Hey everyone, I'm trying to help my boyfriend with his computer that's been crashing lately. Here's the scoop: it boots up without issues and runs fine for about five minutes—whether he's gaming or it's just idle—then it crashes. The event viewer always shows a .NET framework error before the crash. He tried updating the network drive, but now it crashes every time he connects the Ethernet cable (I suspect the wrong version was installed). I ended up deleting both wired and wireless drivers, and for a while, it seemed to be working fine for over four hours of gaming. But the next day, it crashed again after a few minutes of use. We also tried going into the BIOS, but it crashes there too. I'm looking for any advice on what could be causing this, as I'm trying to avoid the hassle of reinstalling drivers constantly. We've considered a fresh Windows install, but we're not sure where the USB is, and he's hesitant about updating the BIOS due to past issues he had with bricking a computer. Any suggestions would be appreciated!
2 Answers
Crashing in the BIOS? That's a tough one. First off, if crashes result in a black screen instead of a blue screen, that might indicate an overheating problem or a faulty power supply. Have you checked the temperatures of the CPU and GPU? Also, bad RAM can be a culprit, so running a memory diagnostic tool like Memtest86 could help. If you can, try swapping out the RAM sticks just to see if that resolves the issue. If that doesn’t work, maybe consider updating the BIOS as a last resort if everything else fails. It could really help!
If it's shutting down unexpectedly, that points towards possible overheating or a power supply issue. Make sure the components are all well connected and not dusty inside. And yeah, trying a memory test would be a good step—Windows has a built-in diagnostic you could use. If those checks all come back fine, a complete reinstall of Windows could really give you a fresh start, provided you find that USB. If it still crashes in BIOS after all that, it might be wise to consider the power supply or even the motherboard.
Good point about the overheating! It makes sense considering the symptoms. Swapping the RAM sounds like a good plan; hope it helps!