[After New Windows 11 Update] PC keeps abruptly crashing when in the operating system

[quartz hollow]

Hey :)

After updating today, my windows 11 PC kept crashing very abruptly after booting up, if you stay in the BIOS menu, the PC is fine

Checking the temperatures, all seems fine, and hardware drivers including BIOS are all up to date

Even the blue recovery screen crashes abruptly too

Does anyone have any tips? I can't seem to even be able to recover the PC

I de-selected my hard drive as the boot medium, then restarted the PC, then timed how long it took until it crashed with a browser and discord open: 6 minutes

When it crashes, it crashes so that the LED of my case and motherboard are still on and you can't restart it by holding the power button, you have to turn off the PSU and then back on again to be able to boot it up again

[quartz hollow]

These are the updates I had installed, and after that is when the crashes started

[quartz hollow]

This 6 minutes thing seems to be consistent, it is on and then crashes suddenly after a somewhat regular period of time

No matter if in log in screen, logged in, with programs running or not

If you are in the OS for that approximate certain period of time, it just crashes

[soft wind]

1. Does it crash in safe mode?
2. Have you tried uninstalling the updates?
3. Have you tried restoring to a restore point that was before the update?

Check https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/release-health/status-windows-11-24H2 and https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/release-health/resolved-issues-windows-11-24H2, see if any of these apply to your situation.

[quartz hollow]

I am now testing in safe mode

Be right back in 6mins or so

[quartz hollow]

I do have the Epic Games Launcher installed and had run their Easy Anti-Cheat in the past, but neither are set to auto start

Otherwise, nothing else applies

[quartz hollow]

The PC in safe mode has been on for longer than normal (6mins) and it has not crashed yet 👍

Should I now uninstall the update?

[quartz hollow]

I uninstalled all the updates I could that I got today, I couldn't uninstall this security update

It is still crashing, and now it just crashed in safe mode

@soft wind

I tried to restore my PC, but it crashed on the boot screen where you can select if it should be restored from the cloud or from a local file

[quartz hollow]

Currently there is no access to another PC, what steps could be still taken?

It is now crashing when restarting the PC into the boot mode screen

[brave fractal]

The only step i know is if you're lucky enough to have another Windows PC, create a new bootable media with a usb

And set BIOS primary boot to usb

[quartz hollow]

Yeah, thank you 🙏 ❤️ you're right, do you think the update might have fucked up my windows install?

And what could one do with a boot to USB?

[brave fractal]

Well, can i know your hardware specs first?

[quartz hollow]

https://de.pcpartpicker.com/list/GNLQbK + RTX 3070

[brave fractal]

Hmmm pretty decent hardware, i don't know why Windows doesn't work

[quartz hollow]

Thank you, yeah, it has become like this since the update, it seems to have corrupted the install totally and now it is unusable

Let's pray that the user files are still okay

[brave fractal]

User files and settings aren't saved, but your files like application can be recoveres if you're really lucky

[quartz hollow]

Damn it LMFAO

I wonder if anyone else has this problem?

[brave fractal]

Well, theres an option on the media if you're lucky to save every file (if they are not corrupted ofc), settings and user applications + your password, user profile icon like everything

[quartz hollow]

So the plan is to reinstall windows on the corrupted boot drive from a USB stick?

What would happen to the user data on it, like downloaded files and programs?

[brave fractal]

Your SSD is corrupted?

[quartz hollow]

I don't think so, because everything boots just fine, just when you reach windows it crashes

And last view of windows was when the background disappeared (in normal mode)

And yea, the SSD is my boot medium

[brave fractal]

Then windows is corrupted so a new install should be fine i think, if you still are afraid, reach out to Microsoft Support or Technical Queries Slayer Members

[quartz hollow]

Oh, so the new install wouldn't overwrite anything else on the SSD?

[brave fractal]

If it gives you the option to save your files, yeah, it would only overwrite old corrupted files (the windows corrupted ones)

[quartz hollow]

I see, what is this process called so I can look up a tutorial?

[brave fractal]

Well i don't have the time right now, maybe later i'll give it.

