I've only had my computer for about 2-3 months, and it's an older build that I traded for. Recently, it has started to crash randomly. The screen freezes, I see a blue screen of death (BSOD), but it doesn't stay on long enough for me to catch any error codes before it reboots. Initially, I thought it might be a failing hard drive or SSD, so I reinstalled Windows 11 twice—once on the original SSD and then on a newer one. I checked the health of my drives; one of my externals showed critical issues, so I unplugged it. I ran 3DMark tests and Memtest, but everything seemed fine. However, during normal usage, it keeps crashing. The crashes happen when launching applications like GOG Galaxy or even OneDrive at startup. I disabled XMP settings for my RAM and turned off the turbo function on my CPU, which allowed the system to boot, but launching GOG still results in crashes. Steam and browsers sometimes launch, but it feels random and unreliable. I could really use some help figuring out what's going on!
3 Answers
It might also be worth looking into your power supply. If your PSU isn't providing stable power, that could definitely lead to random crashes and issues like you’re experiencing. Since you mentioned it's a 700W PSU, ensure it's functioning well and not overheating. If you have another PSU to swap in, that could help isolate the problem.
It sounds like you're dealing with a frustrating issue! First, I recommend trying to get those dump files for a better analysis of the BSOD. You can check if there are any dump files in the C:WindowsMinidump directory. If you don't see any files there, follow some guides online to set up a Small Memory Dump to help diagnose the BSOD issue. Once you have those files, you can upload them to a file-sharing site like catbox.moe for analysis.
Since you've already tried reinstalling Windows and checking your drive health, I'd suggest checking your RAM next. Sometimes RAM can cause random crashes like this. You can try running a full memtest overnight and see if it reports any errors. Also, make sure all your drivers are up to date because outdated drivers can lead to stability issues as well.
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