Reports are circulating on Internet forums about problems some Windows 7 users are having when they log on to their system, basically they are faced with a black screen and a system crash.
Initially Microsoft Windows patches were suspected, after Software firm Prevx said that the November update could be responsible.
“Microsoft has investigated reports that its November security updates made changes to permissions in the registry that that are resulting in system issues for some customers” a statement read.
“The company has found those reports to be inaccurate and our comprehensive investigation has shown that none of the recently released updates are related to the behavior described in the reports.”
Prevx have since retracted their statement that the updates were to blame and have apologised to Microsoft “for any inconvenience” caused.
So what’s the problem? Well according to Microsoft the black screen of death and other problems being reported are probably the result of Malware finding its way onto the computer.
Many people complaining of the issue have said in the forums that they had to reinstall Windows in order to get their computer up and running again.
Prevx has now released a fix for the problem, which it says could affect “millions” of Windows computers.
“Users have resorted to reloading Windows as a last ditch effort to fix the problem” David Kennerley from Prevx wrote in a blog post.
“We hope we can help a good many of you avoid the need to reload.” However, Mr Kennerley has also said that the fix might not work for everyone.
“There can be many causes,” he said, and that Prevx has identified “at least 10 different scenarios which will trigger the same black screen conditions”.
It isn’t just windows 7 that is affected either, the problems can also occur with other Windows operating systems.
“But if your black screen woes began in the last two weeks… or after running any security program (including Prevx) to remove Malware during this time, then this fix will have a high probability of working.”
A Microsoft spokesman has said that the problems don’t match any known issues.
Microsoft hasn’t yet issued a patch for the problem but is advising any users who experience the black screen of death or other problems to contact its customer service line.
