Want to fix that black Stretched wallpaper in Windows 7? Buy Extended Security Updates

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Microsoft has acknowledged the bug we’ve been talking about for several days: After installing KB4534310, your desktop wallpaper might display as blac
[See the full post at: Want to fix that black Stretched wallpaper in Windows 7? Buy Extended Security Updates]

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One of the people commenting on the BleepingComputer page asks if this bug may have been done on purpose. As a way to “deliver” a final insult to Windows 7 users, I wouldn’t put it past them.

Whether it was done intentionally or simply out of incompetence, one thing that this demonstrates is the advantage of the pre-rollup model of Windows patching. Had Windows patches still been coming in as separate updates, customers could uninstall the one patch associated with the problem and still enjoy the protections offered by the rest of that month’s Windows updates. Under the new patch delivery model, you have to take either everything, bugs and all, or nothing at all.

Anyway, for me personally I might well have never noticed if this bug affected me: most of my computers have completely black wallpaper to begin with! I find designs and “stuff” in the background to be at best distracting, and sometimes an actual hindrance as they can make it hard to find the desktop icon I’m looking for. Plus, I really like what in the TV industry they call the “infinite background”.

 

Keep Running Windows 7 Safely for Years to Come  
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Probably not deliberate but through not fixing their mistake, they leave it open to conjecture and we know which way conspiracy theorist will think.

You can be sure the marketing department would be saying, “we need to fix this”. Not heeding that advice would manage to alienate more people than they have already and indicate a significant failure of senior management.

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Cybertooth

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Should have added, repairing the issue after support ended may result in a some kudos from those of us who are sticking with ‘ancient’ hardware as long as it lasts or Windows 7 for whatever personal reasons.

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For Windows 7:
BEFORE you install January Updates, be sure your desktop background in NOT set to “Stretch.”
Right click on the desktop and choose “Personalize.” On the lower left, click on “Desktop Background.”

On the lower left, under “Picture positioin,” on the pulldown, choose anything but NOT “Stretch” then click on “Save changes.”

 

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Hi PKCano,  I have W7 starter, will my desktop background stay the same? I don’t want it to go black!  Unfortunately you can’t personalize the wallpaper in the same way as you can in regular W7.

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Good question.
On most of my Win7 machines (an assortment of Pro and Ultimate) I use the default background that came with Win7. The degault picture position seems to be “Fill.”

I don’t have any Starter Edition to compare. I will venture a guess that MS uses “Fill” as a default, which means you would be OK. But I have no way to verify that.

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Hi PKCano, anonymous here again,  i have now installed all the January patches (group A) and my Windows 7 starter desktop has indeed turned black. The thing is though, i kind of like it! It really makes the desktop icons standout on a small netbook and as i couldn’t change the wallpaper anyway, I’m appreciating the difference!

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[Charlie]

The way I understand this “MS Stretch Goofup” is that what you’ve shown will not correct the problem, but only prevent one from getting a black screen after updating with Jan. updates.  You still won’t be able to go back and use the Stretch setting without getting the black screen.

And it only affects Win 7.  That’s real cool!  C’mon MS who do you think you’re fooling.

Being 20 something in the 70's was far more fun than being 70 something in the insane 20's

• This reply was modified 5 years, 3 months ago by Charlie.

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That’s correct. What I’m showing PREVENTS the problem when you install the Jan update. It does NOT CORRECT MS’s goofup. The update is still broke.

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Having built testing VM’s and deciding not to waste product keys on them….
If you have an unlicensed copy, it also eventually defaults to a blank black wallpaper (and nags you about being unlicensed).
Coincidence? I’ll let you be the judge.

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Charlie

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Maybe they have changed/broken the authentication routine to accommodate the ESU authentication.

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zero2dash

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Other than for the purpose of verifying that the last-ever January patches are being delivered to legitimate copies, legitimately installed, of Windows 7, is this a situation that shall never be repeated again, or a situation that shall keep on repeating for the indefinite future? Even when Win 7 is now, officially, no longer supported by MS and, as its natural corollary, its presence on a PC should no longer be anybody’s business other than of the users that decide to keep it for whatever purposes, particularly if they are mostly doing it offline and using other systems (macOS, Linux) for their online work?

If MS insisted in validating for ever the Win 7 version installed in one’s PC, but one is keeping it more or less permanently offline, will it, eventually, wilt and die, because MS can no longer reach and tickle it constantly to OK it and let it live?

