Stop Code KERNEL SECURITY CHECK FAILURE (Windows 10) – Fixed

BSOD error messages are annoying and damaging for your computer, stopping you from conducting your typical PC activities. But you can still fix them without having to factory reset Windows.

What is KERNEL SECURITY CHECK FAILURE?

KERNEL_SECURITY_CHECK_FAILURE is a Blue Screen of Death error message that halts all activities on your computer and prevents it from running properly.

It usually happens because a file compatibility verification failed, which means that the file should be repaired, updated, or replaced.

However, there could be various other causes why you receive the KERNEL SECURITY CHECK FAILURE stop code, such as outdated drivers, malware infection, memory issues, faulty security software, corrupt system files, or hard disk errors.

Stop Code Fix for KERNEL_SECURITY_CHECK_FAILURE

Since it’s a BSOD stop code, repairing KERNEL SECURITY CHECK FAILURE on Windows 10 and older Windows versions depends on whether it was triggered by software or hardware issues.

Software problems are easier to resolve. When it comes to troubleshooting hardware errors, though, you have to get your hands dirty.

Before attempting to make significant modifications to your computer and operating system, you should create a system restore point. It allows you to revert Windows to a stable state, if necessary.

Furthermore, if your system enters a reboot loop due to the KERNEL SECURITY CHECK FAILURE issue, you should boot Windows in safe mode.

1. Make sure your drivers are new and compatible

If your computer’s drivers aren’t working properly, it could be why your screen becomes blue and shows stop code KERNEL SECURITY CHECK FAILURE. Otherwise, you might have missing drivers, which you can easily fix.

Here’s how to reinstall drivers:

1. Right-click the Start button on Windows 10 and select Device Manager
2. Select and right-click a device, then click Uninstall device
3. Proceed with the device removal and restart your computer. The driver will be reinstalled automatically
4. Do this for all your devices

Here’s how to update drivers:

1. Go to Device Manager, right-click a device, and select Update driver
2. Click Search automatically for updated driver software
3. If you get the The best drivers for your device are already installed message, click Search for updated drivers on Windows Update

Unfortunately, Windows often fails to find newer updates online, even when looking into Windows Update.

To solve this problem, you can manually identify your driver version and find a newer one on the manufacturer’s website, then download and install it. You can use a tool like DriverVerifier to detect your current drivers.

It’s a time-consuming process, however, especially if you need to update more than one driver. Instead, we suggest opting for driver updaters. These software applications are capable of updating multiple drivers at the same time.

2. Unplug all external hardware devices

If any of your peripheral devices are faulty or not compatible with your operating system and computer, it could cause various issues like the KERNEL SECURITY CHECK FAILURE error.

For instance, it’s a good idea to compare your hardware with the official Windows 10 specs to ensure that everything’s correct.

Or, there might be a problem with your USB ports, not the gear itself. To test this theory, simply connect your USB-enabled devices to different ports.

However, it that doesn’t solve the problem, then unplug everything. Confirm that you’re not receiving the BSOD message anymore and start replugging your gear one piece at a time to identify the guilty party.

3. Get the newest Windows updates

Make sure to download and install the latest Windows updates on your computer. This way, you can take advantage of the newest features, improvements, and security patches.

1. Open the Start menu, type Check for updates, and press Enter
2. Wait until Windows looks for updates. If there’s anything pending, click Download
3. Restart the computer once the updates are installed. You might have to do this several times

4. Disable your overclocking tools

Many gamers resort to overclocking utilities to get more power from their computer, in order to improve the system requirements for their favorite games.

Using an overclocking tool means modifying your RAM, CPU, and GPU settings. Regrettably, this could also lead to BSOD error messages like KERNEL SECURITY CHECK FAILURE.

To fix this, you have to deactivate your overclocking software and reset your clock settings to default.

5. Run a malware scan

If your computer was infected with dangerous malware agents, they could have hijacked your operating system and disabled your current processes.

As a result, you might experience system stability problems and BSOD errors like KERNEL SECURITY CHECK FAILURE.

Just fire up your antimalware application and run a scan to get rid of any infected files on your PC. If you don’t have a third-party tool installed, then you can use Windows Defender:

1. Press the Win key, type Windows Security, and open this app
2. Select Virus & threat protection
3. Click Scan options
4. Select Quick scan and click Scan now
5. Once the scan is over, you can run a new one using the Windows Defender Offline scan option

6. Check your computer for errors

Hard disk and operating system errors are another reason why you could be seeing the KERNEL SECURITY CHECK FAILURE stop code on your screen. To verify and fix them, you need the command-line environment:

Start with CHKDSK (Check Disk):

1. Make sure to quit all applications
2. Press Win key + R, type cmd, then press Ctrl + Shift + Enter to open Command Prompt with elevation rights
3. If you have Windows installed on the C: partition, then type chkdsk c: /f. Otherwise, replace c: with the correct driver letter
4. Type y and press Enter when the tool asks to schedule the scan at the next Windows boot
5. Restart your computer and wait until CHKDSK finishes its job

If your hard disk has errors, you can trust the Check Disk utility to solve them. However, if the KERNEL SECURITY CHECK FAILURE error persists, proceed to the next solution.

