I’m seeing numerous reports in the news that in Windows 11, a stop error produces a screen with a black background. You can provoke such an error, often known as a BSOD (Blue Screen of Death, irrespective of color) on Windows 11 quite easily. Simply open Task Manager, go to details. right-click on svchost.exe and select “End process tree.” This will immediately crash your PC, and show you the stop code for CRITICAL_PROCESS_DIED. When I do that on both of my Windows 11 test machines, I get a GSOD (Green Screen of Death) that’s identically colored to the lead-in graphic for this story. What color is your Windows 11 BSOD?

Why ask: What color is your Windows 11 BSOD?

Over the years, I’ve seen them in various shades of blue and green. I’ve never seen a black one. I still can’t see one now. Thus, I’m guessing that the background color for a BSOD/stop error probably depends on some background or appearance setting in the OS. Otherwise, the claims I’m reading online that the background is black would also show up on my test machines.

Here’s a sampling of such stories:
Tom’s Hardware: Windows 11’s Blue Screen of Death Could Be Turning Black
BBC: Microsoft’s Windows 11 blue screen of death to become black
WinAero: Windows 11: Blue Screen of Death is now Black Screen of Death

In fact, this assertion is showing up in dozens of news stories. Thus, I find it both interesting and vexing that when I tried to confirm this for myself, both of my test machines came up with a green background instead.

One Case Does Not Make a Transformation

I think what may be happening is that some people will indeed see black as the BSOD background. Some will see green (including me). I’m curious to know if other colors will present. it’s most interesting that such changes can lead to pronouncements that somehow remind me of a certain Rolling Stones song…

And that’s the way things go here in Windows-World. Often it’s something odd and hard to explain, if not mysterious, like this one!

Update Added July 3: It’s a Possibility, Not a Fact

Now I get it! It’s a claim that originates from Tom Warren at The Verge, who writes

“The software giant started testing its new design changes in a Windows 11 preview earlier this week, but the Black Screen of Death isn’t fully enabled yet. The Verge understands Microsoft will be switching to a Black Screen of Death for Windows 11, matching the new black logon and shutdown screens.”

I guess that means I have to keep crashing my Windows 11 test machines after each upcoming new Build, to see what color the BSOD takes on. Eventually, if Mr. Warren is correct, that background will go “back in black” to call an 80s anthem to attention. Stay tuned!

Now that I’m getting past my first look, I’m starting to dig into the new OS. Right now, I’m thinking about device drivers. So far, Windows 11 device driver handling has been painless and on point.  I have noticed a few items of interest, though, about which I’ll report here. First, though, I’ll take a detour to introduce and explain my investigation tool.

GitHub Project DriverStore Explorer

Aka RAPR.exe, DriverStore Explorer is free software from developer lostindark. It’s made available via GitHub. I’ve been using it for a decade or longer, and it does a great job of showing drivers in the Windows DriverStore and zooming in on duplicates and outdated elements therein. I’ve now run the tool against both of my Windows 11 test machines (X380 Yoga and X12 Detachable Tablet). In so doing, some interesting patterns have emerged.

Windows 11 Device Driver Handling Seen via RAPR

As I look over the in-store drivers via RAPR on Windows 11, one thing jumps out immediately. As shown in the lead-in graphic for this story, there are 5 duplicated of the same Bluetooth driver therein. They share a common filename — ibtusb.inf — plus common dates and driver versions — 22.50.0.4 and 4/19/2021, respectively. These appeared only after installing Windows 11, so I’m not speculating too wildly when I assert that something during the OS install process installed a bunch of duplicates.

Fortunately, the RAPR functions “Select Old Driver(s)” and “Delete Driver(s)” clean these duplicates out without problems. As you can see in the following “after” image, there are now only two entries left under the Bluetooth heading. Before, there were 10.

Now only two entries under Bluetooth versus 10 beforehand.
[Click image for full-sized view.]

In fact, the only duplicates/old drivers still handing around after cleanup are extensions for the Intel Iris Xe graphics (iigd_ext.inf). This kind of behavior is typical when a driver remains active during update. That’s why RAPR provides a Force Deletion checkbox (and why a follow-up reboot helps). Indeed the X12 graphics went wonky after forcibly removing the graphics drivers in use. A reboot set things right and now it is using the latest version, just as it should be.

Now that MS has done the big reveal, I can affirm the rumors — and the existence — of Windows 11. So without further ado, I downloaded the new PC Health Check tool (find a link in the final paragraph of this story). It comes in .MSI (Microsoft Installer) format and installs quickly and easily on most PCs. Digging into the Windows 11 Health Check details, though, I fell victim to at least two rude surprises. Maybe more: read my story, then you tell me…

First surprise: my 6-year-old production PC won’t run Windows 11.

Good/Bad News from Windows 11 Health Check Details

In his story about this tool, WinAero.com principal Sergey Tkachenko lists the Windows 11 hardware requirements as follows (quoted verbatim):

• A 64-bit dual-core 1Ghz CPU or better.
• 4GB of RAM or better.
• 64GB of storage or better.
• A 9-inch display with a minimum 1366×768 resolution.
• A motherboard with UEFI, Secure Boot, and Trusted Platform Module 2.0.
• A discrete or integrated GPU with DirectX 12 support and WWDM 2.X.

Actually there’s a bit more to it than that. Interested parties are advised to check these official MS items: Find Windows 11 specs, features and computer requirements and Windows Processor Requirements. They led me to some interesting but depressing realizations, including:

1. Windows 11 PCs must include TPM 2.0 support, along with UEFI and Secure Boot
2. Windows 11 PCs won’t run on 7th generation Intel processors or older: 8th generation is “as low as they go.” On the AMD side, processors number 29xx or higher are compatible with 11. I still have 4 systems with older CPUs here at Chez Tittel.

My production PC, which I’d been planning to refresh, is ineligible because it runs an i7-6700 CPU and has no TPM chip. My son’s desktop is in the exact same boat. Then there’s the Surface Pro 3, which runs a 4th Gen Intel CPU (i74650U). And of course, I’m waiting to give away the Ivy Bridge (2nd Gen Intel i7-2650M) to Reglue.org as soon as they can send somebody by to pick it up.

Change Is Coming, Sooner Not Later

Looks like I need to refresh two desktops before the holidays (when Window 11 is scheduled to go public). I’m guessing October, to give shoppers time to buy Windows 11 equipped PCs before Xmas. Looks like I will also give the Surface Pro 3 (with dock, alternate keyboard, and other accessories) to ReGlue, too.  Time to revisit my bill of materials for those builds, and get the orders flying! I’d hoped to wait until GPU prices came down, but will just re-use the GeForce 1070 Ti cards in those two desktops in the meantime.

Note added June 26 (1 day later)

In response to feedback from users that PC Health Check’s info was insufficiently detailed, the company has already released a new version. It’s much more informative. Thus for example, it now spells out what I had to visit several tables to figure out on my own — namely, that the 6th gen i7 in my production PC is not supported:

Now, the tool spells out specific causes for incompatibility.

Thus, interested readers should be sure to grab the latest version of the tool, available at https://aka.ms/GetPCHealthCheckApp. I’ve turned off the out-of-date link at the head of the story to help readers avoid confusion. Kudos to MS for responding to useful user input so quickly and effectively!