[SOLVED] PC locks up - Starts as a soft lock and slowly lose total control

Page 3 - Seeking answers? Join the Tom's Hardware community: where nearly two million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.

Savage One

Distinguished
Apr 2, 2016
153
4
18,595
Over the past few weeks my PC has gotten to where it will randomly (more often when idle) lock itself up. I notice because any RGB elements that are controlled are turned off. When it happens I cannot open or close programs, but I can still use any that are open. Eventually no program will respond, then later still I lose control of peripherals. Once it "begins" the only way to shut down or restart my PC is by cutting power, windows will close programs but not actually shut down.

Windows 10
RTX 3080 oc'd
i7-5820k oc'd
NZXT c850W PSU
MSI SLI Plus x-99a motherboard
Kingston 120 GB SSD
Samsun 512 GB SSD
2 Tb WD HDD

All drives are healthy, all CPU / GPU temps are fine.

I reduced my CPU overclock and it seemed to lengthen time between lock ups, but it quickly became more frequent again, I suppose it could be CPU degradation, would be a big help if anyone could confirm, or if this was a placebo.

Windows event viewer is somewhat inconclusive. Last event before the last lockup was *Failed to initialize LanternRock SDK: 0x00040201. Reason: S_NO_OPTIN (telemetry not opted-in) * but I cannot find anything on google about that.

Thanks.
 
Last edited:
Solution
cpu is troublesome part of PC, we sort of checked the other normal suspects.

i tried to play an ARPG made in 2010 on my 4k screen and it was too small. That and to account for larger screen drawing size, i could see way more of surrounding area at any time, meaning you couldn't run off screen to avoid things as you would just run into another group.

I think we done here. Unless it starts throwing BSOD and then we might have something to work with.

Savage One

Distinguished
Apr 2, 2016
153
4
18,595
Well, event viewer might show you a report saying what code was (yes, I know). Can you look? It might give me a clue.

In case there is a next time,

Can you follow option one on the following link - here - and then do this step below: Small memory dumps - Have Windows Create a Small Memory Dump (Minidump) on BSOD - that creates a file in c windows/minidump after the next BSOD

  • copy that file to documents
  • upload the copy from documents to a file sharing web site,
  • and share the link in your thread so we can help fix the problem
that will show much more than just the code.
It created a couple of .dmp files, are those helpful to you?
 

Colif

Win 11 Master
Moderator
Actually, it has "cortical error" but, I'm not sure how to get more information from the event.
the critical error could have been event 41 (63) which is the result of a report run at startup that is created if win 10 finds the previous shutdown wasn't expected. Its not really an error if its marked as one. Its the other events before or after that which might show a clue. Alas, sysnative doesn't get that much info.
 

Colif

Win 11 Master
Moderator
The person I ask to check the files for me has slow internet. I can't expect him to download the full memory.dmp so I get people to make minidumps instead, they are only a few MB in size. Much easier to deal with. And include the details about the crash. The 1gb one has existed since Win 10 was installed and has too much info.

Wonder what the 1500kb one is. can you upload it to a file sharing website and show a link here?
 

Savage One

Distinguished
Apr 2, 2016
153
4
18,595
The person I ask to check the files for me has slow internet. I can't expect him to download the full memory.dmp so I get people to make minidumps instead, they are only a few MB in size. Much easier to deal with. And include the details about the crash. The 1gb one has existed since Win 10 was installed and has too much info.

Wonder what the 1500kb one is. can you upload it to a file sharing website and show a link here?
The 1500 kb one is a minidump, I guess they're the same thing. How I found these came from this: https://gyazo.com/1e337700133f824dddeb4b471eb2689c

I don't know any file sharing sites, can't be too hard to find, eh? I'll go look.
 

Savage One

Distinguished
Apr 2, 2016
153
4
18,595
The person I ask to check the files for me has slow internet. I can't expect him to download the full memory.dmp so I get people to make minidumps instead, they are only a few MB in size. Much easier to deal with. And include the details about the crash. The 1gb one has existed since Win 10 was installed and has too much info.

Wonder what the 1500kb one is. can you upload it to a file sharing website and show a link here?
Would you be okay with Google Drive? I would require your email but I get now wanting to post it... all others I can find require a registration :(
 

Colif

Win 11 Master
Moderator
Google drive is okay, you can share links there and set it so anyone with link has access

well, I know what the error is. Not surprising I guess.
WHEA error
Windows Hardware Error Architecture.
Error called BY CPU but not always caused by it...
can be caused by overclocking

Since you um can't run without an OC, it seems windows now doesn't like your settings either.
 

Savage One

Distinguished
Apr 2, 2016
153
4
18,595
Google drive is okay, you can share links there and set it so anyone with link has access

well, I know what the error is. Not surprising I guess.
WHEA error
Windows Hardware Error Architecture.
Error called BY CPU but not always caused by it...
can be caused by overclocking

Since you um can't run without an OC, it seems windows now doesn't like your settings either.
Fantastic! hehe... but Google Drive doesn't like .dmp files, won't let me upload it. I guess it's pointless though since you know what it is?
 

