120 PCWorld MARCH 2020HERE’S HOW WINDOWS 7 WALLPAPER BUG WILL BE FIXED
which will be released to all customers
running Windows 7 and Windows Server
2008 R2 SP1,” the update’s support page
now says. At first, Microsoft only promised a
fix for organizations paying for Extended
Security Updates, as the Verge (go.pcworld.
com/frw7) noted, but a change of heart’s
occurred and now everybody’s getting it.
Good.
In the meantime, the black screens
happen when you set your wallpaper to
Stretch. Using another configuration option
when you’re setting your wallpaper works
around the issue—Center or selecting a
custom-sized image matched to your screen
resolution are probably the best StretchMicrosoft’s free Windows 10 upgrade is still officially-unofficially available.alternatives, but Fill, Fit, and Tile work too.
Once you’ve switched away from a stretched
wallpaper, your imagery should return.
Better yet, you could move to a still-
supported operating system at no cost, as
Microsoft’s free Windows 10 upgrade (go.
pcworld.com/f10u) is still officially-unofficially
available. Staying on an operating system
that isn’t receiving security patches is a bad
idea. But if you’re dead-set on sticking with
an end-of-life OS, be sure to grab a
security suite (go.pcworld.com/scsu) and
read our guide to staying safe on Windows
7 after the security patches stop (go.
pcworld.com/scpt). It’ll keep you as
protected as possible.