Ex-Windows user (Win. 98, XP, 7); since mid-2017 using also macOS. Presently on Monterey 12.15 & sometimes running also Linux (Mint).

MacBook Pro circa mid-2015, 15" display, with 16GB 1600 GHz DDR3 RAM, 1 TB SSD, a Haswell architecture Intel CPU with 4 Cores and 8 Threads model i7-4870HQ @ 2.50GHz.
Intel Iris Pro GPU with Built-in Bus, VRAM 1.5 GB, Display 2880 x 1800 Retina, 24-Bit color.
macOS Monterey; browsers: Waterfox "Current", Vivaldi and (now and then) Chrome; security apps. Intego AV

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zero2dash wrote:

Having built testing VM’s and deciding not to waste product keys on them….
If you have an unlicensed copy, it also eventually defaults to a blank black wallpaper (and nags you about being unlicensed).
Coincidence? I’ll let you be the judge.

Don’t unlicensed copies do that anyway?  Regardless if you apply patches or not?

 

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Correct – was just posting that for those that don’t know.
(I’m in the “they did this on purpose” court, even despite being a fan of 10 and MS generally speaking.)

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The only thing that I’m patching on 7 for Jan 2020 is the IE11 KB and before I do that I’ll still have to apply the Dec 2019 SSU. Any other patches are not really going to be applied if the SO patches for 7 contain nagware/telemetry.

Since it’s DEFCON3 I’ll feel that is OK as far as IE11’s Jan 2020 cumulative update and I see no reason to apply January’s SSU for 7 as there are not going to be any Feb 2020 patches available on consumer machines running W7.

So for W7 consumer PC/Laptop that’s all that will be available and 7’s EOL for real now.

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The Dec Win7 SO contains nagware. See AKB2000003.

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That was skipped(Dec 2019 SO with nagware) but Jan’s SO does that have any nagware/telemetry?

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See AKB2000003.

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7 is done for on consumer machines and only those machines licensed for 8/8.1 on the consumer side can look forward to security updates until 2023. And that’s if still wanting to avoid 10 until 2023. I have been running Windows 7 Pro on a Windows 8 Pro licensed laptop so that’s what that will get and the other laptops can remain offline and maybe have Linux Mint installed.

But un-patched  7 online after Feb’s vulnerabilities are announced will progressively become more of a risk so at least sanitize the PC/Laptop that is still running 7 after Feb 2020 by removing all personal information that you do not want hacked and keep a sanitized system image backup ready to re-image if the need arises.  That should be safe for any non security essential online browsing where no login is required.

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woody wrote:

MS offers a workaround that’s identical to the one presented by Lawrence Abrams in BleepingComputer a few days ago.

Not identical: BleepingComputer’s workaround involves taking a screenshot (which is not very practical due to having to hide desktop icons, taskbar etc.).

As Stretch is the only setting that distorts a wallpaper image, Microsoft did everyone a favor IMHO.

 

anonymous wrote:

But un-patched  7 online after Feb’s vulnerabilities are announced will progressively become more of a risk so at least sanitize the PC/Laptop that is still running 7 after Feb 2020 by removing all personal information that you do not want hacked

Nah, Woody says it’ll be fine:

No, running Win7 after Jan. 14 doesn’t “put [your] company and staff data at risk, as well as that of suppliers, partners, and customers, because security patches will no longer be available.”

No, your Win7 computer won’t be pwned by the bad guys any time soon, if you exercise even a modicum of common sense.

Windows 7 end of support: Separating the bull from the horns

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I get that the stretched wallpaper issue isn’t a “big” deal but I say it’s BS that MS goofs and then wants to only fix it for people who pay for ESU.

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Charlie, SueW, Cybertooth

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cyberSAR: “I get that the stretched wallpaper issue isn’t a “big” deal, but …”

Oh, but it could be. Please, see the last part of my earlier post here #2100354  and tell me if I am wrong and how.

Ex-Windows user (Win. 98, XP, 7); since mid-2017 using also macOS. Presently on Monterey 12.15 & sometimes running also Linux (Mint).

