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Why is my Windows 11 24H2 screen freezing and turning black suddenly?
Recent telemetry and field reports from IT service providers indicate a statistically significant spike in Windows 11 system failures beginning November 25, 2025. This advisory outlines the specific failure patterns, excludes incorrect root cause assumptions, and provides a verified PowerShell remediation strategy for affected endpoints.
identified Failure Pattern and Symptoms
The issue predominantly affects Windows 11 versions 24H2 and 25H2. The instability manifests through a specific sequence of events, distinct from standard “Blue Screen of Death” (BSOD) errors.
Operational State: The crash occurs during active sessions or idle periods.
- Visual Indicator: The desktop environment freezes completely, followed by the background turning black.
- System Response: Application windows may remain visible but become unresponsive. The Task Manager is inaccessible, preventing standard process termination.
- Primary Suspect: These symptoms indicate a catastrophic failure of the Desktop Window Manager (dwm.exe), the process responsible for rendering the graphical user interface.
- Resolution: The system requires a forced hard reset (holding the power button) to regain functionality.
Root Cause Analysis and Exclusions
Accurate diagnosis requires eliminating unrelated variables. Current data suggests this is not a direct result of the immediate November 2025 patch cycle.
Update Correlation
Affected systems exhibit these crashes regardless of whether the November 2025 cumulative updates are installed. Some endpoints reported failures with patch levels dating back to November 18, 2025.
Security Software
While ESET Antivirus is present on many affected units, ESET support confirms no known conflict. The correlation appears circumstantial rather than causal.
Hardware Drivers
Graphics driver conflicts remain a probable variable, though no driver updates occurred immediately preceding the crash reports.
Legacy Issues
The symptoms mirror the “broken by design” flaws previously identified in update KB5062553 (July 2025). While Microsoft claimed those specific errors only triggered upon the first post-update login, the current behavior suggests a recurrence of the underlying code defect involving StartMenuExperienceHost and SystemSettings.
Remediation Strategy
If your systems exhibit the frozen black screen described above, we recommend re-registering the core Windows Appx packages. This process refreshes the system components responsible for the UI shell without altering user data.
Implementation Steps:
- Open PowerShell with Administrator privileges.
- Execute the following script to re-register the Client CBS, UI Xaml, and Client Core packages.
- Follow this with a DISM check to ensure image integrity.
PowerShell Remediation Script:
Add-AppxPackage -Register -Path 'C:\Windows\SystemApps\MicrosoftWindows.Client.CBS_cw5n1h2txyewy\appxmanifest.xml' -DisableDevelopmentMode Add-AppxPackage -Register -Path 'C:\Windows\SystemApps\Microsoft.UI.Xaml.CBS_8wekyb3d8bbwe\appxmanifest.xml' -DisableDevelopmentMode Add-AppxPackage -Register -Path 'C:\Windows\SystemApps\MicrosoftWindows.Client.Core_cw5n1h2txyewy\appxmanifest.xml' -DisableDevelopmentMode
Strategic Recommendations
Monitor affected endpoints for 24 hours following the application of this fix. If instability persists, investigate the graphics subsystem logs specifically for timeouts or driver resets. Ensure your disaster recovery protocols are active, as forced hard resets carry a risk of file system corruption.