Black Screen after bootup

[Fulmar]

So apparently I need more wood to knock in my house.  Just the other day I posted about how my system has been trucking wonderfully for 2 years now.  So today when I got up, Murphy knocked on my door.  As in Murphy's law.

Actually, when I got up today I booted up my computer I went to go brush my teeth.  I came back and found my monitors sitting at a black screen.  Hrmm, must have hung in the boot.  Reboot and I sat down and watched it boot.  Posted fine, RAID status came up healthy, Windows loading logo came and then that blueish Windows is starting logo (XP by the way).  Background and icons load and then the taskbar loads for about 2 seconds and blameo, black screen.  Hard drive activity light then halts about 2 seconds after the black screen.

So I mutter WTF in its full wordage.  Reboot and try and hit F8 to get to the BIOS, but at the post my USB Logitech G15 is apparently not detected as an error message comes up saying Keyboard not detected (note this started showing probably a month ago, thought nothing of it).  So I couldn't stop the boot and it did the same thing as I mentioned above.

Dig out the old PS2 keyboard and boot into the BIOS.  Check the temps and voltages (fine), I then clock the system back to stock speeds (FSB was from 1333 back down to 1066).  And I do a boot.  Same f'in thing.

So I then go into safe mode and its fine in there.  So this is where I'm at, backing up my necessary files and typing on my wife's laptop.

I have four hypothesis's. (LOL when I started typing this I only had 2)
#1 - Two days ago I booted up my computer (I boot once a day, turn it off at night), and was playing Company of Heroes and I had no audio.  Alt tab out, check volume, properties, cable connection - all good.  Reboot, sound came back.  I thought a fluke.  Yesteday I booted and noticed that windows was trying to install new hardware - which was my Jmicron JABD raid controller, I don't use it, I use the Nvidia one for RAID 0.  This should have been installed a long time ago - and it was.

#1A Hypothesis: My motherboard is flaking out and is doing something in the start up now that I can't get into Normal Windows - but Safe mode doesn't load whatever is causing it. 
#1B Hypothesis : My PSU is actually failing and when trying to supply additonal power to my video card, it causes some type of weird lock up.

#2 - Yesterday, I updated my video card drivers from Nvidia 178.xx to 180.48 (released 11-19-08). 
#2 Hypothesis: I rebooted just fine yesterday, but something has gone south today.

#3 - I overclocked my video card for drdeath's benchmark because I was curious what the score would be.  I didn't underclock since then.
#3 Hypothesis: Explosion.  Something ain't right.  OC'd to EVGA's Superclocked version.

Specs:
Asus P5N-E SLI (bios 1201), E6400 (was at 2.66ghz), 4x1gb DDR2 667mhz, 2x250gb Maxtor's in Raid 0, 1x500gb Seagate, EVGA 8800 GTS 640mb,  SB X-FI Fatality.

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I'm going to finish burning the current disk I'm on, make some corn bread and then pursue #3.

[TilDeath]

Yea, set the card back to specs... might want to try removing 3 of those sticks of ram too if the card reset does not do it.  Also I would run everything at stock until problem found or resolved

[Fulmar]

I'm running to the problem of I can't launch the Nvidia Control Panel (where I set the speed) when I'm in safe mode.  Other than removing the Nvidia driver, I'm not sure what I can do.

[VonMessa]

I'm running to the problem of I can't launch the Nvidia Control Panel (where I set the speed) when I'm in safe mode.  Other than removing the Nvidia driver, I'm not sure what I can do.

Ignore dr.death's advice?   

or.......

ifluff'n it ain't broke, don't fix it?

[Fulmar]

So I rebooted after I was in Safe mode and I got into full Windows fine now.  I went into the Nvidia Control Panel and checked the speed settings and it was checked marked on "Use Factory Shipped speed settings."  I kind of remember OCing my video card in the past and upon reboots the NCP never saved the speed settings.  If that's the case, I've got a hunch something ain't right on the motherboard front.

I'm going to finish backing up some files and keep an eye on it.  Right now I'm running the CPU at stock as well.

[TilDeath]

So I rebooted after I was in Safe mode and I got into full Windows fine now.  I went into the Nvidia Control Panel and checked the speed settings and it was checked marked on "Use Factory Shipped speed settings."  I kind of remember OCing my video card in the past and upon reboots the NCP never saved the speed settings.  If that's the case, I've got a hunch something ain't right on the motherboard front.

I'm going to finish backing up some files and keep an eye on it.  Right now I'm running the CPU at stock as well.

Somewhere in there there is a setting to launch the settings upon reboot.  Also make sure you didn't save the setting to a file as that may launch itself also on re-boot.

[TilDeath]

Ignore dr.death's advice?   

or.......

ifluffluff'n it ain't broke, don't fix it?

It was a benchmarking utility nothing to do with DrD.  As with all benchmarking software and utility's it a change your settings and use at your own risk.

[Fulmar]

Update:
So last post I said I got into windows.  Since then I tried rebooting and got the same black screen.  Booted into safe mode and I cleaned out the 180 drivers and installed back to 178.

So far it look as a driver issue.  Never the less, I'll finish back up my files, just in case.