MacBook Pro circa mid-2015, 15" display, with 16GB 1600 GHz DDR3 RAM, 1 TB SSD, a Haswell architecture Intel CPU with 4 Cores and 8 Threads model i7-4870HQ @ 2.50GHz.
Intel Iris Pro GPU with Built-in Bus, VRAM 1.5 GB, Display 2880 x 1800 Retina, 24-Bit color.
macOS Monterey; browsers: Waterfox "Current", Vivaldi and (now and then) Chrome; security apps. Intego AV

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@oscarcp, I’m not cyberSAR  🙂  but I do want to comment on what you referenced in your post above:

If MS insisted in validating for ever the Win 7 version installed in one’s PC, but one is keeping it more or less permanently offline, will it, eventually, wilt and die, because MS can no longer reach and tickle it constantly to OK it and let it live?

If, if if. I believe in crossing bridges when we get to them. Microsoft could have put all sorts of nasty stuff that we don’t know about in their final Windows 7 patches (which the company’s apologists will no doubt rationalize because EULA and so on and so forth). Only time will tell (if ever) what happens to Win7 installations going forward.

The only facts we have to form a judgment from is what’s happened to previous versions of Windows after they went EOS. I still have a Windows 98 installation that’s running just fine. (No, it’s rarely used and seldom goes on the Internet.) I also have a couple of machines with XP on it that Microsoft hasn’t wiped out. And I have Vista systems that are humming along; the most recent one was installed just last summer and Microsoft merely asked me to dial in the license key on my phone.

Of course, past is not necessarily prologue, but honestly I wouldn’t give the matter one more second’s thought. Que sera, sera. Should some hidden time bomb in Windows 7 suddenly invalidate our licenses, that will be the signal to send Microsoft to the dust bin and go full Linux.

And if it’s simply a matter of letting the Windows 7 system go online once in a while for a validation check, then I say just let it. We don’t need to open a browser for that or otherwise deliberately go on the ‘Net. It’s not like there will be hordes of hackers licking their chops at the entrance to the MS validation server to catch your PC when it launches the silent validation check (assuming that there even is such a check).

 

Keep Running Windows 7 Safely for Years to Come  
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Cybertooth: “Que será, será? Unquestionably. Fatalism is always a good attitude to have, in moderation, because it prevents one from despairing and, or going crazy. So: indeed, I am definitely going to wait and see, but I also think that the potential for continuing problems has been mooted by this black screen one and deserves some further investigation, so I am bringing it to the attention of everyone who cares to read what I write about this. I have for wallpaper a copy of Giotto’s “The Birth of Venus” (love at first sight, when I came across it in Florence) in my three computers, and would be very sorry to have it turn solid black in the Windows 7 PC, where it has graced the desktop for more than eight years. And possibly, adding insult to injury, also to be bugged by MS every time I poke my head into the Web with said PC, for the indefinite future. Something I am not planning to do except under some very special circumstances. But I cannot rule out that there will be such circumstances.

But, be all that as it may:

“Qué será, será

Lo que tenga que ser será

El futuro no es nuestro para que podamos ver

Qué será, será

Lo que tenga que ser, será.“

Ex-Windows user (Win. 98, XP, 7); since mid-2017 using also macOS. Presently on Monterey 12.15 & sometimes running also Linux (Mint).

MacBook Pro circa mid-2015, 15" display, with 16GB 1600 GHz DDR3 RAM, 1 TB SSD, a Haswell architecture Intel CPU with 4 Cores and 8 Threads model i7-4870HQ @ 2.50GHz.
Intel Iris Pro GPU with Built-in Bus, VRAM 1.5 GB, Display 2880 x 1800 Retina, 24-Bit color.
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Good one

i think eventialy they will deliver small non-ESU update to fix it

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Charlie, Myst

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[James Bond 007]

You don’t mention it here, but an article on Softpedia says that both KB4534310 and KB4534314 are affected by this issue.

So, is the corresponding security-only update KB4534314 affected by this issue or not?

If it is, I am, and will be, staying on the November 2019 patch level and won’t install the last 2 months’ updates (except perhaps the IE and .Net security-only updates). Who knows what other bugs there are in these last updates?

Hope for the best. Prepare for the worst.

• This reply was modified 5 years, 3 months ago by James Bond 007. Reason: Correction

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[EP]

please read guenni’s comments about KB4534314 here, James Bond 007:

https://borncity.com/win/2020/01/22/windows-7-update-kb4534310-causes-a-black-desktop/#comment-7436

• This reply was modified 5 years, 3 months ago by EP.
• This reply was modified 5 years, 3 months ago by EP.

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The poster asking messed up the KB number. They said KB4534313.

