I'm trying to help a friend with their Lenovo ThinkPad. It has an Intel i7 and 8+16GB of RAM, but it's been crashing and showing the blue screen of death multiple times a day. Lately, it crashes almost immediately after the login screen. We noticed that the CPU usage spikes to about 70-80% on startup, mainly due to the 'Windows Anti-Malware' program, leading me to believe the laptop might be infected with malware, but I'm not sure where it came from. I attempted to boot into safe mode, but instead of entering the command screen, it just restarts normally. Given that the laptop can't stay on for more than 20 seconds, I'm wondering if there's any way to fix it. I did notice that it's more stable when plugged in, but the CPU is still running high with anti-malware using most of the resources.
2 Answers
To diagnose the issue better, you'll want to check for crash dump files for the blue screens. If you can manage to get Windows running, even briefly, or through Safe Mode, look in C:WindowsMinidump for any files. You can zip those up and upload them to a file-sharing service like Catbox or Mediafire. We need these dump files for a better analysis before suggesting a fix.
If you're looking to retrieve files or just wipe the laptop entirely, using a Linux live USB is a solid choice. It isolates the system from any potential malware, allowing you to safely copy files to another USB. If a full wipe is necessary, you can use GParted to remove the partitions and set up a fresh file system.
Thanks for the advice! I suggested a wipe before, but they mentioned that last time it removed Windows OS completely, which created a headache. I’ll relaying your Linux suggestion as a safer route.