When you login to a Windows 7 machine on a domain, the logon process hangs at the welcome screen for 30 seconds and then black screens. You can still move around your cursor but can not see the desktop. After a few minutes the desktop may load.

I experienced a similar issue, tried all the usual known issues/fixes such as adding a desktop background instead of using a solid colour etc etc.

At the end I found the issue was related to a policy called ‘Run Logon Scripts Synchronously’

I disabled the policy and monitored the network for a few weeks. Found that it did not cause any issues with drives mapping via script.

But disabling the policy ‘Run Logon Scripts Synchronously’ resolved the logon issue.

The policy can be located at:

1) User config
2) Expand Administrative Tools
3) Expand
4) System
5) Click the Scripts
6) Right click the policy ‘Run Logon Scripts Synchronously’ on the right hand side, click enable and OK.