Windows 7 Could Affect Millions

Microsoft Windows 7 problem 'could affect millions'


Microsoft said it is looking in to reports that some computers running Windows 7 crash as soon as the user logs on.

Users have been complaining on internet forums about the "black screen of death", which causes the screen of their Windows 7 machine to turn black and the computer to crash when a user logs on.

Microsoft confirmed that it was investigating the possibility that a security update, released on Thursday, could be the root of the problem.

"We are investigating reports that its latest release of security updates is resulting in system issues for some customers," said the company in a statement. "Once we complete our investigation, we will provide detailed guidance on how to prevent or address these issues."

The "black screen of death" also appears to affect other Windows operating systems, including Windows 7's predecessor, Windows Vista, as well as Windows XP. When users log on, they see a completely black screen instead of the usual start menu, desktop icons and system tray.

According to the software firm Prevx, which has issued a patch to resolve the problem, millions of computer users could be affected by the "debilitating" glitch.

"Users have resorted to reloading Windows as a last-ditch effort to fix the problem," said the company in a blog post.

"The cause appears to be a change in the Windows operating system lockdown of registry keys," said Dave Kennerley, a support engineer with Prevx. "This change has the effect of invalidating several key registry entries if they are updated without consideration of the new ACL (access control list) rules being applied."

Microsoft advised those affected by the problem to contact its customer service line. A spokesman said the problems didn't match any existing known issues. Microsoft is yet to release a patch to resolve the problem.

Procedure to fix up the problem:

1) Restart your PC

2) Logon and wait for the black screen to appear

3) Make sure your PC should be able to connect to the internet (black screen does not appear to affect this)

4) Press the CTRL, ALT and DEL keys simultaneously

5) When prompted, Click Start Task Manager

6) In Task Manager Click on the Application Tab

7) Next Click New Task

8) Now enter the command:

"C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe" "http://info.prevx.com/download.asp?GRAB=BLACKSCREENFIX"

Note this command assumes that you are using internet explorer as your browser, if not substitute your browser path and file details for those of iexplore.exe or use the Browser option of Task manager to locate it.

9) Click OK and your browser should start up and begin the download process

10) When prompted for the download Click run, the black screen fix program will download and run to automatically fix the issue.

11) Now restart your PC and the black screen problem will hopefully be gone.