Windows Patch Results In BLACK Screen of Death (Updated)
November 30, 2009Well, if the original blue screen of death (BSOD) was not enough to strive fear into Windows machine users everywhere, now there is a black screen of death going around. Call it “new BSOD” and “BSOD Classic.”
Microsoft has not confirmed it yet, but reports arose last week that the latest round of patches has resulted in the blacking out of computer screens in some computers (mine hasn’t, so I’m lucky. I feel special).
Since I haven’t seen in first hand, I can’t comment on it much. A description has been helpfully included in the ArsTechnica article:
After starting your Windows 7, Vista, XP, NT, W2K, W2K3 or W2K8 PC or server the system appears normal. However, after logging on there is no desktop, taskbar, system tray or sidebar. Instead you are left with a totally black screen and a single My Computer Explorer window. Even this window might be minimized making it hard to see. [my emphasis]
Updated (01 DEC 2009): Apparently, the BSOD is not caused by the latest round of patches. From Microsoft:
“Microsoft has investigated reports that its November security updates made changes to permissions in the registry that that are resulting in system issues for some customers,” a Microsoft spokesperson told Ars. “The company has found those reports to be inaccurate and our comprehensive investigation has shown that none of the recently released updates are related to the behavior described in the reports.”
Also, Prevx, the company that had pointed out that the patches were affecting the computers:
“Having narrowed down a specific trigger for this condition we’ve done quite a bit of testing and re-testing on the recent Windows patches including KB976098 and KB915597 as referred to in our previous blog. Since more specifically narrowing down the cause we have been able to exonerate these patches from being a contributory factor.”
“We apologize to Microsoft for any inconvenience our blog may have caused. This has been a challenging issue to identify. Users who have the black screen issue referred to can still safely use our free fix tool to restore their desktop icons and taskbar.”
