Win SBS 2008 - black screen on boot

[coolVariable]

Server was working fine for 2 years.
Recently we had to move it and now it will not boot properly anymore: it usually hangs with a black screen after the "Microsoft Windows status bar" on startup. No mouse cursor, nothing.

I can get it to boot by booting into safe mode first but this is obviously a pain in the arse!!!
I once got it to boot normally by removing all network cables from it but that only worked the first time.

WTF is wrong with it?

 

[MichaelD]

Does Windows load EVERY time you try Safe Mode? Safe Mode does not load most drivers or service packs; just the bare minimum to get you to the desktop. If it boots up every time in Safe Mode but not normally, it's most probably a driver or patch issue. Was the box patching just prior to moving it? There may have been a patch waiting to load but it needed a reboot to fully install. Shutting the box down to move it was the reboot it was looking for.

Also, you said you moved the machine. Possibly the hard drive has a bad sector due to the heads slamming into the disks if the box was dropped or manhandled. Possible but not probable.

Have you tried Last Known Good Configuration (it's in the startup options screen)?

A non-booting box that suddenly boots when the network cable is removed tells me it's trying to PXE-boot but not finding a DHCP server to talk to. But I don't think this is your problem.

My money's on a patch/driver that was recently loaded. Get into Windows and go to Add/Remove Programs. Check the box for "Show Updates." You should be able to see what patches have been loaded and when.

Finally, do you have a backup/ghost image of the OS disc?

 

[gmaster456]

I second everything MichaelD said.