Any Windows owner is familiar with the Blue Screen of Death, that much-dreaded white text on a blue background that essentially says you're through. But what you may not know is that there's a new contender in town: The Black Screen of Death. So what is this horrible-sounding thing, where did it come from, what's being done to fix it, and how bad is it? Here are five things you need to know about the Black Screen of Death.

Microsoft's latest round of security patches appears to be causing some PCs to seize up and display a black screen, rending the computer useless.