

Funny thing is my computer is now in a high-ish contrast as I was messing with the settings trying to recreate your display. (I wasn't) I kind of like what I ended up with so I left it.
 
 

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