Good luck

[soft wind]

I'm just glancing at your conversation, but I think it's called an "in-place upgrade"

[brave fractal]

@quartz hollow

https://youtu.be/CAOwN68AInE?si=Wgxmh9TrKJu-Ztyj

[quartz hollow]

Thank you 👍

I'll update you both how it works out tomorrow :)

[quartz hollow]

Checked the video, this won't be possible, because the operating system crashes on boot now :/
I am unable to run anything on it, let alone use it, unfortunately @brave fractal

Since this is downloading onto the system and upgrading the system from the system while the same is booted

[brave fractal]

Well...

There is only 1 option left...

[brave fractal]

Wiping your whole SSD

[soft wind]

could you take a picture of the blue screen?

[quartz hollow]

Well it's the boot screen but technically the "blue screen" is that it just crashes and the screen is black with the physical LED of the PC still on

[quartz hollow]

No, I'm going to make a USB an install media and repair it via the USB

See if that works

[quartz hollow]

@brave fractal @soft wind update: I created a windows 11 installation media on a USB, plugged it in, and set to 1 on the bios boot sequence

Powered up the system, it loaded the blue windows icon, then it swiftly crashed

What the fuck??

[soft wind]

bad hardware?

what was the crash?

[quartz hollow]

The bios loaded fine, it crashed when it got to the windows part

[brave fractal]

Your computer is a potato at this point, but how did it crash? Have you checked everything on yout computer?

[quartz hollow]

The 2TB NVME SSD is where the corrupted windows install sits, the USB is way slower, could it be that the NVME was just faster at loading the corrupted OS?

[quartz hollow]

It loaded the installation media windows logo with the loading wheel, then it crashed seconds later

[brave fractal]

If your SSD is fully corrupted you should buy a new one...

[soft wind]

describe the crash in more detail

[brave fractal]

If his BIOS is fine it could only be windows ?

[quartz hollow]

The crash happens when it gets to the windows part of the boot, with the screen abruptly going black and the cooler stopping, the PC goes silent as all fans halt spontaneously but all the LEDs continue to light up, except the one on the CPU cooler

The monitor then displays that there is no output to it

The USB stick which has the installation media is still blinking, even though all fans are off

[brave fractal]

It might be a like lemme remember...

Self Boot or something like that

[quartz hollow]

What's a self boot?

[brave fractal]

I dont remember but its a thing where the computer just straightly crashes after it tries booting up

like it will not boot up

It doesn't want to

[quartz hollow]

Also it's getting worse everytime you boot it, before, it booted and stayed on for 10 mins, then 6 mins, then quickly the duration decreased and now it just crashes almost instantly when it loads windows

Might be a memory leak or some kind of overflow that is corrupting it everytime it boots further and further?
@soft wind

So that it basically is corrupting away one critical component after the other, each time closer to the boot start

But if I can't even boot from the USB...?

[brave fractal]

Your BIOS is fine wich is mostly good but your SSD is not (the BIOS is implemented inside the motherboard)

[quartz hollow]

Wait!!!

I just tried again and it gave me the good boot repair screen!!

@soft wind I got the purple setup screen of the USB installation media, and then Yada Yada, I clicked I wanted to repair my pc and not install a new one and now I am here,

I think it took a bit of time for the USB to load

What should I proceed with?

I don't think uninstalling an update is going to help anymore, because it has already corrupted so much of the boot, what do you think?

[brave fractal]

You boot from usb or you reinstall your Windows Version

But i'll let @soft wind say

I'm not a professional

[quartz hollow]

Okay, now the boot media is crashing

I am always forced to turn off the power via the PSU because otherwise I can't restart the PC

[brave fractal]

I think you should really buy a new ssd

If it is really corrupted there is no other choices

[quartz hollow]

The USB doesn't have anything to do with the SSD though

[brave fractal]

Now i'm confused, SSD or USB is corrupted ?

[quartz hollow]

SSD, originally, but now it's crashing on the USB media too

[soft wind]

@quartz hollow if the boot usb is crashing, something really isn't right. The basic troubleshooting steps are: unplug everything from your computer that you can. Have only the windows boot usb, a keyboard, and a single monitor.

