Login problem

But can you think of any logical reason why the blank screen not showing desktop ?  Internet connection problems should still display the desktop.

This is a guess at this stage:

Sometimes your PC will decide to do stuff while you are starting it up. This can often slow down what you are trying to do, like get onto your desktop.

You also mention a flashing light, PC's have several usually one for disk activity and one for CPU activity. most also have one to tell you they are charging. A quick look in the manual will tell you which light was flashing on your PC.

One thing I would do is back up all of your data, either to the cloud or to an external drive. This is an essential first step before any trobleshooting is carried out.

Have you updated or installed any thing before this happened ?

can always check ya out  : Download Minitoolbox from the below link :
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/download/minitoolbox/
  Run the tool and only select the following tick boxes.
    -List last 10 Event viewer errors
    -List installed programs
    -List devices
    -List users, partition and memory size
Now click "Go" and Copy/Paste and post the output text in your next reply

if there is some dwm.exe errors it is a Windows Desktop Error.  Or .....figure out if have a boot issue.

Thanks aldfort.   That point you stated about pc deciding to do stuff while starting it .... the Microsoft updates was set to getting updates automatically as they available.  That, few times in the past, did suddenly slow the pc while I would be working on it. I have now disabled that because I manually check for updates almost every day.  As soon as I had this problem fixed , I manually started the updates and found 2 updates were already underway, one of them the lengthy cumulative update.  So, the issue might have been because of this .. perhaps you may be able to assess better.  

Backup is important as you said.  I do not have much data in my hard drive to lose except for a few documents in Word.  I keep getting reminders from One Drive to which I haven't yet signed in.  Is that the cloud backup you were referring to? 

Attaching the images of showing the 3 lights and ethernet plug in my laptop pc.  The one that needs to appear as the steady light after login is the one that was flashing and thus preventing the access to desktop.

Glad you got it figured out :=}

There is actually no need to check every day for MS Updates.   There is Patch Tuesday 2nd Tuesday of each month.  March 12th is the next one.

You can set your System to warn you that there are updates or have them downloaded and installed and will warn you it needs to reboot in the hours that you have selected for this to happen.

There is out of band Updates at times to fix the issues from previous patches or Security Updated that should be done ASAP.

These can be handled again with your system settings as to when you are working and do not disturb in those hours.

or

Simply have a quick browse of the front page of Bleepingcomputer.com for the latest news.  Takes 30secs to figure out what is important from the Headlines.

How do I set the system to be informed that there are updates ?    Would be helpful if you mention the steps.  

Having it downloaded and installed would be the same as automatic updates which can happen any time, even while logging in which I presume was the cause of the recent problem.  As I mentioned, I have disabled it. Image attached.  I download & install by clicking the "check for updates" button almost daily .. and yes, it does sometimes require restart.

That just makes you install the updates manually. The Windows Update Service should be starting with the computer.

The source of updates is the same,  settings > updates & security.   I thought by disabling the button for 'getting latest updates' the "check for updates" button can only start if clicked manually. 

.....................................Attaching the images of showing the 3 lights and ethernet plug in my laptop pc.  The one that needs to appear as the steady light after login is the one that was flashing and thus preventing the access to desktop........Yesterday, after entering the password, I couldn't access desktop. Instead it showed a blank screen....................I hope it doesn't happen again

 

I'm not convinced that there was anything wrong with those lights.

Apart from the power light, I'm assuming that the other two are for network and hard drive activity. When those two flash it means that there's activity taking place - which is normal and a good thing.

If you'd like me to confirm that then let me know the model number of your HP laptop.

I'm also not concerned about what happened the other day. Sometimes these thing happen. Restarting your laptop by choosing RESTART from the power options will help ensure that it clears any lingering corruption and it wakes up in a better mood.

One drive is a pest if you don't use it:

Here MS tell you how to hide it which will stop it pestering you; https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/office/turn-off-disable-or-uninstall-onedrive-f32a17ce-3336-40fe-9c38-6efb09f944b0

I would not prevent automatic updates. Pausing updates also not a good idea as I think it pauses security updates as well.

 

.....................................Attaching the images of showing the 3 lights and ethernet plug in my laptop pc.  The one that needs to appear as the steady light after login is the one that was flashing and thus preventing the access to desktop........Yesterday, after entering the password, I couldn't access desktop. Instead it showed a blank screen....................I hope it doesn't happen again

 

I'm not convinced that there was anything wrong with those lights.

 

Apart from the power light, I'm assuming that the other two are for network and hard drive activity. When those two flash it means that there's activity taking place - which is normal and a good thing.

 

If you'd like me to confirm that then let me know the model number of your HP laptop.

 

I'm also not concerned about what happened the other day. Sometimes these thing happen. Restarting your laptop by choosing RESTART from the power options will help ensure that it clears any lingering corruption and it wakes up in a better mood.

 

No, I too don't think there was anything wrong with the flashing light, which as you said, was indicative of some activity going on.  I presume that activity was the automatic start of updates as soon as I manually switched the power button to login.  I logged out using the 'shut down' option, yet the problem persisted. Then I logged out again using the 'restart' button.  It still persisted .. and then after 10 to 15 minutes the flashing light became steady and that's when desktop appeared.  In the meantime I also called the ISP presuming it must be some internet connection issue. They said all was fine at their end, but suggested they were making a few minor adjustments to help.  But I doubt it had anything to do with the internet nor the external modem.  

My HP model # 15-dwOxxx.

One drive is a pest if you don't use it:

 

Here MS tell you how to hide it which will stop it pestering you; https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/office/turn-off-disable-or-uninstall-onedrive-f32a17ce-3336-40fe-9c38-6efb09f944b0

 

I would not prevent automatic updates. Pausing updates also not a good idea as I think it pauses security updates as well.

 

I have not yet signed up with One Drive.  You're right it is a slight pest .. thanks for the link, I suppose Microsoft Community can help to stop the One Drive reminders.  I guess I could transfer whatever important data I have in MS Word in an external USB drive which I will have to purchase from Amazon as I don't have any at the moment.  If any one can suggest which usb drive would be most suitable for this purpose would be helpful.

I never pause updates.  But manually I check it everyday.. sometimes even twice a day.  I have observed a difference in the performance of my pc for the better if that button is turned off.