The final update for the Windows 7 operating system has broken some of the desktop wallpaper functionality and caused user's backgrounds to become a blank black screen.

On January 14th, 2020, Windows 7 reached its End of Life, which means there will be no more bug fixes or free security updates past that date.

On the same day, Microsoft released the last free Monthly Rollup, KB4534310, which includes the final quality updates and free security updates for Windows 7 users.

This update, though, came with a new bug that has caused the desktop wallpaper in Windows 7 for some users to not stick and to show a blank black screen instead.

Broken 'Stretched' Wallpaper in Windows 7

According to many reports on Reddit [1, 2] and in the Microsoft Forums, users have found that after installing the Windows 7 KB4534310 and restarting the computer, their desktop wallpaper would no longer be shown.

After experimenting, users were able to determine that the issue is caused by the 'Stretch' setting when configuring the desktop background.

Wallpaper Stretch mode

It appears that this setting is no longer honored after installing the KB4534310 update and any configured wallpapers that use it, will just show a blank black screen.

BleepingComputer was able to reproduce this bug and when using any other picture position, the wallpaper properly shows. Once you configure it to use 'Stretch' and reboot, the wallpaper will be black.

In our tests, the WallpaperStyle Registry value is properly set to '2' to represent the 'Stretch' option and the 'Wallpaper' value points to the right image.

BleepingComputer has reached out to Microsoft and asked if they would resolve this bug even though Windows 7 has reached EoL, but we have not heard back as of yet.

How to fix the black Windows 7 wallpaper

If you are affected by this wallpaper bug, you currently have two options:

Uninstall the KB4534310 security update, which we strongly do not recommend as it contains important security updates; or

Take a screenshot of the 'Stretch' mode before a reboot and then use that screenshot as your wallpaper.

To use option 2, please perform the following steps:

When the wallpaper is showing a blank black screen, go into the Wallpaper settings and set the Picture position to Fill and then back to Stretch. This will cause the Stretch mode to stick and your wallpaper to look normal until you reboot. Click on the Save Changes button. Close all windows and right-click on the desktop and select View and uncheck Show Desktop icons and Show Desktop Gadgets. Take a screenshot of your desktop, remove the part of the image showing the Start Menu and Taskbar, and save the resulting image to a folder. Go back into the Wallpaper settings and select this saved screenshot as your wallpaper. For the position setting, select Center and then click on Save Changes.

Your desktop wallpaper will be back and look like it would as if you had selected the 'Stretch' setting.

The only issue with this method is that if you change your screen resolution, the image will not fit the entire screen and you will need to perform these steps again.

H/T WindowsLatest.com