Many users report a bug with Windows 7: suddenly the desktop turns black. Here's what's happening and how to fix it
Finale with a bang for Windows 7: the last update of this operating system before the end of official support by Microsoft contains a bug that makes the desktop image disappear, replacing it with a black screen. And, since support is over, Microsoft will most likely not release a patch to fix this problem.
The update in question is KB4534310 and the first reports of the bug date back to January 15, the first real day without Microsoft's official support, which ended on the 14th. The update, for Windows 7 SP1 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1, contains several security fixes that were already introduced in October 2019 and fixes several minor bugs. But, apparently, it creates a rather annoying new one. On the forums there are already many complaining, while others take it with humor considering this bug the icing on the cake of Windows 7, a sort of final gift from Microsoft to the users of this old operating system. Others, however, say that the problem does not only affect Windows 7 and there are also those who have found a half-solution.
Windows 7: why the screen goes black
To tell the truth, it would seem that the problem of the black desktop on Windows 7 is also happening to users who KB4534310 have not even downloaded and installed it. Other users also report the same problem on Windows 10. Still others claim that the problem is not in the January update, but in the Windows authentication system itself (hence the presence of the bug also on Win 10).
Black background on Windows 7: how to fix it
among the many reports of the bug, there are also some that contain a possible (partial) solution to the problem. Apparently, the black background would only appear if the image chosen as the background is not exactly the same resolution as the screen. In practice, choosing the "Fill" option for the background image in the desktop settings will cause the black screen to appear, while choosing "Center" will bring back the image of our choice. This means that if you use a graphics program to make the image the same size as the screen, everything will be fine.
Will there be a fix?
The black screen bug on Windows 7 is certainly not a serious problem, just annoying: the operating system continues to work and you can work without any problems. It probably wouldn't even be talked about so much if support for Win 7 hadn't ended ten days ago: the fact that Microsoft no longer supports this operating system (except for users who have purchased the extended warranty) suggests that users, most likely, should keep this bug until they upgrade to Windows 10.