Continue with SFC (System File Checker):

1. Run CMD with admin rights
2. Type sfc /scannow and hit Enter. Once the scan is complete, SFC will try to fix any corrupt system files it finds
3. Reboot your PC

System File Checker is great for fixing corrupt files that belong to Windows and which may trigger Blue Screen of Death errors. But, if it doesn’t work either, it’s time to bring out the big guns.

Finish with DISM (Deployment Image Servicing and Management):

1. Open Command Prompt as admin
2. Type DISM /online /cleanup-image /scanhealth and press Enter
3. If there are any reported issues, write DISM /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth to fix them
4. Reboot your PC, relaunch CMD as admin, write sfc /scannow and press Enter
5. Restart your computer again

Deployment Image Servicing and Management checks for corrupt system files in the component store of the Windows image. If the KERNEL SECURITY CHECK FAILURE stop code on Windows 10 is caused by an event happening there, then DISM should take care of it.

7. Uninstall recent or unknown programs

Some applications may harm your computer and cause BSOD errors, especially if they make changes to your system registry as well as add new DLL files or mix with existing libraries.

Here’s how to uninstall recent software:

1. Right-click the Start button on Windows 10 and select Apps and Features
2. Set Sort by to Install date
3. Pick the first program in the list, click Uninstall, and proceed with the removal instructions
4. Reboot your PC

However, if the faulty program has already made changes to the system registry and DLL files, then using the Windows default uninstaller won’t help.

Instead, you can use using a third-party uninstaller that, besides removing a program from your PC, gets rid of any leftover files and registry entries.

8. Use System Recovery

Restoring your operating system to a previous checkpoint is a fast and easy way to eliminate the KERNEL SECURITY CHECK FAILURE error if it was caused by a software issue you can’t identify.

All you have to do is choose a checkpoint created before you started seeing the stop code.

1. Make sure you’re logged in as the administrator
2. Press Win key + R, type control panel, and press Enter
3. Click Recovery
4. Select Open System Restore
5. Choose a checkpoint, click Next, and follow the on-screen instructions
6. Reboot your computer

9. Check your RAM

If your computer is experiencing issues with the RAM, this could result in various BSOD error messages, including stop code KERNEL SECURITY CHECK FAILURE. You can check if your memory card is running correctly by running a Windows tool, without installing anything else:

1. Make sure to close any running programs
2. Press the Win key, search for Windows Memory Diagnostic, and open this app
3. Click Restart now and check for problems

During the system reboot, Windows Memory Diagnostic scans your computer for memory errors. However, if you prefer a more advanced approach, you can check out MemTest.

10. Free up disk space

Insufficient disk space can cause a lot of problems on your computer, from applications that don’t work properly anymore, to BSOD errors like KERNEL SECURITY CHECK FAILURE.

However, there’s an easy solution to this problem: free up disk space. It means copying your valuable data to an external hard drive, uploading it to the cloud, and deleting junk files that unnecessarily take up your disk space.

There are numerous disk cleaners out there. However, if you don’t want to set up anything, you can use the Windows Disk Cleanup utility instead.

Here’s how to use Disk Cleanup:

1. Make sure you’re logged in as the PC administrator
2. Visit Recycle Bin and the Downloads folder to restore and copy any precious files
3. Right-click the C: drive and open Properties
4. Go to the General tab and click Disk Cleanup
5. Select all items and click Clean up system files
6. Once Windows finishes the scan, select all items again, click OK and Delete Files to confirm

11. Run a clean boot

Running a clean boot means loading Windows only with the required drivers and services while excluding everything else. It’s a good way to isolate the potentially guilty parties and safely troubleshoot the KERNEL SECURITY CHECK FAILURE error.

1. Click the Start menu, type System Configuration, and open this app
2. Go to the Services tab, deselect Hide all Microsoft services, and click Disable all
3. Select the Startup tab and click Open Task Manager
4. End all active tasks and restart your PC

12. Use Event Viewer

Immediately after you receive the KERNEL SECURITY CHECK FAILURE error, you should reboot your computer and fire up the Windows Event Viewer. If you’re lucky, you might get more information about the cause of the BSOD error.

Here’s how to use Event Viewer:

1. Click Start, type event viewer, and press Enter
2. Open the Windows Logs area on the left side and select System
3. Click the first error on the list and check out its description

The error’s description could give you enough data, like a file name, to look up more information about the root of the problem that triggers the KERNEL SECURITY CHECK FAILURE stop code on Windows 10.

Conclusion: BSOD Kernel Security Check Failure

To sum up, you can fix the KERNEL_SECURITY_CHECK_FAILURE error by checking your drivers, detaching your hardware devices, and getting the latest Windows updates.

You should also disable your overclocking software, run a malware scan, check your system for errors, uninstall recent or unknown programs, and use System Recovery.

It’s also a good idea to check your system memory, free up disk space, run a clean boot, as well as use Event Viewer to get more details about the issue.

Did the solutions above work for you? We hope we didn’t miss any important steps. Let us know in the comment section below.

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Alex Ion

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