[RESOLVED] BSOD on windows machine - unauthorized OS/driver change?

sneakyimp

I walked into my office this morning and my secondary workstation (a Windows 7 machine) has a Black Screen of Death and was complaining about unauthorized OS or driver changes:

Stupid Windows Machine wrote:
The system found unauthorized changes on the firmware, operating system, or UEFI drivers.

Press [N] to run the next boot device, or enter directly to BIOS Setup if there are no other boot devices installed.
Go to BIOS Setup > Advanced > Boot and change the current boot device into other secured boot devices.

This sounds bad. Although this machine has 3 hard drives in it, none of the others are boot devices. I'm worried this might be ransomware or something. Or it might just have been that unwanted auto-upgrade to Windows 10 I've been hearing about.

It doesn't really look like I have any real options but to start tinkering with the boot but I'm not even sure that will help.

sneakyimp

OK I should have searched before posting. From what I can tell (and I could be wrong), Windows 7 doesn't really support UEFI Secure Boot features. Just because it hasn't complained so far doesn't mean Win 7 supports it. Apparently some system updates affected the files on my machine that get monitored by UEFI and this caused the problem. I fixed the problem by entering the BIOS setup and changing the Secure Boot option from "Windows UEFI" to "Other OS".
[video=youtube;n9rNv7xOrKg]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9rNv7xOrKg[/video]

Bonesnap

Yeah I'm tired of Windows' crap. Once I move into my house I'm reformatting my main computer and installing Linux. Windows will be gone (aside from the odd VM). Windows 10 was the final nail in the coffin.

cluelessPHP

Bonesnap;11055467 wrote:
Yeah I'm tired of Windows' crap. Once I move into my house I'm reformatting my main computer and installing Linux. Windows will be gone (aside from the odd VM). Windows 10 was the final nail in the coffin.

I like windows ten, the random pictures on login are pretty

Bonesnap

cluelessPHP;11055469 wrote:
I like windows ten, the random pictures on login are pretty

Linux Mint does that, too.

sneakyimp

Bonesnap;11055467 wrote:
Yeah I'm tired of Windows' crap. Once I move into my house I'm reformatting my main computer and installing Linux. Windows will be gone (aside from the odd VM). Windows 10 was the final nail in the coffin.

It's funny. I was doing all of my development work on that Windows machine. It has all kinds of expensive software installed on it (MS Office, Adobe Master Suite, et. al). The hardware is about 33% more powerful than my Ubuntu workstation. I originally set up the Ubuntu machine as a "server" so I could write the PHP on the Windows machine and save it over the LAN to the Ubuntu machine (this being a feature of Dreamweaver). Over time, I just spent more and more time working on the Ubuntu machine. Once I set up a good IDE on the Ubuntu machine, I never went back except to check email. Now I don't even do that. Seems like I should wipe that machine and turn it into something useful. Maybe I'll put Ubuntu 16 on it 🙂

cluelessPHP

Bonesnap;11055475 wrote:
Linux Mint does that, too.

But all the cool kids use Linux I want to be a dork:p

dalecosp

I suppose now that IE is bleeding market share like a half-gutted dolphin at New Smyrna Beach, we might actually be able to ditch Windows.

I'd welcome it; but I'm afraid that there are too many people running offices/budgets/IT departments who've never used anything else ... 🙁

sneakyimp

dalecosp;11055487 wrote:
I'd welcome it; but I'm afraid that there are too many people running offices/budgets/IT departments who've never used anything else ... 🙁

Yeah on further reflection, I need the windows machine for browser testing -- and also for Premiere. I occasionally do video edits.

Derokorian

sneakyimp;11055489 wrote:
Yeah on further reflection, I need the windows machine for browser testing -- and also for Premiere. I occasionally do video edits.

Mac can run premiere, virtualbox can host your windows for testing 🙂

I happen to like windows, but have 2 linux boxes at home, and 7 VMs set up on my 2 windows machines. When it comes right down to it, I like playing video games, and a majority still only run on windows under directx (and don't even talk to me about WinE). On the flip side, I don't have a single server that's not linux...

sneakyimp

Derokorian;11055493 wrote:
Mac can run premiere, virtualbox can host your windows for testing 🙂

I have a mac here and truly wish that I enjoyed working with macs more, but I find something off-putting about the UI. I think it's that you have to use the mouse for everything which really causes my carpal issues to flare up. I imagine I might learn better usage techniques if I were to spend time with one, but I'm pretty darn happy with Linux. I also find that any multimedia application (Premiere, Protools, etc.) requires a pretty lean and tidy system to get optimal performance. I've had bad luck using a single machine for both work and hobby projects. Too many types of software on a single machine and things start fighting each other and causing trouble.

Derokorian;11055493 wrote:
I happen to like windows, but have 2 linux boxes at home, and 7 VMs set up on my 2 windows machines. When it comes right down to it, I like playing video games, and a majority still only run on windows under directx (and don't even talk to me about WinE). On the flip side, I don't have a single server that's not linux...

I also love video games but had to stop playing my favorites Counterstrike and Supreme Commander. I was losing my life to them -- and it made my arms super sore. We got an XBOX 360. Halo is pretty fun.

Yeah all the servers I deal with now are virtual linux machines. Such great times we live in for coding.

cretaceous

Block W10 updates with this
https://www.grc.com/never10.htm

(hmm I went off Macs when OSX came out - that makes me old)

Bonesnap

Fortunately (unfortunately?) I don't really play that many games. The few that I do play won't run on modern Windows operating systems anyway and I already have an XP virtual machine to play them (Civilization II and Diablo II). The other random games that I play are browser-based.

I'm just tired of fighting Windows when trying to do development work. I hear what sneaky is saying - putting too much together can cause issues - but I rather not have multiple physical machines when one will do (with VMs), plus most of what I "do" on the computer (aside from development work) is web browsing and watching movies - things Linux can handle easily. The simple fact is in the web development world, Windows is a distant second-class citizen. The only way I'm going to able to breathe Linux is to just dive in. I am also noticing more and more job postings that require Linux experience. Might as well learn it from the inside out.

It's also nice not being in school or having a job that requires Office, though a VM can do that, too (but LibreOffice is pretty well equipped).