Windows Black Screen of Death: What You Need to Know

By Brennon Slattery Dec. 2, 2009

Any Windows owner is familiar with the Blue Screen of Death, that much-dreaded white text on a blue background that essentially says you're through. But what you may not know is that there's a new contender in town: the Black Screen of Death. So what is this horrible-sounding thing, where did it come from, what's being done to fix it, and how bad is it? Here are five things you need to know about the Black Screen of Death. It stems from Microsoft security updates. After the latest Microsoft patch was delivered on Tuesday, November 10, 2009, users began reporting a crippling black screen. The Black Screen of Death causes your PC to seize up and removes everything except, in some cases, a single open My Computer window. So what happened? Microsoft apparently made changes to the Access Control List (ACL), a list of permissions for a logged-on user. The ACL interacts with registry keys, creating visible desktop features such as a sidebar. However, the latest patches appear to make some changes to those registry keys. The effect is that some installed applications aren't aware of the changes and don't run properly. It's not Windows 7-specific. Windows 7 haters: step back. The Black Screen of Death isn't relegated to Microsoft's latest OS. Security firm Previx states that the Black Screen of Death can affect Windows XP, Vista, and Windows 7 without prejudice. So if you're considering uninstalling Windows 7, fearful that it is the source of the problem, don't bother. You won't dodge any bullet.

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