[SOLVED] Does my brothers PC have a virus?

[BrandonFitzpatricc]

My brothers PC is running Windows 10. Recently he has run into a problem where his screen blacks out and his PC reboots, usually a minute or so after he logs in (it doesn't physically turn off though). When it's finished rebooting, he'll usually either be brought to the automatic repair screen or back to the login screen, and sometimes he receives an error message, one which said that the kernel was compromised, or something along those lines, and Windows needed to be reinstalled. We tried to reinstall Windows through automatic repair, removing any form of existing storage, and the reinstall would start for a minute, and then get rejected. I'm almost certain that he has a virus, but I just want to make sure before taking further action

 

[popatim]

He probably just needs a new harddrive or SSD. Sounds like the one he has is on it's last legs.

But by all means test it first. You can use any of a handful of diagnostic boot disks if his PC isn't from an OEM and have that built in, like HP Lenovo, etc... do.

 

[Jstonez]

My brothers PC is running Windows 10. Recently he has run into a problem where his screen blacks out and his PC reboots, usually a minute or so after he logs in (it doesn't physically turn off though). When it's finished rebooting, he'll usually either be brought to the automatic repair screen or back to the login screen, and sometimes he receives an error message, one which said that the kernel was compromised, or something along those lines, and Windows needed to be reinstalled. We tried to reinstall Windows through automatic repair, removing any form of existing storage, and the reinstall would start for a minute, and then get rejected. I'm almost certain that he has a virus, but I just want to make sure before taking further action

Never do what you think might be a virus tells you to do. First thing to do if you can is backup all your important files on a removable drive. Then you can play around and you will not lose anything of value. My stock move in your situation is to reinstall windows and do a drive format before doing so, this way it's all gone and you can start new with confidence. If you fix it the problem is still there lurking

 

[BrandonFitzpatricc]

He probably just needs a new harddrive or SSD. Sounds like the one he has is on it's last legs.

I don't believe this is the issue. All of the parts are brand new, and only 2-3 months old

 

[Jstonez]

I don't believe this is the issue. All of the parts are brand new, and only 2-3 months old

I agree it is probably software, I do not bother diagnosing these things, I format them to hell and begin again. One thing to try is updating the bios, and windows as well as it often rights the issue

 

[USAFRet]

Full wipe and reinstall.

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forums.tomshardware.com

Not "reset" within Windows....boot from a USB, and delete ALL existing partitions.

If the problem still persists, hardware.
And only being a couple months old is no guarantee of "not broken".

 

[hang-the-9]

My brothers PC is running Windows 10. Recently he has run into a problem where his screen blacks out and his PC reboots, usually a minute or so after he logs in (it doesn't physically turn off though). When it's finished rebooting, he'll usually either be brought to the automatic repair screen or back to the login screen, and sometimes he receives an error message, one which said that the kernel was compromised, or something along those lines, and Windows needed to be reinstalled. We tried to reinstall Windows through automatic repair, removing any form of existing storage, and the reinstall would start for a minute, and then get rejected. I'm almost certain that he has a virus, but I just want to make sure before taking further action

Those message are normal after a system crash. Need full system specs including the power supply brand and model. Very likely the issue is something with the hardware crashing.