If you're able to, also unplug any internal componets – SSDs, PCIe cards (except your GPU if the processor doesn't have integrated graphics).

[quartz hollow]

@soft wind

I have unplugged:

• HDD
• Ethernet
• Mouse

I couldn't unplug:

• GPU because no integrated graphics
• windows SSD because it's an NVME and needs a lot of unscrewing

I have also done:

• used the hairdryer to blow all the damn dust away

I have attempted to uninstall the last functionality update from the boot screen, but it said that "because of a problem" it couldnt and just recommended I reset my PC...

[quartz hollow]

@civic raven are you assuming it might be the GPU?

[civic raven]

I never implied that

[quartz hollow]

Because the crash happens so that the whole PC crashes, the fans and coolers all turn off but the motherboard LEDs stay on

[civic raven]

I'd do the following, in chronological order:

• Remove every RAM stick except one and see if it boots to the installer and remains stable
• Unplug the NVMe even if it's a pain to do, then run the installer and see if it doesn't crash
• Replace the USB with another just in case

[quartz hollow]

I'll remove one of the RAM sticks, so only one is left 👍

Wait, actually, I'm going to boot in the current set up and report in a bit if it remains stable

@civic raven USB boot is stable, interestingly it only crashed yesterday when clicking on the windows recovery point option or the system image recovery option

[quartz hollow]

I disabled CSM support so I can enable secure boot, I then tried to just newly install windows 11

And then it crashed after being there 70%

Now it instantly crashes after turning on the PC

[quartz hollow]

Update: I ran Memtest a couple of times to check the RAM, turns out it's fucked at addresses 0x20000000 to 0x28000000, because it kept crashing the Memtest

Will be replacing it 🫡

@soft wind @civic raven @brave fractal

[brave fractal]

So you found the menace! lol, good luck hope you can fix it

[quartz hollow]

This hunt has took 3 days

[brave fractal]

if you thinkyour problem is fixed when you'll buy the ram, you can set it at solved

as*

for now

[quartz hollow]

Uh, we'll see, because it crashed while reinstalling windows, so the hunt is not yet over :)

[brave fractal]

alright, just reping me or any community tech support member as TQS are offline when you need help!

[brave fractal]

If i'm not online or code panda or susko3, just call a <@&787033266225938472> member

[soft wind]

how many RAM sticks do you have?

and what's their capacity

[soft wind]

assuming the RAM starts at 0x00000000, this eeeor happens from the 8th GB to 10th GB

[quartz hollow]

2 sticks, 16 GB combined

So I'll be replacing both sticks 👍

[soft wind]

try booting with only the first (if you haven't already)

[quartz hollow]

Too much time to waste, to be honest, I need to start studying soon so I want my pc up and running asap

[soft wind]

maybe it's not the RAM, it could be a problem in the motherboard–RAM interface

that is, in the mothearboard

[quartz hollow]

Why do you think so?

[soft wind]

if you have 4 slots, try moving the RAM to the other two

[soft wind]

exploring all possibilities

[quartz hollow]

How high is the chance? If the mobo boots and can access the RAM except at those addresses, then it should be fine, no?

Because if it was a problem with mobo, you wouldn't be able to access the RAM at all, no?

[soft wind]

Just try it, swapping the slots should be simple and fast, and you'll immediately know if it crashes again, right?

[quartz hollow]

I'm moving the RAM sticks to B1 and A1 respectfully

Now we wait until it hits those addresses again

[quartz hollow]

Yup, it crashed at ranges 0x0 to 0x440000000, as expected

So it's a problem with the RAM

[quartz hollow]

@soft wind I replaced the RAM today, but it's still crashing at 0x0 to 0x440000000

[soft wind]

how are you measuring this crashing range?

have you tried using only one (1) ram stick?

[quartz hollow]

By using Memtest86 and then seeing which ranges it started testing last before crashing

[soft wind]

right, so it crashes, it doesn't say it's bad ram...

