My Lenovo Legion T5 has been unstable for a while. It can run demanding games such as Escape from Tarkov, Monster Hunter, and Elden Ring for hours, but it may suddenly crash during light browsing or while sitting idle on the desktop, sometimes showing a system path error before powering off.
I tried using Windows recovery and ran system file and disk checks, but the repairs did not solve the crashes. The reset process also failed, and the existing Windows installation is now gone. I created a Windows installation USB with Microsoft's media creation tool, but setup repeatedly reaches about 95%, freezes completely without showing an error, and may restart a few times before getting stuck.
What hardware checks or installation steps should I try next? The system uses an AMD Ryzen processor, although I am still looking up the exact specifications.
3 Answers
A hard freeze with no error message is a useful clue: it points more toward RAM, storage, power, or another hardware issue than a normal Windows setup problem. Verify that the USB was created successfully, try a different USB port—preferably a rear motherboard port—and run a memory test. If possible, disconnect extra drives and peripherals during setup. If the freeze follows the original drive, replace the drive; if it happens with a different drive and USB, continue testing the RAM and motherboard.
Since the computer was crashing even when it was mostly idle, I would suspect hardware rather than just corrupted Windows files. Test the memory with MemTest86 and let it complete several passes. If you have another known-good SSD or hard drive, disconnect the existing drives and try installing Windows to that one. That helps distinguish a failing drive from a memory or motherboard problem.
It is an AMD Ryzen prebuilt, and I am still trying to find the original purchase information and exact specs. I ran system file and disk checks before the reset, but repairing the reported files did not change the crashes, and the reset failed partway through.
If the old installation is already gone, the previous repair commands will not help much now. Boot the computer from the installation USB and check whether the installer can see the target drive normally. In the drive-selection screen, remove the existing Windows partitions only if you are sure there is nothing important left, then create a fresh partition and try again. If setup still freezes at the same percentage, test with another USB drive and recreate the installer, because the media itself could be faulty.
The installer does not display an error; it simply stops responding around 95% and sometimes restarts before freezing again. The computer is currently an empty drive, so I cannot boot back into the previous Windows installation.