Microsoft investigates Windows 7 'screen of death'

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8388253.stm

Microsoft has confirmed that it is investigating a problem described as the "black screen of death", which affects its latest operating system.

The error means that users of Windows 7 see a totally black screen after logging on to the system.

The firm said it was looking into reports that suggest its latest security update was the cause the problem.

Reports suggest the flaw also affects Vista, XP and other systems.

Software firm Prevx, which has issued a fix for the problem, says "millions" of people may be affected.

"Users have resorted to reloading Windows as a last ditch effort to fix the problem," the firm's David Kennerley wrote in a blog post.

"We hope we can help a good many of you avoid the need to reload."

Unknown problem

The firm said its fix did not work in all cases.

"There can be many causes," said Mr Kennerley.

"But if your black screen woes began in the last two weeks after a Windows update or after running any security program (including Prevx) to remove malware during this time then this fix will have a high probability of working."

Mr Kennerly said the firm had identified "at least 10 different scenarios which will trigger the same black screen conditions".

"These appear to have been around for years now," he said.

The firm reports that the problem affects editions of Windows 7, Vista, XP, NT, and Windows 2000.

Microsoft said that people who are affected by the problem should contact its customer service line.

A spokesperson said that the reports did "not match any known issues" documented by the firm.

It has not issued a fix for the problem, which causes the desktop, task bar, system tray and side bar to disappear, according to reports.

The "black screen of death" moniker is a play on the "blue screen of death", which appears when Microsoft operating systems crash



i thought i had a virus! i operated my computer through the task manager yesterday.

I upgraded Vista to Win 7 two weeks ago and I've already seen the dreaded black screen (never saw it in XP and I used XP home for nearly 8 years).

The one improvement in Win 7 is that it adds several failsafes for recovery. In spite of the black screen, after literally unplugging the CPU, restarting and fumbling around with the thing for a while, I was able to get it back to a place where I could return it to a Restore point. Win 7 seems very temperamental about outside software. Especially stuff that WAS compatible with 95, 98, ME and XP, but will not run on 7. Sometimes you do an install, then reboot and here comes the new Windows logo and...uh-oh...up looms the dreaded black screen...sometimes it goes ahead and loads WIN 7 after a bit...sometimes you're in for a long evening of emergency rebuilding and recovery. ::sigh:: Bill Gates and Microsoft. Spawn of Satan.

Hey atleast you know you can run it in taskmanager I had to learn myself through slow and annoying trial and error different ways to make a computer work although in fairness it was very old and very badly infected.... But just imagine what the people who don't know how to do that and don't have the time to learn it must be going through.... Honestly Microsoft just makes the most simple and stupid mistakes when it comes to their products all of them have something wrong that is a critical problem (as in it doesn't work go buy a new one) and once they fix it a new problem comes up... Both XBOX's had problems the first could catch fire the second would die if you played it too long because it overheated honestly they must not test the products based on how they are actually going to be used... I just wish Mac was more compatible with my stuff and cheaper then I'd have one already...

yeah, my computer automatically updated itself earlier today and the black screen came back.
dern them.

As much I hate vista, I'm grew with it. But like XP, I'm sticking with Vista for a long time.

I think I'll ride XP until the wheels fall off.

Sorry, I have had way too many bad experiences with MS sending out buggy operating systems.

Ooh, I recently acquired a new PC with Windows 7 on it and I can't wait to see my first black screen of death (not).
I probably don't see it yet because I rarely log off my PC, I just put it on sleep.

...it's a malware problem, not a problem with the OS.

you mean not counting who upgrade hangs at 62%, DVD drive not found error, Aero problems, missing folders & applets.... nothing that an average user with knowledge of regedit can't fix.

Yet Vista had over 2000 know issues when it hit the market. Can't expect perfection from a company that has produced a substandard product for decades.

"But this version address all the issues people have had with < insert version of DOS or Windows> "

I had XP than I bought a laptop with Vista on it, but I prefer XP. It took me quite a while to get used to Vista. My first computer with XP on it crashed after having a blue screen twice. I make back ups on disks and memory stick of my files just in case, the laptop crashes. I wouldn't bother with Windows 7. My laptop is only a year old.

This makes me VERY glad that I decided a LONG time ago that I choose what updates to install and when. I hated the way that the "recommendations" were set to "Download and install automatically for me" I've chosen, "notify me, but don't download" - this way, I can review the updates. Even though sometimes it bugs me to switch to "updated when we want you to"

I'll be doing some serious computer work in the run up to Christmas. I'll be installing Windows Seven 64bit version and fixing my Linux partitions. Going to add a /home partition to the field

I think I will dig out my old computer with Windows 95. No, but seriously, I am hesitant to upgrade to Windows 7 after hearing so much negative publicity on it. I am currently running Vista---and I have some issues with it---but at least it is working. So I think I will stay with it. My favorite Windows has been XP. My main complaint with Vista is when I send a word document to someone, and they can't open it. I have tried saving the files as other types of documents---but it's still the same problem. I usually have to copy/paste the text into email instead.

Haven't gotten it yet, but if I do, I'll just use Ubuntu until I decide o fix the problem.

Prevx already apologized publicly to M$, it's caused by malwares and has nothing to do with hotfixes. That said, after that news is printed, I've seen quite some people said that they have experienced "black screen" problems on many different forums. Whether this is a hidden problem of Windows is any one's guess, it just has nothing to do with updates.

stange....i never got this. i never even heard of this before.