After a long search for a possible cause I have finally determined that Avast is preventing my laptop from booting up properly. It makes it past the boot screen and then gets stuck, presenting me with a black screen with just a cursor. Only after uninstalling Avast does the system resume normally. I have tried reinstalling both Avast and Windows many times, but the problem reoccurs.
I am currently testing the Avg as well and it seems to only create a small delay after bootup and not a complete blackout like Avast.
Avast free (latest versions), Windows 10 Pro 1803