Question PC reboots, tried 2 different laptops and 3 sets of RAM, absolutely baffled and desperate for help ?

[samborambo56]

Okay so I started working for a company as self employed on my own laptop about 6 months ago - a Lenovo Legion.

At some point along the way my laptop started randomly rebooting and leaving no dmp files during either normal operation OR during heavier tasks like Premiere and Photoshop

I believe it was when I connected a couple of new SSDs. Or when the company forced me to install ESET encryption and antivirus.
The crashes weren't too frequent, so I ignored the problem, knowing that I was going to get a new machine in a couple of months once I started working for them officially.
I did swap RAM sets entirely in that time from a 16GB kit to a 32GB kit, as well as try to run the laptop with minimal peripherals (no mouse, no external display) I updated settings in the task manager relating to power, I did something with C states in the bios, I tried running the laptop directly from the wall instead of a UPS,I monitored temps which seem normal - but the random blackscreen and reboots persisted.

Fast forward a few months and I get an entirely new laptop - this time an MSI Creator laptop. The crashes persist, again I try running with no peripherals to no avail, and even suffer a crash when the power cable is unplugged and ALL peripherals are unplugged (external SSDs included this time) - surely that must mean the issue is software (I'm looking at you, ESET)
Temps on this laptop were fine too, which makes sense as it was a brand new laptop.

So here's a list of things I've tried to fix the issue:

• clean windows installs
• Updated drivers
• 3 different sets of RAM
• 2 different machines
• different BIOS and power settings on both machines
• Unplugging peripherals
• updating windows (obviously)
• using different power sources for both laptops (battery, directly in wall, through Eaton UPS)
• Running on integrated GPU vs dedicated
• stress testing, looking at temps

and NOTHING has fixed this problem. So I'm down to two theories:
ESET is causing issues
A peripheral is causing problems and leaving them behind residually (because why else would my laptop crash with nothing plugged in and idle?)

Sometimes I get no random reboots for literally days, then
I already hear you asking if I've looked at the Event Viewer and yes, I have - the lead up to the reboots always look similar:

THE CRITICAL ERROR:
The system has rebooted without cleanly shutting down first. This error could be caused if the system stopped responding, crashed, or lost power unexpectedly.

PRIOR TO IT DIRECTLY:
ACPI thermal zone \_TZ.TZ01 has been enumerated.
_PSV = 0K
_TC1 = 1
_TC2 = 2
_TSP = 2000ms
_AC0 = 0K
_AC1 = 0K
_AC2 = 0K
_AC3 = 0K
_AC4 = 0K
_AC5 = 0K
_AC6 = 0K
_AC7 = 0K
_AC8 = 0K
_AC9 = 0K
_CRT = 383K
_HOT = 0K
minimum throttle = 0
_CR3 = 0K

THEN:

File System Filter 'npsvctrig' (10.0, ‎1979‎-‎12‎-‎19T17:12:41.000000000Z) has successfully loaded and registered with Filter Manager.

File System Filter 'UCPD' (10.0, ‎2053‎-‎03‎-‎18T12:17:45.000000000Z) has successfully loaded and registered with Filter Manager.

File System Filter 'FileCrypt' (10.0, ‎1983‎-‎08‎-‎19T03:58:35.000000000Z) has successfully loaded and registered with Filter Manager.

Volume C: (\Device\HarddiskVolume3) is healthy. No action is needed.

File System Filter 'WdFilter' (10.0, ‎2055‎-‎04‎-‎20T21:48:29.000000000Z) has successfully loaded and registered with Filter Manager.

File System Filter 'Wof' (10.0, ‎2086‎-‎08‎-‎04T12:20:16.000000000Z) has successfully loaded and registered with Filter Manager.

File System Filter 'FileInfo' (10.0, ‎2079‎-‎02‎-‎26T23:03:00.000000000Z) has successfully loaded and registered with Filter Manager.

PLEASE NOTE, THAT WHEN ESET HAS BEEN INSTALLED ON THE MACHINE THERE IS AN ADDITIONAL ERROR:
File System Filter 'EAMONN' (10.0, ‎2055‎-‎04‎-‎20T21:48:29.000000000Z) has successfully loaded and registered with Filter Manager.

I am pretty much out of ideas. I'm going to return my Lenovo to a completely stock state and run it without plugging in the external SSDS or having ESET installed, stress test for a few hours, then leave booted but idle for as long as I can (ideally a few days) to prove to myself that there's nothing wrong with the hardware on the PC.


Please please can somebody smarter than me help fix this issue that has persisted across two machines with 3 different sets of RAM.

 

[onespeedbiker]

Since ESET is the likely culprit, I would contact their customer service and/or help forum. A simple web search shows multiple problems and incapabilities with ESET, that could cause your issues.

 

[samborambo56]

Since ESET is the likely culprit, I would contact their customer service and/or help forum. A simple web search shows multiple problems and incapabilities with ESET, that could cause your issues.

Okay so here's an update. I have now eliminated ESET as the culprit and I am pretty much down to just my external WD MyPassport SSDs. Do you think it is possible that these drives are causing the random reboots? I know they are pretty blazing fast and may have quite a high power draw. Perhaps they are causing a component on the motherboard to overheat?

 

[onespeedbiker]

You said you were going to run your computer without the external SSDs; did that stop the crashes? SSDs, especially NVME generate a lot of heat and can crash a system. Are using external heatsink enclosures? If not you may want to look into them.