How to fix 'Black screen of death' on Micrososft Windows

01 December 2009 @ 01:17 pm EDT

Microsoft users claimed on Tuesday that they have been left with a "black screen of death" after running a Microsoft security update on their computers, according to reports.

Microsoft has not yet released an official statement as to the cause of the Black Screen of Death, which results in a totally black screen, only saying it is investigating the issue.

"Microsoft is investigating reports that its latest release of security updates is resulting in system issues for some customers," the company said in a statement.

"Once we complete our investigation, we will provide detailed guidance on how to prevent or address these issues."

Windows users may be familiar with the "blue screen of death," which occurs when their computers essentially shutdown because of an operating system problem. The new "black screen of death" appears to occur when the computer is first turned on, then shuts down.

British security firm Prevx offered a solution to this problem on their blog:

1) Restart your PC

2) Log on 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"

9) Click OK and your (Web) 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.