Since updating to Windows 11 version 25H2 (OS build 26200.9445), my Acer Aspire A715-42G randomly becomes completely unresponsive. The mouse cursor and keyboard stop working, Ctrl+Alt+Delete and Task Manager do nothing, and there is no blue screen or error message. The only recovery method is holding down the physical power button. The laptop has a Ryzen 7 5700U, GeForce RTX 3050 4 GB, 16 GB of DDR4 RAM, and an NVMe SSD. What logs or diagnostic tests should I check to identify the cause, preferably without reinstalling Windows?
1 Answer
Because the entire system—including the cursor—locks up, this is more likely to be a driver or hardware-level hang than a single application. On a laptop with integrated AMD graphics and a dedicated NVIDIA GPU, start by checking for a graphics-driver conflict after the Windows update. Download the current AMD and NVIDIA drivers, use Display Driver Uninstaller from Safe Mode to remove the existing display drivers, and then install the fresh drivers. You can also temporarily disable Hardware-accelerated GPU scheduling under Settings > System > Display > Graphics > Default graphics settings, then restart.
Before the next forced shutdown, check Event Viewer under Windows Logs > System for warnings or errors immediately before the freeze. Ignore Kernel-Power Event 41, since that only records the unexpected shutdown. Entries mentioning NVIDIA or AMD display drivers may point to the cause. Disabling Fast Startup in Control Panel > Power Options is another useful test because it forces cleaner shutdown and startup cycles.
I can use the computer normally between freezes, but these lockups never produce a BSOD. The whole system freezes, including the mouse and keyboard, so I have to hold the power button to restart.