Repair Windows 7 Black Screen of Death

Edited by Michael J., Robbi, Lynn, Maria and 15 others

ARTICLE
EDITDISCUSS

BSOD, the infamous Windows error abbreviation, does not exclusively stand for "Blue Screen of
Death". A slew of Windows 7 users have experienced having a "dead" PC with only a mouse
cursor to interact with and a black screen to boot. In an allusion to the original BSOD, which was a
label the Windows community gave to the blue error display that pops up after a system crash, the
issue was named the black screen of death.
There are different variations of the black screen of death depending on what caused the
problem. Some BSOD instances could still allow the users to summon the Windows task manager
and perform functions. However, more severe cases left the users with just a dead black screen
and a movable mouse cursor.
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EDIT

What are the possible causes of Black Screen of Death?

The Black Screen of Death may be attributed to a variety of causes. Each of them is discussed in
this section. Recalling the activities or events that had occurred prior to the emergence of BSOD
could be essential in diagnosing the problem and in helping identify the ideal solution.

1.

Windows security update.

One of the first major culprits for the black screen issue as discussed in the Windows community
is a certain Windows 7 security update. Several Windows 7 users apparently stumbled upon the
problem after installing, knowingly or unknowingly, the security updates code-named Update
KB2607712, Update KB976098 and Update KB915597. While Microsoft has rebutted this claim,
a slew of Windows users still claimed that uninstalling the said updates restored their Windows
system back to normal. If you had installed Windows updates prior to the BSOD episode, there is
a high probability that this could be the cause of the BSOD issue.
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2.

Malware.
Several Trojan viruses such as those which belong to the Daonol family are believed to be
capable of producing black screen of death symptoms. If you had not made regular virus scans
on your Windows PC prior to the BSOD episode, or worse, if you havent had antivirus software
installed on your system, then it is likely that a malware has triggered this ordeal.

3.

Corrupted graphics card driver.

Because the problem involves abnormalities in the systems display, it would be logical to
consider an issue involving your computers graphics card. The video adapters drivers might
have been corrupted or might need some updating.
EDIT

What are the possible solutions for the black screen of death?
Because there are many possible causes and different variations of the black screen of death,
there are also a lot of possible solutions. The solutions list provided in this section follows a pattern
of ascending degree. This means the list starts off with the most basic solution and gradually

advances to the more complex ones. It is recommended that you perform the solutions in their
order of arrangement. Start with the first one and only proceed to the next if it doesnt work.

1.

Boot your PC with the Last Known Good Configuration option.

This quick little option can be accessed by following these simple steps:
1.

Press and hold down the F8 button as you boot up your PC and before the
Windows logo is displayed. This will bring you to the Advanced Boot Options, wherein a list of
options on booting up your Windows 7 system is provided.

2.

Locate the Last Known Good Configuration option and select it by pressing the
Enter key. Your PC should now start booting Windows. Wait and see if it works.

3.

Dont forget to cross your fingers.

2.

Reinstall graphics card driver.

This solution is only applicable if you can still access the Task Manager of your Windows 7
computer.
1.

Press and hold down the following keys: Ctrl + Alt + Delete, to access the Task
Manager.

2.

Go to the Processes tab and find explorer.exe.

3.

Right-click on the selected process and select End Process.

4.

Create a New Task by clicking "File" and "New Task" (Run).

5.

Type in explorer.exe in the text box and click "OK". The Windows taskbar should
now be visible.

6.

Click the "Start" button and search for Device Manager by typing device
manager in the Windows search box. Click the search result.

7.

Locate the display adapter option and double-click it. This should show your
device. Right-click on the device name and then click Update Driver Software.

8.

Follow the instructions in the update driver wizard.

9.

Don't forget to cross your fingers.

3.

Uninstall Windows security update.

This solution is only applicable if you can still access the Task Manager of your Windows 7
computer.
1.

Press and hold down the following keys: Ctrl + Alt + Delete, to access the Task
Manager.

2.

Go to the Processes tab and find explorer.exe.

3.

Right-click on the selected process and select End Process.

4.

Create a New Task by clicking "File" and "New Task" (Run).

5.

Type in explorer.exe in the text box and click "OK". The Windows taskbar should
now be visible.

6.

Click the "Start" button and search for Programs and Features by typing
programs and features in the Windows search box. Click the first search result.

7.

Locate the View Installed Updates option on the upper-left portion of the ensuing
window and click it. A list of installed updates will be displayed.

8.

Locate the updates under the Windows category.

9.

Observe the name of the updates and the dates they were installed. If there are
updates with the code name KB2607712, KB976098 and KB915597 and they were installed
immediately prior to the occurrence of the black screen of death, uninstall them by rightclicking on the update name and clicking uninstall.

10.

Restart your computer. And dont forget to cross your fingers.

4.

Check Windows registry.

This solution is only applicable if you can still access the Task Manager of your Windows 7
computer.
1.

Press and hold down the following keys: Ctrl + Alt + Delete, to access the Task
Manager.

2.

Go to the Processes tab and find explorer.exe.

3.

Right-click on the selected process and select End Process.

4.

Create a New Task by clicking File and New Task (Run).

