Solved 23H2 black screen after logging in following 11/2024 updates

112022 · Nov 15, 2024

Yesterday my computer did the 11/2024 updates at the end of the day, rebooting to the normal login screen, and I closed the computer.

This morning I logged in (from a normal-looking login screen), the post-login stuff took a while, normal after an update, and then I had a black screen with no cursor. None of the following worked:

Signing out, then signing into a second local account on the computer (the go-to that has always worked with this post-update problem has happened before). In fact, normally, the signin to the local account produces a visible desktop and environment, then I sign out, and signing into my normal account has everything fixed. Today though even the second local account got me to a black screen
Resetting the display driver using Win/CTRL/Shft/B
Task manager (CTRL/ALT/DEL brings that menu up over the black screen) and resetting the Windows Explorer process - the process vanished from task manager, then never came back - how long should I have waited to see it?
Bringing up diagnostics on boot and running several - no issues were found

I finally did a system restore to where I was yesterday morning before the updates, and could then login fine. I don't know for sure what updates were applied, but here are the updates the system found for me to install now after restoring to pre-update:

Could any of these have affected me?

Finally, I ran a sfc /scannow, it did find corrupt files, and I don't know how to interpret the log file about what was repaired. It's too large to attach, but the two files it repaired were:

C:\WINDOWS\System32\drivers\BthA2dp.sys
C:\WINDOWS\System32\drivers\BthHfEnum.sys

Is there anything else I should look for in the cbs.log file?

There's nothing like being ready to start a day running, and have the first two hours hijacked by computer troubleshooting. Glad I'm back, but what went wrong, and how can I better fix and diagnose it if it happens again? It happened a small number of times last year and this, the last of these in March: Black screen upon login after KB5035853 install

Ghot · Nov 15, 2024

@112022

This sounds like a software issue.
Maybe @zbook will stop by and have your run some tuneup and diagnostics batch files.

He can usually ferret out rather deep software issues, if any exist.

Since you know that System Restore can fix this problem, you might want to try the updates again.
The black screen may just have been caused by a glitch when downloading the updates.

None of those updates in your pic, "should" be causing any problems.

112022 · Nov 15, 2024

I omitted one material fact from my original post. I did the restart after re-updating today, and logged into a normal desktop. Started my browser (Firefox if that matters). Then I noticed the task bar was missing, even though everything had been normal when I logged in. Minimizing my open browser windows, I'd have expected to see a desktop. Instead, what I got was:

That's a black screen with nothing showing on it but minimized icons for the Firefox sessions.

I don't feel like wasting time troubleshooting again, so I'm going to undergo the lengthy system restore and get on with my day. But something in the Windows updates causes me to lose my taskbar and desktop after a normal first login after the updates, and then upon subsequent logins, I just get a black screen.

Ghot · Nov 15, 2024

112022 said:
But something in the Windows updates causes me to lose my taskbar and desktop after a normal first login after the updates, and then upon subsequent logins, I just get a black screen.

When the Taskbar and desktop icons are missing... that means Explorer has crashed.

You didn't mention, but sometimes an update can conflict with some tweak or with tweaking software.
We've all had that happen occasionally.

In the case of a conflict with tweaking software, the author usually finds a fix fairly fast.
For a conflict with a particular tweak... you, pretty much have to find that.

Most of us use 3rd party backup software for just these reasons.
It allows us to restore and try or test again.

System Restore just merges the restore point with the current state of Windows.
Backup software, completely "overwrites" the Windows install with your backup.
Consequently...

Macrium Reflect, AOMEI Backupper and Hasleo Backup Suite - GUIDES

How to use backup software... 1. When everything is working perfectly... make a full Windows backup. 2. Then, if something breaks... restore from the latest backup. 3. Then... try "whatever you were doing" a different way. If it still breaks Windows, then... go to step #2. 4. Repeat...

www.elevenforum.com

Windows 11 Tweaks - Leader Board.

These are tweaks I've seen asked for... many times. They are collected here for easy access. All of these and more can be found in the Eleven Forum Tutorials section. Make sure to read the "notes" in the various tutorials. At the bottom of the first post in all the "tutorials", there are...

www.elevenforum.com

And although it won't help with your issue... you get ten cookies just for filling out your computer specs.

112022 · Nov 15, 2024

I am looking at how to start the taskbar and bring back the desktop, and these require the Windows key, which now doesn't work (probably when the display reset key combo doesn't work). I assume the key worked before the system updates. Still haven't done a system restore.

IanMosley · Nov 15, 2024

112022 said:
Finally, I ran a sfc /scannow, it did find corrupt files, . . .

You could try running the command dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

Ghot · Nov 15, 2024

@112022

Another command to run would be...

Dism.exe /online /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup /ResetBase

As mentioned by @IanMosley , whenever SFC finds errors, repaired or not,
you should always run DISM... RestoreHealth afterwards.

