The same approach works for update checkers of many kinds. (I prefer to update manually, or to use an update tool such as the Microsoft Winget package manager in PowerShell or at a Command Prompt.) As it turns out, Reliability Monitor is a great tool for catching and stopping updaters that one may have tried but failed to block through the Startup tab in Task Manager. I’ve used it to detect updaters for the Intel Driver & Support Assistant, CCleaner, MiniTool Partition Wizard, anti-malware packages, Office plug-ins, Java, and lots of other stuff. In many such cases, I decided to remove them (by uninstalling them or renaming their .exe files) because (a) I didn’t need or use them and (b) I wanted to remove a source of Windows errors.
Recently, I also found myself facing a “black screen with cursor” on a Lenovo ThinkPad P16. By using two keyboard sequences (Win key + Ctrl + Shift + B to restart the graphics driver, then Ctrl + Alt + Del to access the Windows “master control menu”), I regained control of the PC. A quick trip into Reliability Monitor showed me an error with this telltale string in the bucket ID information: “CreateBlackScreenLiveDump.” That’s a clear indication that something went wrong with the graphics driver, as was the system’s recovery after I entered the “reset graphics” key combo. I ended up reverting to the previous NVIDIA graphics driver to fix the problem.
Where ReliMon is less helpful
Sometimes, you’ll find that error sources are either applications you need or want to run, or they originate from OS components and executables. Uninstalling such things is not an option, and may not only be unproductive but render the OS inoperable. When that kind of thing pops up — and it often does — all you can do is report the issue via the Microsoft Feedback Hub, include the Reliability Monitor detail as an attachment, and hope that Microsoft gets around to fixing whatever’s broken sooner rather than later.
