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| The faulty Windows update KB5074109 can cause a permanently black screen immediately after login. |
If you’ve installed the latest Windows 11 update and are now staring at a blank display, you’re not alone. A growing number of users are reporting a disruptive “black screen” issue following the January 2026 patch, turning a routine update into a major headache.
According to a detailed report from Windows Latest, the problematic update leaves some computers with a dark screen upon booting. The system itself often continues to run in the background—fans spin, lights blink—but users are left with no visual output. The issue is confirmed to affect both the current Windows 11 24H2 (build 26100.7623) and the preview build 25H2 (26200.7623).
What’s Causing the Black Screen?
Initial analysis from tech communities and experts suggests the problem isn’t universal but is instead triggered by specific software conflicts. The primary suspects are currently narrowed down to two key areas:
- Incompatible System Tools: Popular third-party software used to customize the Windows interface, such as ExplorerPatcher, appears to be clashing with new system files introduced in this update. This conflict can disrupt the normal loading of the graphical shell.
- Graphics Driver Conflicts: There are strong indications that certain graphics driver versions—from NVIDIA, AMD, and Intel—lose communication with Windows’ display manager after the update is applied, resulting in no signal being sent to the monitor.
Your Guide to Getting Your Screen Back
For those already facing the black screen, don’t panic. There are several workarounds you can try to regain control of your PC.
- The Quick Graphics Driver Reset: A simple but often effective first step is to force a graphics driver restart. Press
Windows Key + Ctrl + Shift + Bsimultaneously. You should hear a short beep, and the screen may flicker back to life. - Uninstall the Problematic Update: If the shortcut fails, you’ll need to boot into the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE). You can usually access this by interrupting the startup process three times in a row (by pressing the power button as Windows tries to load) or by using a recovery drive. From there, navigate to
Troubleshoot > Advanced Options > Uninstall Updates. Select “Uninstall latest quality update” to remove KB5074109. Microsoft provides official guidance for this process in their support document for KB5074109. - A Preventative Pause: If your system hasn’t yet installed the update, you can buy some time. Head to Settings > Windows Update > Pause updates and pause feature updates for up to seven days. This gives Microsoft time to potentially issue a fix before the update installs automatically.
Broader Implications: Stability Concerns Fuel Look at Alternatives
This incident arrives at a sensitive time for Microsoft. With the end of support for Windows 10 looming in October 2025, many users are already evaluating their next steps. Repeated technical issues with Windows 11 updates are leading some to look beyond the Windows ecosystem.
The interest in user-friendly Linux distributions, in particular, seems to be getting a noticeable bump. Artyom Zorin, founder of Zorin OS, recently announced that Zorin OS 18 has surpassed two million downloads in just three months. Similarly, the team behind the gaming-focused Bazzite distribution reported a surge of approximately 12,500 new users within a 30-day period.
The Bottom Line for Windows 11 Users
The current black screen debacle underscores a critical piece of modern computing advice: always have a recent backup before installing major updates. This is especially crucial for systems using UI modification tools or older hardware with quirky drivers.
Until Microsoft releases an official hotfix—which, as of this writing, is still pending—the most reliable solution for affected users remains uninstalling update KB5074109. For the latest developments on this and other update-related issues, keep an eye on the ongoing coverage at Windows Latest.
Disclaimer: The reports on alternative OS growth are based on public announcements from their developers, which you can view here: Zorin OS X post and Bazzite X post.