My laptop has crashed four times in one day, showing a different blue-screen stop code each time. The first crash reported KERNEL_SECURITY_CHECK_FAILURE, the second froze without an error screen and the bottom of the display looked distorted, the third froze during startup, and the fourth showed KMODE_FAILURE_NOT_HANDLED before the display stopped working. The laptop has always been somewhat unreliable, but this sudden increase in crashes is unusual. It also seems more likely to crash when I move it. At one point the laptop was still running—the fan was audible and my phone remained connected—but there was no picture on the screen. I previously installed a third-party antivirus program that seemed to make the system unstable, so I removed it. Since then, I've also had problems such as the date and time becoming incorrect. What should I check first?
2 Answers
Different stop codes can come from damaged Windows files, a faulty driver, bad RAM, or another hardware problem. Since moving the laptop seems to trigger a crash and you’re sometimes losing the display entirely, I’d be especially suspicious of a loose internal connection, failing memory, storage trouble, or a display cable issue—not just Windows corruption. Back up important files as soon as you can, then try starting in Safe Mode. If it stays stable there, remove recently installed drivers or software and run system-file and memory checks. If it still crashes when moved, have the hardware inspected and avoid repeatedly shaking or carrying it while powered on.
The incorrect clock is worth checking separately. If the date resets whenever the laptop is powered off, the small CMOS/RTC battery may be failing, although that alone usually wouldn’t explain these stop codes. Run the laptop’s built-in hardware diagnostics if available, test the RAM, check the drive’s health, and try an external monitor to determine whether the computer is running while the internal screen is blank. If it crashes during diagnostics or when physically moved, that points more strongly to hardware than to a normal driver problem.
The antivirus software I installed when I first got the laptop made it start acting strangely, so I removed it. It has continued having problems since then, including the clock repeatedly showing the wrong date and time.