[civic raven]

Please download and run this tool, it will allow you to share information about your OS and hardware with us to aid troubleshooting.
This tool is open-source.
Spec-ify:
**1. Download the tool from the following link:**https://github.com/Spec-ify/specify/releases/download/v1.4.0/Specify.exe
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This report will be deleted automatically after 24 hours & retrieves no personal info.

[quartz hollow]

Unfortunately I handed it away at the repair shop, I'll be waiting their answer

[quartz hollow]

It's possibly the memory controller

(Of the board)

[civic raven]

If what you say is true, then it's probably a CPU issue

[quartz hollow]

Oh, this is a new hypothesis, why do you think so?

[civic raven]

If you're 100% sure it's the new RAM stick that caused the crash

[quartz hollow]

It crashed even with new RAM sticks

Is what I am trying to say ^^

[civic raven]

Ah well, nothing to do but wait, I think spec-ify would've returned other things.

[quartz hollow]

Yeah, he said it'd take 1 to 2 days

The nightmare would be a board issue (having to practically rebuild the PC), but I suppose I should expect that at this point

Though I have no clue how a board issue could spontaneously happen after one new windows 11 update is installed

[civic raven]

I didn't follow the thread all the way, but I should've intervened earlier. From the original post, this sounds like a classic NVMe failure... Then it was swapped(?), and started failing on the USB too, and then the memtest was positive.

I think it's right to assume CPU/motherboard.

[quartz hollow]

The RAM was swapped

The shop said the PSU is corrupted, that they switched out the PSU and that now it stops crashing, but how could they have found that out if it didn't crash in the BIOS and sometimes it ran for longer and sometimes less longer (with Memtest) but crashed at those memory ranges?

They want 240€ for diagnosis and new 850W "gaming" PSU

@soft wind

[civic raven]

Interesting, but waw what a price.

Ah well, consultancy fees aren't low here either

But is 850W necessary?

[quartz hollow]

The "failed one" is a Kolink enclave 80+ Gold (600W) for 200€ back then, I have a ryzen 5600 and an 3070 card

[civic raven]

I'd just get a $120 A-tier 750W if you can find it that low

https://cultists.network/140/psu-tier-list/

Shame to see that the Kolink died

[quartz hollow]

Yeah, I thought it was reliable?

[civic raven]

yup, it is

[quartz hollow]

My card is a PNY VCG30708LDFMPB Grafikkarte NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 GDDR6 (8 GB)

https://de.pcpartpicker.com/list/GNLQbK
Card and rest of the setup should have only pulled a combined 500W or so

[civic raven]

my answer remains the same

both would do the job

[quartz hollow]

I wonder if you can reuse the wiring, so that I would only need to unplug and plug into the PSU, because if that is the case, then I would buy one myself, but otherwise I would let them install it

[civic raven]

never reuse the wiring, new psu: new set of cables

[quartz hollow]

Why so?

[civic raven]

high risk of killing it, they're all wired differently

[quartz hollow]

Alright

[quartz hollow]

Thank you 🫡

[civic raven]

np

[quartz hollow]

I bought the PSU in 2023, it has a 3 year warranty, so technically still valid, I'm going to get in touch because of the warranty and get it replaced @civic raven

[civic raven]

that's an option too

most of them come with 5 - 10 year warranties

at least on the high quality ones

[quartz hollow]

Let's see if Kolink will move :|

[soft wind]

I guess for now, you can pay the shop the diagnostic fee and ask for a detailed report – one you can send to Kolink as the reason for warranty claim.

[quartz hollow]

I've initiated contact with Kolink, as the vendor seemed to have only offered 2 years which funnily enough, ran out exactly a month or so before this fatal fuckery lol

The shop said they're okay with waiting for a reply in the next week or so, I'm going to see if Kolink even offers a warranty

[civic raven]

That's such a short warranty period for a quality PSU

ah, it was the vendor

[quartz hollow]

Kolink support says they "sadly" don't operate their own Return Merchandise Authorization anymore, and that I should get in touch with the vendor, but as I stated, the vendor won't exchange it because the mandated exchange period ran out, but Kolink promises a 3 year warranty, so now I am again in contact with Kolink to see what the fuck that means

Really betrayed here by Kolink so far... what a shame

@soft wind