Black screen

Question

Black screen

craig croucamp 0

Very disappointed. I bought a brand new surface pro7 a few years back. Just before the warranty ended the screen on the inside shattered, probably from internal heat. Microsoft replaced the faulty pc with a refurbished pc. Yesterday after a security update the pc overheated so bad the screen is completely fuzzy nothing can be made out. The usb hmi port is also dead.

just does not seem like a reliable product and its not cheap.

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Answer 1

S.Sengupta 30,026 MVP Volunteer Moderator

Connect the tablet to a monitor using the USB-C port.

If the monitor works normally but the tablet screen is fuzzy → display panel failure.

Turn the device off.

Hold Volume Up + Power button together.

Release when the UEFI menu appears.

If the screen is still fuzzy in UEFI, it is almost certainly hardware damage.

craig croucamp 0 Reputation points

2026-03-16T14:26:48.0833333+00:00

I don’t seem to get any feed out of the usb c. If I push the power and volume plus button I hit to a clear windows UEFI screen. I restarted from there and still have a fuzzy Home Screen
craig croucamp 0 Reputation points

2026-03-16T14:31:59.73+00:00

It there away to perform a recovery from the UEFI. It appears the keyboard also is not getting power.
S.Sengupta 30,026 Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator

2026-03-17T00:22:04.36+00:00

Since the screen is clear in UEFI but fuzzy in Windows, it likely points to a Windows or graphics driver issue, not the display itself.

You can try a Windows recovery reset:

Turn the device off.

Turn it on and force shut down during boot 2–3 times to trigger Automatic Repair.

Go to Troubleshoot → Reset this PC → Keep my files.

If that doesn’t fix it, the next step would be reinstalling Windows using a USB recovery image for the Surface.

The Type Cover not getting power may also be related to the same driver/system issue, but if it still doesn’t work after recovery, it could indicate a hardware problem.
craig croucamp 0 Reputation points

2026-03-17T04:44:21.7633333+00:00

So a managed to get it to boot up. And guest what, it was stuck midway with an update. I tried doing a recovery. Because the device seems to be stuck in tablet mode. And still not recognising the keyboard. How do I go about a usb recovery image. Where do I download it from. To confirm weather its a hardware or driver issue.

On a side note. Years ago I had a Samsung windows tablet pc. And a similar thing happed Microsoft update caused major blue screen issues pc would not start because of thermal overheating.
craig croucamp 0 Reputation points

2026-03-18T06:42:17.2866667+00:00

Ok I found the image on line. But folllwing instruction I don’t get to install the image. It’s as if the pc does not see the usb in the boot up. I did try reorder/prioritise the usb in the UEFI but no luck there. But the pc boots up as normal.

Answer 2

Based on the symptoms (severe overheating, fuzzy/illegible built‑in display, and a non‑working USB/HDMI output), this Surface Pro 7 likely has hardware damage rather than a simple software or driver issue.

For a Surface device with screen issues, first match the problem to one of the documented scenarios:

If the screen is flickering, distorted, or shows other display issues, follow the steps under “My Surface screen is flickering, is distorted, or has other display issues” in the screen help article. This includes checking display settings, updating drivers, and testing with external displays where possible.
If the screen is black or blank, use the “I see black or blank screens on my Surface” guidance to try basic recovery (forced shutdown/restart, brightness checks, etc.).

Given that this is a refurbished replacement and now appears physically damaged after overheating, it falls under the “out of warranty or damaged Surface” service path:

Go to the online service page “Select device for service” (linked from the out‑of‑warranty article).
Sign in with the Microsoft account used to register the Surface.
Select the affected Surface Pro 7 (or register it if it does not appear), then choose Next.
When creating the service order, choose the issue type that best matches the condition (for example, physical damage or screen/display issue).
If the device still turns on, back up important files to another computer, external drive, or a cloud service like OneDrive before sending it in, because data cannot be recovered during service.
Complete the service order and follow the instructions to ship the device. A refurbished replacement is sent back once processing is complete.

If the device is out of its original warranty period, service may be handled as an out‑of‑warranty repair/replacement, which typically involves a fee and may vary by country and model. The replacement device will carry a post‑service warranty (90 days or the remainder of the original warranty, whichever is greater, or 90 days if already out of warranty).

If this Surface is owned by an organization (business or education), use the dedicated Surface service options for Business and Education referenced in the out‑of‑warranty article.

References:

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