Microsoft Black Tuesday Patches Bring Blue Screens of Death 179
snydeq (1272828) writes "Two of Microsoft's kernel-mode driver updates — which often cause problems — are triggering a BSOD error message on some Windows systems, InfoWorld reports. 'Details at this point are sparse, but it looks like three different patches from this week's Black Tuesday crop are causing Blue Screens with a Stop 0x50 error on some systems. If you're hitting a BSOD, you can help diagnose the problem (and perhaps prod Microsoft to find a solution) by adding your voice to the Microsoft Answers Forum thread on the subject.'"
Comment removed (Score:5, Informative)
I have a solution for impacted users (Score:5, Informative)
This rollback procedure got my Win7 x64 system booting again:
From another system with the same bit width and service pack level, grab the files C:\Windows\System32\gdi32.dll and C:\Windows\System32\Win32k.sys.
Using HBCD or a similar boot disc, boot your defunct system. You can also snag the hard drive and plug it into another working computer.
BACK UP the gdi32.dll and win32k.sys files from System32 to another location just in case. Overwrite those two files in System32 with the ones you grabbed from the other system.
Your system is now bootable, having effectively rolled back the KB2982791 update. This is a quick and dirty procedure and leaves the update itself in an indeterminate state.
Re: THANK GOD for "automatic updates" (Score:1, Informative)
Selecting "Download updates but let me choose whether to install them" instead of the default "Install updates automatically (recommended)" doesn't always work. We have about forty Window servers, and around half of them will crash nearly weekly from Microsoft shoving patches down our throats. We've tried everything we can think of and everything Microsoft suggested, but these Microsoft servers still crash for updates. It doesn't always work, and fixing it isn't as simple as you so flippantly suggest.
Re:You just had to be on the bleeding edge of tech (Score:4, Informative)
nonsense, plenty of current malware prevention and detection wares run on XP, better than Microsoft's.
you are full of needless FUD
The fix is to delete the font cache (Score:5, Informative)
The way to fix this is to delete \Windows\System32\FNTCACHE.DAT. The file will automatically be regenerated on the next boot.
(Information found on Microsoft Support Forum [microsoft.com] and used to successfully fix my own system.)
How do you delete the file if you can't boot?
(1) Press F8 during boot to get to the Windows boot manager advanced options screen.
(2) Select "Repair".
(3) Provide password for a local account that's a member of the Administrator group.
(4) Select "Command Prompt".
(5) Find drive letter assigned to Windows partition (may not be C: in the repair environment!).
(6) Delete \Windows\System32\FNTCACHE.DAT.
(7) Exit command prompt and reboot system.
(8) Fixed!
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And now, since this is /., here is the required Windows bashing...
This bug demonstrates the danger of running your GUI in kernel mode (win32k.sys). One stray pointer can ruin your whole day. In this case the pointer was sufficiently invalid to cause a bugcheck. A stray pointer that silently scribbles on other kernel data structures is even worse.
"Those who would give up essential Safety, to purchase a little temporary Performance, deserve neither Performance nor Safety."