Colif

Win 11 Master
Moderator
WHEA not that simple, they can be any hardware, not just the CPU.
can be caused by heat
can be caused by Overclocking software
Can be caused by Drivers, sometimes.

You just reply too fast for me to finish descriptions :)

Did you Zip the files before uploading?
 

Savage One

Distinguished
Apr 2, 2016
153
4
18,595
WHEA not that simple, they can be any hardware, not just the CPU.
can be caused by heat
can be caused by Overclocking software
Can be caused by Drivers, sometimes.

You just reply too fast for me to finish descriptions :)

Did you Zip the files before uploading?
I'm a "youngin" fast with the ole typing fingers. I did.... not zip it before, works now that it's zipped.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Kvmvcq84TG5V1O_q2352VVDPtGEAYg7L/view?usp=sharing

See if that works for ya.
 

Savage One

Distinguished
Apr 2, 2016
153
4
18,595
WHEA not that simple, they can be any hardware, not just the CPU.
can be caused by heat
can be caused by Overclocking software
Can be caused by Drivers, sometimes.

You just reply too fast for me to finish descriptions :)

Did you Zip the files before uploading?
I should probably delete all of that, but I feel more illiterate when it comes to PCs than ever in my life right now. The file is there, I had to unzip it to a folder, then take the unzipped folder out of THAT folder. It was really strange but I think it went through.
 

Colif

Win 11 Master
Moderator
given what we know, it could be the motherboard.

CPU passes Intel test
Memory? Wouldn't likely cause the weirdness
SSD is okay
PSU is fairly new
No way to test MB, only way is to swap all the parts onto other board and see if CPU will run at stock.
 

Savage One

Distinguished
Apr 2, 2016
153
4
18,595
I should mention, guy who checks the files for me is asleep, he lives in a different time zone and won't be here for about 6 hours or so, so no rush.
I apologize, I thought you could see when another message is posted in the thread, refreshing doesn't get rid of what you have typed, but I'll calm it down, I was just having a mild crisis thinking I lost the file.

I'm fine waiting on him to wake up though and whenever he gets around to it :p

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Kvmvcq84TG5V1O_q2352VVDPtGEAYg7L/view?usp=sharing

I'm not sure if the old link is the same and works now, but this is what it gave me when I changed permissions to access.
 

Colif

Win 11 Master
Moderator
I feel rushed if they keep showing

i see nothing inside. Google hates you lol.

um try again? clearly something went wrong there, did you move the minidump file to another folder before trying to zip it? It probably wouldn't work on original file as system controls it, not you. You might not have access to do it. But you can do it to the copy in the new folder.
 

Savage One

Distinguished
Apr 2, 2016
153
4
18,595
I feel rushed if they keep showing

i see nothing inside. Google hates you lol.

um try again? clearly something went wrong there, did you move the minidump file to another folder before trying to zip it? It probably wouldn't work on original file as system controls it, not you. You might not have access to do it. But you can do it to the copy in the new folder.
I'm a little confused, it does show for me. It is in another folder that I named dump.

This is the .dmp file itself zipped: https://drive.google.com/file/d/16uNh1uWChOzcEEONcYD4x1ejIUqnyjWT/view?usp=sharing

If you were saying that it should be in a folder, it wasn't showing for me at first either, hence why I was concerned, but I had to move the .zip to desktop> manually remove the folder named "dump" and place it on desktop> open folder

I am noticing when zipping these it says access denied, but then it makes them anyways? That... almost seems like what the problem is lol

Before I forget to ask. do I still need to get the thing to create dump files? It seems my PC is doing it already?
 

Colif

Win 11 Master
Moderator
if I open Dump.zip there are no contents.
d6BeEI4.jpg


I am noticing when zipping these it says access denied, but then it makes them anyways? That... almost seems like what the problem is lol

it does, doesn't it.

copy the file from the folder it started in to a Documents
zip the copy in documents, you shouldn't get access denied as you own the copies
upload that to google
 

Savage One

Distinguished
Apr 2, 2016
153
4
18,595
if I open Dump.zip there are no contents.
d6BeEI4.jpg




it does, doesn't it.

copy the file from the folder it started in to a Documents
zip the copy in documents, you shouldn't get access denied as you own the copies
upload that to google
It shows me the same thing on Google Drive, but when I download it and place it on the desktop it's in there for me.
 

Colif

Win 11 Master
Moderator
i downloaded it, still empty
W4YVMCR.jpg


I think it works on your PC as the original files are there, so it might have links to the files that only work on that PC.

I am trying to make instructions as clear as possible.
Open Windows File Explorer
Navigate to C:\Windows\Minidump
Copy the mini-dump files out onto your Desktop
Do not use Winzip, use the built in facility in Windows
Select those files on your Desktop, right click them and choose 'Send to' - Compressed (zipped) folder
Upload the zip file to the Cloud (OneDrive, DropBox . . . etc.)
Then post a link here to the zip file, so we can take a look for you . . .

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us...mp-files/4fa29523-c33f-46a0-b569-447ec1030b34