Black Screen Of Death (BSOD)

[#1]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8388253.stm

Quote

Microsoft investigates Windows 7 'screen of death' 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.

[#2]

Well it makes a change  (Of colour if nothing else)

[#3]

Seems like a good time to write down the microsoft customer service line number on a piece of paper, and stick it on the screen.... cos if you get the black screen, you ain`t gonna be able to look it up on the net ! 

[#4]

I would cry!

[#5]

Seems prevx got it wrong, it's malware caused http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8388253.stm

[#6]

The only time I've seen anything like this was down to Malware.
The most recent one was just a couple of days ago, was a right royal pain to fix and was caused by a fake antivirus program (PC MightyMax).
Vista just got stuck at or shortly after the user logon screen.

[#7]

Yes, pevrx got it wrong - apologies all round I guess

[#8]

Especially from whoever is responsible for security at Microsoft products. 

[#9]

I've had the same thing (or worse) happen with me on Linux, it's not so much fun when X refuses to start!  But yes, this isn't an issue with Microsoft at all, I'm using Win 7 and (apart from an odd slowdown, probably caused by Kaspersky applying security settings) it's rock solid and stable

[#10]

What could be worse than a blank screen?

[#11]

most ITV programmes 

[#12]

Worse than a blank screen?  

• X crashing with a cryptic message not allowing you to StartX so you're stuck at a CLI and Vim


• Over sized fonts (OpenSuSE) rendering the entire desktop useless


• The need to shut down X but kdm running so ctrl+backspace just keeps restarting X so you need to find and kill the pid, however, X is broke so you're stuck in a catch 22 and need to hard reboot


• Windows Millenium


• A screen showing the speeches of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown


• Being rickrolled


• OSX Desktop, I don't know why but I find it hideous, ugly, old fashioned, it's very Windows 95esque


• A screen with a Blue Screen (not that I've seen one on Windows 7!)


• One that I'm not going to mention but should *never* be watched under any circumstances, and I never will, ever


• Oh, just remembered, years ago with an S3 Virge DX, for some reason all the letters changed from letters, to squares, maybe a buggy driver? Dunno, but useless anyhow