Microsoft Releases Windows 7 Update to Fix Wallpaper Bug

Microsoft has released the KB4539602 stand-alone update to fix a bug that caused Windows 7 wallpapers in 'Stretch' mode to display a blank black screen.

On January 14th, 2020, Microsoft released the last free Monthly Rollup, KB4534310, which includes the final quality updates and free security updates for Windows 7 before the operating system reached the end of life.

With the release of this update, many users found that after rebooting the operating system their wallpaper would show a black blank screen when it was configured with the "Stretched' option.

At first, Microsoft said a fix would only be released for users who purchased Extended Security Update (ESU) licenses but later stated that a fix would be released for all Windows 7 users.

Today, Microsoft released the stand-alone KB4539602 package that fixes this bug. 

Before installing this update, Windows 7 users must have installed the following prerequisites first:

• You must have the SHA-2 update (KB4474419) that is dated September 23, 2019 or a later SHA-2 update installed and then restart your device before you apply this update. 
• You must have the servicing stack update (SSU) (KB4490628) that is dated March 12, 2019 or a later SSU update installed.

Unless any critical bugs appear that would tarnish the ending of Windows 7, users should expect this to be the last free update that they receive for the operating system.

Going forward, only users with Extended Security Update licenses should expect to receive any future updates for Windows 7.