Microsoft denies update causes black screen of death
Posted by Steve Burgess at 12/3/2009 12:01 PM 
Categories: black screen of death, Microsoft, data recovery
Tags: black screen of death Microsoft data recovery prevyx
Categories: black screen of death, Microsoft, data recovery
Tags: black screen of death Microsoft data recovery prevyx
In rapid succession, Microsoft was accused of, then denied & is now investigating a "Black screen of death" (BlSoD) purported to have been caused by recent security updates and reportedly has been affecting at least Windows versions XP, Vista and 7 since the November 10 Windows security update. Microsoft now suggests that customers "test and deploy" the november security updates. Got that all you end users with your personal IT departments at your beck and call?
Note that the "Black Screen of Death" is not the same as the classic BSOD or Blue Screen of Death, which results from a plethora of other causes.
A British security firm, Prevyx describes the symptoms: "After logging on there is no desktop, task bar, system tray or sidebar. Instead you are left with a totally black screen and a single My Computer Explorer window." Prevyx said that a variety of conditions have caused this symptom over the years but initially said that the most recent is caused by changes in how Windows registry keys are handled.
Prevyx has retracted its statement that this recent black screen was caused by Windows security updates KB976098 and KB915597. Prevyx is offering a free tool on its blog that it says will fix some of the affected systems. Microsoft says it suspects that some form of malware is to blame for the BlSoD.
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