UPDATE: I've continued working on my notebook to narrow down the problem...still the same issues. I tried a new power adapter...tested the CMOS battery (coin battery CR2032), and it was completely drained, so I replaced it, but that didn't change anything. It still has the black screen at start-up, and re-boots after 30 seconds...unless I tap F10...it will then stay fully running until I shut it off, but black screen, no way to access or see BIOS, menus, etc. External monitor does not work either. I have been testing all the hardware, and do notice that the small led light beside the SD card slot that normally indicates that a card is inserted always stays on. The fact that all of this started EXACTLY AFTER a Windows 7 update, still makes me think that the update could be the cause. Any other ideas? Thank you.