5.

Type in explorer.exe in the text box and click OK. The Windows taskbar should
now be visible.

6.

Click the Start button and type in regedit in the Windows search box. Click the
first search result.

7.

Navigate
to
this
particular
registry
location:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon

8.

Click the WinLogon key. On the right pane of the window, find the Shell option
and click it. The value of the Data column should be explorer.exe. If it isnt, change the value
by double-clicking Shell and typing explorer.exe in the Value data input field. Once the
change is made, click OK.

9.

Exit the registry editor and restart your PC.

10.

Cross your fingers.

5.

Uninstall Windows security update via Windows safe mode.

If you cant access the Task Manager, you can boot your Windows PC into Safe Mode and
uninstall Windows security updates from there. To do so, follow the steps below:
1.

Press the F8 button on your keyboard upon booting up your PC. This will
bypass the normal boot process and leads you to the advanced boot options instead. Note:
There is a small window of opportunity for this process to work so you may want to press the
button repeatedly to ensure that you wont miss that opportunity.

2.

Click the Safe Mode option once you are in the Advanced Boot Options screen.
The system will now load the files necessary to boot into Safe Mode. Wait until the login
screen appears.

3.

Log on to your computer. If you have many user accounts on that computer, make
sure that the account you logged on with has administrator rights.

4.

Click the Start button and search for Programs and Features by typing programs
and features in the Windows search box. Click the first search result.

5.

Locate the View Installed Updates option on the upper-left portion of the ensuing
window and click it. A list of installed updates will be displayed

6.

Locate the updates under the Windows category.

7.

Observe the name of the updates and the dates they were installed. If there are
updates with the code name KB2607712, KB976098 and KB915597 and they were installed
immediately prior to the occurrence of the black screen of death, uninstall them by rightclicking on the update name and clicking uninstall.

8.

Restart your computer into the normal Windows mode (not Safe Mode). And dont
forget to cross your fingers.

6.

Scan and remove Malware.

If you cant access the Task Manager in the normal Windows mode and if the previous step didnt
solve the problem, you should consider scanning your PC for malware through the Safe Mode
with Networking advanced boot option. The steps to doing this are detailed below.
1.

Press the F8 button on your keyboard upon booting up your PC. This will
bypass the normal boot process and lead you to the advanced boot options instead. Note:
There is a small window of opportunity for this process to work so you may want to press the
button repeatedly to ensure that you wont miss that opportunity.

2.

Click the Safe Mode with Networking option once you are in the Advanced Boot
Options screen. This will allow you to have internet connectivity while on Windows Safe Mode.

3.

Log on to your computer. If you have many user accounts on that computer, make
sure that the account you logged on with has administrator rights.
4.
Open your web browser and download and install the free [[1]] version of
Malwarebytes Anit-Malware software.
5.

Upon successful installation, open the Malwarebytes software and perform a Full
Scan of your PC. This may take considerable time depending on the size and speed of your
hard disk drives. Wait for the scan to complete and be patient.

6.

After the scan has completed, view the scan results and let Malwarebytes remove
infected files if there are any.

7.

Restart your PC and cross your fingers.

7.

Perform a System Restore via Safe Mode.

Windows provides a feature for restoring your system to a restore point. You can access this
feature via Safe Mode to restore your PC to a previous state by performing the following steps:
1.

Press the F8 button on your keyboard upon booting up your PC. This will
bypass the normal boot process and leads you to the advanced boot options instead. Note:

There is a small window of opportunity for this process to work so you may want to press the
button repeatedly to ensure that you wont miss that opportunity.
2.

Click the Safe Mode option once you are in the Advanced Boot Options screen.
The system will now load the files necessary to boot into Safe Mode. Wait until the login
screen appears.

3.

Log on to your computer. If you have many user accounts on that computer, make
sure that the account you logged on with has administrator rights.

4.

Click the "Start" button and search for System Restore by typing system restore
in the Windows search box. Click the first search result.

5.

Choose the restore point you want your PC to revert to. The restore points come
with a corresponding date they were created. Choose the most recent date when your PC
worked as expected. Click "Next" and then click "Finish".

6.

Restart your computer into the normal Windows mode (not Safe Mode). And dont
forget to cross your fingers.

8.

Perform a System Restore via System Recovery Options.

If for some reason you also cant access the Windows Safe Mode, you can perform the System
Restore via the System Recovery Options. Here are the steps:
1.

Press the F8 button on your keyboard upon booting up your PC. This will
bypass the normal boot process and lead you to the advanced boot options instead. Note:
There is a small window of opportunity for this process to work so you may want to press the
button repeatedly to ensure that you wont miss that opportunity.

2.

Click the Repair your computer option in the Advanced Boot Options screen.

3.

Choose the keyboard layout applicable to you.

4.

Enter your user account credentials.

5.

Choose "System Restore" in the System Recovery Options window.

6.

Choose the restore point you want your PC to revert to. The restore points come
with a corresponding date they were created. Choose the most recent date when your PC
worked as expected. Click "Next" and then click "Finish".

7.

Restart your computer into the normal Windows mode (not Safe Mode). And dont
forget to cross your fingers.