I downloaded KB4534314 (on the off chance I might avoid the bug), and it did trigger. I don’t get a black screen when I enable stretch, though. It just keeps my wallpaper the same as it was before I picked stretch. However, I suspect that, after a reboot, it would be black.

Fortunately, I don’t use stretch–I don’t like skewing my images. And, for those that do, it would be trivial to write our own software that would handle it–it would just have to make a stretched copy and then set that as the background. Or, if they want to get fancy, just completely take over the display of wallpaper altogether–Windows allows that.

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[EP]

EP wrote:

please read guenni’s comments about KB4534314 here, James Bond 007:

https://borncity.com/win/2020/01/22/windows-7-update-kb4534310-causes-a-black-desktop/#comment-7436

• This reply was modified 5 years, 3 months ago by EP.
• This reply was modified 5 years, 3 months ago by EP.

That person said he/she was not affected by KB4534314, but in a reddit link provided another person said he/she was affected by KB4534314. Inconclusive at best.

So I think I need to do some tests myself to see if KB4534314 has this problem.

In the meantime, having been aware of this potential bug (and Microsoft’s apparent refusal to fix it except for ESU customers), I will stand by my previous decision, which is to avoid the December 2019 and January 2020 Windows 7 patches (except maybe the IE and .NET security-only patches).

Microsoft introduced the bug in the last patch before ending support and then apparently only promised to fix it for ESU customers. To me that is unacceptable and shows the incompetence (intention?) of Microsoft. The product didn’t have that problem to begin with. To me whether that feature is useful or not is irrelevant. If you introduced a new problem in an update before support ends, I believe you should fix it for all users regardless of whether the bug affected many users or not.

Hope for the best. Prepare for the worst.

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I have tested both KB4534310 and KB4534314 using a Windows 7 image in VMware Workstation, and my conclusion is that both the Rollup and Security-only update are affected by this issue.

After installing either of them and rebooting, Windows 7 will replace the wallpaper with a solid color background (blue in my case) if the wallpaper was set to use “Stretch”. If I then set the wallpaper setting back to “Stretch”, the effect is just the same as “Fill”, showing that the Stretch option does not work. Before I can clearly see the difference between Fill and Stretch.

Hope for the best. Prepare for the worst.

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I took everything.  Nothing happened.  My e machines blue background stayed the same.   W7x64, home premium, AMD.

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We have four Windows 7 computers. None of them use the “stretch” option. I wanted to test this so on one computer (32 bit Pro version), I selected stretch before I installed the Jan. Security only update, 4534314.

After I installed the update and rebooted, the desktop was black with all the icons and taskbar appearing. I then right clicked, selected personalize, wallpaper and changed from stretch to fill. The wallpaper immediately appeared.

If you want to avoid the headaches, replace stretch will fill.

Got coffee?

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OscarCP, jburk07

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Uh…. you mean like this?

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jburk07, SueW

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Bleeping Computer reports follow-up here:
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/microsoft/microsoft-to-fix-windows-7-black-wallpaper-bug-for-esu-customers/

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geekdom: Thanks for the update. Now it looks that  those of us who are not purchasing the ESU and are not Enterprise users, are also out of luck with getting any patches MS might release for this nuisance of a bug they themselves have created. Well, that I imagine is how MS wants to be remembered by us non-Enterprise users and Win 7 remainers. Way to go, MS! You guys really know how to win friends, influence people and keep customers happy and willing to keep coming back to buy your products!

Ex-Windows user (Win. 98, XP, 7); since mid-2017 using also macOS. Presently on Monterey 12.15 & sometimes running also Linux (Mint).

MacBook Pro circa mid-2015, 15" display, with 16GB 1600 GHz DDR3 RAM, 1 TB SSD, a Haswell architecture Intel CPU with 4 Cores and 8 Threads model i7-4870HQ @ 2.50GHz.
Intel Iris Pro GPU with Built-in Bus, VRAM 1.5 GB, Display 2880 x 1800 Retina, 24-Bit color.
macOS Monterey; browsers: Waterfox "Current", Vivaldi and (now and then) Chrome; security apps. Intego AV

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Cybertooth

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Yep, if you really want a distorted image on your desktop and can’t work out how to resize an image so that it distorts to match your screen resolution, then you really need to upgrade to Windows 10. Perhaps it’s the push you’ve been waiting for? 😲

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Bill C., Paul T

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There is a simple workaround “to get around the problem” by choosing a setting different from “stretch”in the Display characteristics. And there is the patch meant to get utterly rid of the bug and of the need for any workarounds.

