My PC has started restarting unexpectedly over the past month, mostly while playing League of Legends, ARK, and Wardogs Beta. It never had this problem before. I already removed Vanguard, disabled my RAM overclock, removed the CPU undervolt, and reduced my GPU undervolt, but the crashes continue.
Event Viewer shows many instances of a session failing with error 0xC0000022, followed by a bugcheck: 0x00000093. Earlier crash dumps also showed 0xC0000005 access violations. The minidumps are being saved under C:\Windows\Minidump.
I ran SFC /scannow, which initially reported 1,659 integrity errors but later said they were repaired, and I also ran DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth. The system uses new components and is only about eight months old. I am wondering whether this is related to a recent Windows update, the inpoutx64 driver, Easy Anti-Cheat, unstable memory settings, or a failing hardware component. What would be the best way to identify the actual cause?
4 Answers
SFC finding more than a thousand integrity problems is concerning, even if DISM and SFC now report everything as repaired. If crashes continue after removing the suspected driver and returning everything to stock settings, back up your data and perform a genuinely clean Windows installation. Delete the existing system partitions during setup rather than installing over the current copy. That helps distinguish a damaged operating system or driver stack from faulty hardware.
The timing strongly suggests checking what changed right before the crashes began. A Windows update or newly installed driver can cause kernel-level conflicts, especially with games that use anti-cheat software. The inpoutx64 driver has been associated with problems on some recent Windows configurations, so removing it and updating Windows, chipset drivers, and GPU drivers is worth trying. Make sure you get the driver from a legitimate source and verify that the crashes stop afterward.
The minidump is the most useful next step. Analyze it with a debugger and check the listed faulting module, stack, and bugcheck parameters instead of relying only on the general access-violation code. Also check Reliability Monitor and Event Viewer for a repeating driver name. A bugcheck code by itself usually cannot prove whether the cause is Windows, anti-cheat software, or hardware.
I would not rule out memory instability just because the overclock was removed. Run the RAM at the CPU's officially supported speed with XMP or EXPO disabled, then test it for several passes. Also check the CPU's supported memory limits. A degrading memory controller or marginal RAM can produce access violations and seemingly random crashes across different games.
I would test the hardware first if possible, but a clean install is reasonable here because the initial SFC result was so extreme. If a fresh installation still crashes with default BIOS settings, the focus should shift to RAM, the CPU memory controller, storage, power delivery, and GPU stability.