And about once a year or so, run DISM....... ResetBase, just for good measure.

I run SFC and then one or all of the following commands... anytime I see weirdness in Windows...

Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

Dism.exe /online /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup

Dism.exe /online /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup /ResetBase

After every Windows update, I run...

SFC and... Dism.exe /online /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup

It's kind of like vacuuming the carpet.

112022 · Nov 15, 2024

Ghot said:
@112022

Another command to run would be...

Dism.exe /online /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup /ResetBase

As mentioned by @IanMosley , whenever SFC finds errors, repaired or not,
you should always run DISM... RestoreHealth afterwards.

And about once a year or so, run DISM....... ResetBase, just for good measure.

I run SFC and then one or all of the following commands... anytime I see weirdness in Windows...

Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

Dism.exe /online /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup

Dism.exe /online /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup /ResetBase

After every Windows update, I run...

SFC and... Dism.exe /online /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup

It's kind of like vacuuming the carpet.

So **maybe** I'm okay now. I did your sequence:

Before that, I had to do a system restore, which, unfortunately now, from the recovery screen, only offered me this morning as an option. That would have been after yesterday's updates had been installed, and before I restored to the prior morning.

I logged in fine, as expected - my problems from this thread would occur after launching Firefox. I cautiously launched Edge and the taskbar stayed intact. I kept testing the Windows key and it worked, and the task bar stayed in place.

I don't know that I've ever used System Restore in Windows 11. When I've done so today, I'm only presented with one restore point - in older Windows versions I'd have several choices. How do I find other restore points, or set a higher limit than one on the number I can have? With things seemingly working okay now, I did just create a restore point.

I'll see how my computer behaves for several days, and mark this as solved if I don't have any issues.

Ghot · Nov 15, 2024

112022 said:
So **maybe** I'm okay now. I did your sequence:

Before that, I had to do a system restore, which, unfortunately now, from the recovery screen, only offered me this morning as an option. That would have been after yesterday's updates had been installed, and before I restored to the prior morning.

I logged in fine, as expected - my problems from this thread would occur after launching Firefox. I cautiously launched Edge and the taskbar stayed intact. I kept testing the Windows key and it worked, and the task bar stayed in place.

I don't know that I've ever used System Restore in Windows 11. When I've done so today, I'm only presented with one restore point - in older Windows versions I'd have several choices. How do I find other restore points, or set a higher limit than one on the number I can have? With things seemingly working okay now, I did just create a restore point.

I'll see how my computer behaves for several days, and mark this as solved if I don't have any issues.

I don't know how to find other restore points... I ALWAYS used backup software, since the Windows XP days.
I disable System Restore immediately on any Windows version.

I do know that you can manually create Restore points..

I'd imagine that somewhere in Settings > System > About > System Protection... you'll find all those settings.
Also I've noticed that lately, on 24H2, every other update I find System Restore re-enabled.

MS really jerks my chain sometimes. ^^

112022 · Nov 18, 2024

Ghot said:
@112022

Another command to run would be...

Dism.exe /online /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup /ResetBase

As mentioned by @IanMosley , whenever SFC finds errors, repaired or not,
you should always run DISM... RestoreHealth afterwards.

And about once a year or so, run DISM....... ResetBase, just for good measure.

I run SFC and then one or all of the following commands... anytime I see weirdness in Windows...

Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

Dism.exe /online /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup

Dism.exe /online /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup /ResetBase

After every Windows update, I run...

SFC and... Dism.exe /online /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup

It's kind of like vacuuming the carpet.

I wanted to give an update. Today I noticed that Windows wanted me to restart to complete an update, and darned if it wasn't two of the problematic updates from a few days ago. I was careless and didn't note them before they installed, but I believe they were:

KB5045935
KB5046633

So I restarted, they installed, I logged in, usual long sequence after an update, finally get to my desktop, and it's fine. I checked my Windows key, it worked. Launched Edge, it worked and my taskbar remained in place. Quit Edge, launched Firefox my preferred browser, and it launched, but a few seconds into the session, the taskbar went away replaced by black, and the desktop was black, and the Windows key no longer worked.

Did a system restore and ran your sequence:

Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth
Dism.exe /online /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup
Dism.exe /online /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup /ResetBase

And below is what I got. Why did the last two steps indicate successful completion, but only run 20% of the way through?

I have now blocked KB5045935 and KB5046633 from installing on this computer (an HP). But my home computer installed these updates fine and runs Firefox with no problems like this.

What might be suggested to make things right here?

Ghot · Nov 18, 2024

112022 said:
What might be suggested to make things right here?

Maybe... uninstall and re-install Firefox on the HP. Export your Firefox bookmarks before you uninstall.
Use REVO uninstaller to uninstall Firefox, and use it's "Scan" for leftovers too.