The difference between, on the one hand,  forcing some users to make what seems — for the moment, at least — like an effective workaround, and giving them a patch that will fix the problem as if it had never happened, on the other, might be small in practical terms.  But in moral terms, MS refusing to provide the fix for a problem caused by themselves in one of their products when it was still being supported, and then — no matter what color of PR and legalistic lipstick is used on this pig — demanding to be paid again by their users to do this, the difference is huge. And by not taking care of a bug they have created and that has consequences that, if relatively minor, are nevertheless so spectacular as to be unforgettable, they have marked in the memory of their disgruntled customers, for a long time to come, this as not one of their company’s greatest moments.

In my invariably most humble opinion.

Ex-Windows user (Win. 98, XP, 7); since mid-2017 using also macOS. Presently on Monterey 12.15 & sometimes running also Linux (Mint).

MacBook Pro circa mid-2015, 15" display, with 16GB 1600 GHz DDR3 RAM, 1 TB SSD, a Haswell architecture Intel CPU with 4 Cores and 8 Threads model i7-4870HQ @ 2.50GHz.
Intel Iris Pro GPU with Built-in Bus, VRAM 1.5 GB, Display 2880 x 1800 Retina, 24-Bit color.
macOS Monterey; browsers: Waterfox "Current", Vivaldi and (now and then) Chrome; security apps. Intego AV

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The “Fit” setting does the same thing as Stretch for me, and doesn’t degrade the wallpaper.

Being 20 something in the 70's was far more fun than being 70 something in the insane 20's

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OscarCP wrote:

And by not taking care of a bug they have created

All the bugs in Windows 7 (and other versions) were created by Microsoft, so this bug, and future bugs found in Windows 7, is no different.

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The bugs shall always be with us, but the “not taking care of” part is new. And also different.

In my invariably most humble opinion.

Ex-Windows user (Win. 98, XP, 7); since mid-2017 using also macOS. Presently on Monterey 12.15 & sometimes running also Linux (Mint).

MacBook Pro circa mid-2015, 15" display, with 16GB 1600 GHz DDR3 RAM, 1 TB SSD, a Haswell architecture Intel CPU with 4 Cores and 8 Threads model i7-4870HQ @ 2.50GHz.
Intel Iris Pro GPU with Built-in Bus, VRAM 1.5 GB, Display 2880 x 1800 Retina, 24-Bit color.
macOS Monterey; browsers: Waterfox "Current", Vivaldi and (now and then) Chrome; security apps. Intego AV

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[Julia]

FYI:
Seems that Microsoft changed their mind and will release a fix for everyone…Below support article got updated on Jan 27, 2020…

It now says

“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.”
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4534310/windows-7-update-kb4534310 

• This reply was modified 5 years, 3 months ago by Julia.

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I expected that 🙂

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woody, Myst

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So the next question is…. HOW?

Will the fix coming in a February Monthly Rollup? There’s no Monthly Rollup Preview. Yet.

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Julia’s comment ( #2110497 ) applies to the January S&Q Rollup.

It is a little different with the January Security Only patch, where there is still something of an open question:

According to MS, the Security Only patch has no known problems that may need fixing:

“January 14, 2020–KB4534314 (Security-only update)

Known issues in this update

Microsoft is not currently aware of any issues with this update.”

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4534314/windows-7-update-kb4534314

But at The Register, they beg to differ:

https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/01/21/windows_7_black_wallpaper/

So at least this is very clear now: when it comes to the January SO patch, the situation is not clear. At least going by these two contradictory articles. Right now, I am somewhat inclined to think that the one from The Register is correct, but I’ll continue to wait and see before deciding what to do about the SO patch (being Group  B).

Well… I was more or less expecting that.

Ex-Windows user (Win. 98, XP, 7); since mid-2017 using also macOS. Presently on Monterey 12.15 & sometimes running also Linux (Mint).

MacBook Pro circa mid-2015, 15" display, with 16GB 1600 GHz DDR3 RAM, 1 TB SSD, a Haswell architecture Intel CPU with 4 Cores and 8 Threads model i7-4870HQ @ 2.50GHz.
Intel Iris Pro GPU with Built-in Bus, VRAM 1.5 GB, Display 2880 x 1800 Retina, 24-Bit color.
macOS Monterey; browsers: Waterfox "Current", Vivaldi and (now and then) Chrome; security apps. Intego AV

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