<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.6000.16945" name=GENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=#ffffff>
<DIV>
<P><STRONG> Dan's Tech
Tips:</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>Microsoft Investigates Windows 7 "Screen Of Death"</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>Windows 7 was released in October</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>Microsoft has confirmed that it is investigating a problem described
as the black screen of death, which affects its latest operating
system.</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>The error means that users of Windows 7 see a totally black screen
after logging on to the system.</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>The firm said it was looking into reports that suggest its latest
security update, issued on 10 November, was the cause of the
problem.</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>Reports suggest the flaw also affects Vista, XP and other
systems.</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>Software firm Prevx, which has issued a fix for the problem, says
"millions" of people may be affected.</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>"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.</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>"We hope we can help a good many of you avoid the need to
reload."</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>Unknown problem The firm said its fix did not work in all
cases.</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>"There can be many causes," said Mr Kennerley.</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>"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."</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>Mr Kennerly said the firm had identified at least 10 different
scenarios which will trigger the same black screen conditions.</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>"These appear to have been around for years now," he
said.</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>The firm reports that the problem affects editions of Windows 7,
Vista, XP, NT, and Windows 2000.</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>Microsoft said that people who are affected by the problem should
contact its customer service line.</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>A spokesperson said that the reports did "not match any known issues"
documented by the firm.</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>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.</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>The "black screen of death" moniker is a play on the blue screen of
death, which appears when Microsoft operating systems crash.</STRONG></P>
<P><STRONG>If you have any questions about the tips posted in Dan's Tech tips,
please contact Dan at the following email address:</STRONG></P>
<P><FONT face=Arial size=2><A
href="mailto:dthompson5@mchsi.com">dthompson5@mchsi.<WBR>com</A></FONT></P></DIV></BODY></HTML>