November 30, 2009, 12:14 PM — Microsoft's colors of choice now appear to be black and blue. There's always been the Blue Screen of Death, but lately people have been seeing the Black Screen of Death. Here's what to do if your Windows computer is getting a black eye.
First, though, I should point out that not all Black Screens of Death are caused by this newest set of problems. People have been turning on their computers and facing a blank screen since before there were PCs. If you've been running into a black screen on your Windows PC for some time, check out Microsoft support on the more common problems that causes black screens to happen with Windows XP.
But, if you just started seeing a Black Screen of Death after installing Microsoft's November 10th set of patches for Windows and Microsoft Office, you may need this fix. Is it right for you? Here's how to tell.
According to the UK security firm Prevx, if after starting your Windows 7, Vista, XP, NT, W2K, W2K3 or W2K8 PC or server your system appears normal, but, after logging on, the screen goes totally black, except for possibly a single My Computer Explorer window, which might be minimized, chances are Prevx's fix might help.
Prevx says its Windows Black Screen fix, which is an executable file, will change your Windows registry so that several of the many problems behind the Black Screen is fixed. The company makes no claims that their download will fix all the possible reasons you're seeing a Black Screen, but, as they say, "Our advice is try our tool first. If it works, great. If it doesn't you are no worse off."
None of my systems have shown the problem so I can't speak to how well it works. I'm also not crazy about installing an executable program, but Prevx is an established, albeit small, security company so if you're stuck in Black Screen hell I've give it a try.
I mean, how much worse off could you be if you can't use your computer anyway? Good luck!