Download Revo Uninstaller Free - Remove unwanted programs easily

Download Revo Uninstaller Free helps you to uninstall software and remove unwanted programs easily. Remove all uninstall leftovers and traces

www.revouninstaller.com

It could also be some weird HP thing I guess.

If nothing else works, you can do an In-Place Upgrade...

Repair Install Windows 11 with an In-place Upgrade

This tutorial will show you how to do a repair install of Windows 11 by performing an in-place upgrade without losing anything. If you need to repair or create a new recovery partition or having problems with the Windows 11 operating system on your PC, and the usual solutions will not fix it...

www.elevenforum.com

An In-Place Upgrade "compares" what is installed on the computer, with the Windows ISO image.
Then, it overwrites any corrupted Windows files, with clean copies from the ISO image.
This is how it "repairs" Windows while allowing you to keep your programs and personal files.

OAT · Nov 18, 2024

112022 said:
What might be suggested to make things right here?

Based on what you have described, it seems to be a user profile corruption.
Try to create yet another user and see the result.

112022 · Nov 18, 2024

OAT said:
Based on what you have described, it seems to be a user profile corruption.
Try to create yet another user and see the result.

The computer has a second user profile on it, that exhibits the same behavior.

112022 · Nov 18, 2024

https://www.reddit.com/r/WindowsHelp/comments/1gqcvz3/no_taskbar_black_screen_restarting_explorerexe

appears to be the same problem I've been having, and a solution vouched for by others on the thread. Specifically:

Opening a command prompt [he did this by starting task manager and picking "run new task" from the top], I ran "wmic qfe list brief /format:table" to list the most recent updates

Then I uninstalled the update from yesterday with "wusa /uninstall /kb:[update number]". There were several updates, I wasn't able to uninstall all of them. Uninstalling KB5046633 seemed to do the trick however.

I disabled windows update for the time being to prevent it from reinstalling the update right away. I'll try re-enabling it next week to see if the problem appears again.

Thanks for the help.

Obviously I hope I don't see this problem again, but if I do, I'll go this route first.

112022 · Nov 19, 2024

Based on 23H2 black screen after logging in following 11/2024 updates I am going to mark this post solved.

If one googles "explorer patcher" "black screen" there are all kinds of posts on multiple forums about this tool causing black or blank screens after some Windows updates. I'd disabled it as a startup item quite a while ago - it was either incompatible with some Windows update (in ways other than mentioned above), or I adapted to the look/feel of Windows 11 and didn't need it any more. But it was still on my computer until I uninstalled it this morning.

So again, based on

https://www.reddit.com/r/WindowsHelp/comments/1gqcvz3/no_taskbar_black_screen_restarting_explorerexe

and my own experiences, my recommendation would be to:

First use "add or remove programs" to look for "Explorer Patcher" and remove it if it's installed
For anyone getting a black screen after an update:
- From an administrator command prompt (if in a black screen you may have to CTRL/ALT/DEL and launch the task manager, and pick "Run new task" from the top center of the window), type wmic qfe list brief /format:table and press "Enter" to see the most-recently installed updates
- Then from that command prompt type wusa /uninstall /kb:[update number] to remove a specific update if you know what the culprit update was, or to remove all the recent updates one by one if you're not sure

This should solve things! So far, looks like it has for me.

timbsc · Dec 10, 2024

112022 said:
Based on 23H2 black screen after logging in following 11/2024 updates I am going to mark this post solved.

If one googles "explorer patcher" "black screen" there are all kinds of posts on multiple forums about this tool causing black or blank screens after some Windows updates. I'd disabled it as a startup item quite a while ago - it was either incompatible with some Windows update (in ways other than mentioned above), or I adapted to the look/feel of Windows 11 and didn't need it any more. But it was still on my computer until I uninstalled it this morning.

So again, based on
https://www.reddit.com/r/WindowsHelp/comments/1gqcvz3/no_taskbar_black_screen_restarting_explorerexe
and my own experiences, my recommendation would be to:

First use "add or remove programs" to look for "Explorer Patcher" and remove it if it's installed

For anyone getting a black screen after an update:

From an administrator command prompt (if in a black screen you may have to CTRL/ALT/DEL and launch the task manager, and pick "Run new task" from the top center of the window), type wmic qfe list brief /format:table and press "Enter" to see the most-recently installed updates

Then from that command prompt type wusa /uninstall /kb:[update number] to remove a specific update if you know what the culprit update was, or to remove all the recent updates one by one if you're not sure

This should solve things! So far, looks like it has for me.

I just made an account on this site for the sole purpose of sincerely thanking you and any others who mentioned explorerpatcher.

I had apparently made the poor choice to install this on a new work machine a couple of years ago and forgotten about it, until now that is. After a few cycles of manually uninstalling the 23H2 update or using system restore, I finally saw this thread and sure enough found ExplorerPatcher installed on my machine.

I looked through their github page and did find instructions for how to handle this exact issue, if that helps anyone else.

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