This morning, a folder icon stayed visible above every window and would not disappear. The night before, I had connected my phone to back up photos, then played a game through Steam and watched YouTube. I assumed the icon was just a display glitch, so I restarted the computer. Instead of the normal restart screen, the system entered a firmware-update process in the BIOS. It mentioned updating the main firmware, loading new ME firmware, programming the OEM EC firmware, and then rebooted normally. I have owned this computer for about six years and have never seen it perform an update like this, and I did not knowingly start or download anything unusual. Could this indicate that my computer was compromised, and what checks should I perform?
1 Answer
This is most likely a legitimate firmware package delivered through Windows Update or the computer manufacturer’s update utility. Intel Management Engine firmware and the embedded-controller firmware are commonly included with BIOS or system-firmware updates, and the update may run during the next reboot rather than immediately. The fact that the machine completed the process and started normally is reassuring. Check Windows Update history and the manufacturer’s support page for your exact model to confirm whether a BIOS or firmware update was recently released. You can also run a full scan with Windows Security. For an extra check, open Windows Security > Virus & threat protection > Scan options > Microsoft Defender Offline scan; it will restart the PC and scan before Windows loads.
I had installed plenty of ordinary Windows updates before, but never saw one update the BIOS, which is what made this feel suspicious. I’ll check the update history and run the offline scan to be safe.