I've been having some serious issues with my laptop recently, where it just freezes up and I have to force it to restart. This started happening about a week ago, and it's pretty unpredictable. Sometimes it even leads to a Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) with various error messages that sometimes point to my operating system or issues with drivers.
I performed some updates through Microsoft and checked the health of my drivers, which reported 86% health. For a couple of days after the updates, it seemed like the issue was resolved, but then it returned. I really need to figure this out soon since I'm working on a project in Fusion 360 that's due next week, and there's no way to extend the deadline. The semester is also ending next week, so the timing couldn't be worse.
Here are some things I've noticed:
- The laptop sometimes freezes during startup, and I can't even access Safe Mode, as it freezes again.
- Occasionally, it freezes before going to BSOD or tries to do an automatic repair.
- I've noticed that the freezes happen at random times after successfully booting up.
- The error codes vary each time, including Driver Overran Stack Buffer, Bad Pool Caller, and Kernel Security Check Failure; I suspect Riot Vanguard is playing a role in this.
I think a few things might have contributed to the problem:
- I recently uninstalled some software, including League of Legends, which has Riot Vanguard (a kernel-level anti-cheat) that I suspect might be causing issues with my drivers.
- There's also something funky going on with the charger; it sparks a bit and only charges at certain angles, which could indicate a loose connection or a problem with the adapter.
- Plus, I did drop my laptop from about 2 feet sometime before these issues started. I doubt that caused a huge problem, but it did get worse shortly after.
I'm hoping to narrow down the issue before I need to discuss it with my professor or consider tech support.
3 Answers
It sounds like Riot Vanguard could be messing with your system. Since it's a kernel-level anti-cheat, it can be a pain to remove entirely, so that's definitely worth investigating a bit more.
To get a better idea of what's causing those BSODs, you should try to find the dump files they generate. You can check for them in the C:WindowsMinidump directory if you can manage to get into Windows. If you find any dump files, zip them up and share them using a file-sharing site like catbox.moe or similar. Having multiple files can really help in diagnosing the problem.
If things are still acting up, consider reinstalling Windows. It can clear out a lot of underlying issues, but I get that doing that can be tricky if your laptop keeps freezing.
Yeah, I’m hesitant because it freezes even when I try to go through the reinstall process.