Microsoft says that a bugfix will be provided for organizations that purchased Windows 7 Extended Security Updates (ESU) to fix a newly acknowledged issue leading to the desktop wallpaper being replaced by a blank black screen.
Windows 7 also reached its End of Life on January 14, therefore there will be no other bug fixes or free security updates from now on.
The wallpaper issue was acknowledged by Microsoft today following numerous reports coming from users after the last Windows 7 update, the KB4534310 Monthly Rollup, was released on the same day.
Windows 7 wallpaper — missing in action
While KB4534310 only came with security updates to the Microsoft Scripting Engine, Windows Input and Composition, Windows Storage and Filesystems, and Windows Server, somehow one of them managed to break the desktop wallpaper functionality.
BleepingComputer also reported that this final update also is causing the desktop wallpaper in for some Windows 7 users to not stick and to be substituted by a blank black screen instead.
However, as Microsoft explains on the new known issue's Windows Health Dashboard entry, this bug is also experienced on Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 devices.
"After installing KB4534310, your desktop wallpaper when set to "Stretch" might display as black," Microsoft explains.
"We are working on a resolution and estimate a solution will be available in mid-February for organizations who have purchased Windows 7 Extended Security Updates (ESU)."
Getting back your custom wallpaper
Even though not all Windows 7 will get a bugfix, there are measures you can take to fix your wallpaper from going blank.
To mitigate this newly acknowledged known issue, Microsoft recommends doing one of the following:
• Set your custom image to an option other than "Stretch", such as “Fill”, “Fit”, “Tile”, or “Center”, or
• Choose a custom wallpaper that matches the resolution of your desktop.
Users of Windows 7 Professional, Windows 7 Enterprise, and Windows 7 Ultimate will still receive updates if they enroll in Microsoft's Windows Extended Security Updates program, available through volume licensing.
While Redmond says that ESU doesn't include or provide customers with user-requested non-security updates, new features, or design change requests, it seems that bug fixes will still roll in if the issues they fix is deemed worth patching.
Comments
Knight_of_BAAWA - 4 years ago
So Microsoft isn't as yet going to fix their own bug? Yeah....that's not cool.
PR11T - 4 years ago
It was written in this article that it will be fixed. Bug only affects who stretch their wallpaper out of original proportions to fill the screen, which is something that never looks nice and I doubt that many use it.
HuginnMuninn - 4 years ago
No, definitely not cool but seems fitting, in an ironic sort of way. Kind of like a forget-me-not.
I really appreciate BleepingComputer reaching out to MS and giving us a heads up. One thing I want to note. Microsoft's suggested workaround of setting the custom image to anything other than Stretch didn't work for me. The setting doesn't stick. Even after deleting all themes with Stretch and setting all custom images to Fill, when Windows boots up, it creates a new unsaved theme using Stretch. That only happens in the user accounts in which the custom image had been set to Stretch before the update was installed. I tried uninstalling the update, removing all custom images, creating new custom images using Fill, then reinstalling the security update. That fixed the problem, but only temporarily.
noelprg4 - 4 years ago
hi Sergiu.
Seems like Microsoft has a recent change of heart and plans to issue a fix for the black wallpaper bug for ALL Windows 7 & Server 2008 R2 users, regardless of whether they purchased ESUs or not.
both woody of Computerworld and Born Tech are reporting of this recent development:
https://www.computerworld.com/article/3516313/microsoft-blinks-again-promises-to-clean-up-after-its-win7-stretch-black-screen-mess.html
https://borncity.com/win/2020/01/27/windows-7-bug-fix-fr-schwarzen-desktop-kommt-fr-alle/
this is NOW the wording of MS support article 4534310 about the wallpaper problem:
"We are working on a resolution and will provide an update in an upcoming release, which will be released to all customers running Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1."
serghei - 4 years ago
We're working on a story about this :) thx