JSI Tip 9720. When you press CTRL+ALT+DELETE to log onto a Windows Server 2003, the logon screen turns black?

When you log on to the console (desktop), or a terminal server session, the logon screen turns black.

Even though you cannot see what you are typing, if you press all the correct keys, you are successfully logged on, and the display is normal.

NOTE: This behavior can also occur in Safe mode.

This behavior is symptomatic of all the Value Names at HKEY_USERS.DefaultControl PanelColors having a data value of 0 0 0 (Black).

To resolve this behavior, I have scripted DefaultColor.bat.

The syntax for running DefaultColor.bat on a working computer is:

DefaultColor \ComputerName

Where \ComputerName is the name of the Windows Server 2003 that exhibits the black screen behavior.

NOTE: DefaultColor.bat uses REG.EXE, built into Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, and later, or installed on Windows 2000 from the Support Tools folder of of the Windows 2000 CD-ROM, which must be located in a folder that is in your PATH.

DefaultColor.bat contains:

@echo offsetlocalif {%1}=={} goto errset comp=%1set comp=%comp:"=%set comp=%comp:=%set comp=\%comp%@echo onREG ADD "%Comp%HKU.DEFAULTControl PanelColors" /V "ActiveBorder" /T REG_SZ /F /D "212 208 200"REG ADD "%Comp%HKU.DEFAULTControl PanelColors" /V "ActiveTitle" /T REG_SZ /F /D "10 36 106"REG ADD "%Comp%HKU.DEFAULTControl PanelColors" /V "AppWorkSpace" /T REG_SZ /F /D "128 128 128"REG ADD "%Comp%HKU.DEFAULTControl PanelColors" /V "Background" /T REG_SZ /F /D "102 111 116"REG ADD "%Comp%HKU.DEFAULTControl PanelColors" /V "ButtonAlternateFace" /T REG_SZ /F /D "181 181 181"REG ADD "%Comp%HKU.DEFAULTControl PanelColors" /V "ButtonDkShadow" /T REG_SZ /F /D "64 64 64"REG ADD "%Comp%HKU.DEFAULTControl PanelColors" /V "ButtonFace" /T REG_SZ /F /D "212 208 200"REG ADD "%Comp%HKU.DEFAULTControl PanelColors" /V "ButtonHilight" /T REG_SZ /F /D "255 255 255"REG ADD "%Comp%HKU.DEFAULTControl PanelColors" /V "ButtonLight" /T REG_SZ /F /D "212 208 200"REG ADD "%Comp%HKU.DEFAULTControl PanelColors" /V "ButtonShadow" /T REG_SZ /F /D "128 128 128"REG ADD "%Comp%HKU.DEFAULTControl PanelColors" /V "ButtonText" /T REG_SZ /F /D "0 0 0"REG ADD "%Comp%HKU.DEFAULTControl PanelColors" /V "GradientActiveTitle" /T REG_SZ /F /D "166 202 240"REG ADD "%Comp%HKU.DEFAULTControl PanelColors" /V "GradientInactiveTitle" /T REG_SZ /F /D "192 192 192"REG ADD "%Comp%HKU.DEFAULTControl PanelColors" /V "GrayText" /T REG_SZ /F /D "128 128 128"REG ADD "%Comp%HKU.DEFAULTControl PanelColors" /V "Hilight" /T REG_SZ /F /D "10 36 106"REG ADD "%Comp%HKU.DEFAULTControl PanelColors" /V "HilightText" /T REG_SZ /F /D "255 255 255"REG ADD "%Comp%HKU.DEFAULTControl PanelColors" /V "HotTrackingColor" /T REG_SZ /F /D "0 0 128"REG ADD "%Comp%HKU.DEFAULTControl PanelColors" /V "InactiveBorder" /T REG_SZ /F /D "212 208 200"REG ADD "%Comp%HKU.DEFAULTControl PanelColors" /V "InactiveTitle" /T REG_SZ /F /D "128 128 128"REG ADD "%Comp%HKU.DEFAULTControl PanelColors" /V "InactiveTitleText" /T REG_SZ /F /D "212 208 200"REG ADD "%Comp%HKU.DEFAULTControl PanelColors" /V "InfoText" /T REG_SZ /F /D "0 0 0"REG ADD "%Comp%HKU.DEFAULTControl PanelColors" /V "InfoWindow" /T REG_SZ /F /D "255 255 225"REG ADD "%Comp%HKU.DEFAULTControl PanelColors" /V "Menu" /T REG_SZ /F /D "212 208 200"REG ADD "%Comp%HKU.DEFAULTControl PanelColors" /V "MenuText" /T REG_SZ /F /D "0 0 0"REG ADD "%Comp%HKU.DEFAULTControl PanelColors" /V "Scrollbar" /T REG_SZ /F /D "212 208 200"REG ADD "%Comp%HKU.DEFAULTControl PanelColors" /V "TitleText" /T REG_SZ /F /D "255 255 255"REG ADD "%Comp%HKU.DEFAULTControl PanelColors" /V "Window" /T REG_SZ /F /D "255 255 255"REG ADD "%Comp%HKU.DEFAULTControl PanelColors" /V "WindowFrame" /T REG_SZ /F /D "0 0 0"REG ADD "%Comp%HKU.DEFAULTControl PanelColors" /V "WindowText" /T REG_SZ /F /D "0 0 0"@echo offendlocalgoto :EOF:err@echo Syntax: DefaultColor \ComputerNameendlocal

The following table shows the default colors (the text color under Value name), and lists the RGB (Red Green Blue)  values for the .Default user (HKEY_USERS.DefaultControl PanelColors in Windows Server 2003: