A Redditor who goes by gaseousgalaxy, in a detailed post, claims that some of the older NVIDIA GeForce GPUs with UEFI-capable video BIOS could face problems booting with Windows Secure Boot enabled, as their UEFI GOP (graphics output protocol) security certificate expires in June 2026. UEFI GOP is essential for providing display output during firmware initialization and boot processes. With Secure Boot enabled, a standard security feature that only loads binaries chained to valid, time-sensitive certificates in the UEFI database, expired signatures could prevent the GOP from loading. This could result in a black screen before the BIOS even appears, halting access to system settings, OS installers, or even recovery media. If installed, Windows could proceed to load correctly (you will see the login screen), and you can then get Windows to start the UEFI setup program on the next boot, from which you can manually select media to boot from.

For users whose motherboards or processors require a discrete GPU to complete POST (lack integrated graphics), this could lead to a "soft" brick: the machine fails to boot until the graphics card's video BIOS is updated with a valid signature or the card is replaced. Updating the motherboard's UEFI firmware won't resolve the issue, as the problem lies in the VBIOS itself. Moreover, new hardware may ship without the 2011 certificate, as Microsoft no longer mandates it, and the company could revoke it via Windows Update's dbx mechanism, exacerbating the problem prematurely.