Big problem with Windows just on Win11 after a forced system fix happened.
Big problem with Windows just on Win11 after a forced system fix happened.
I built a new gaming rig recently between September 2023 and January 2023 because my old system was having problems with my AMD Skylake processor, and I also wanted to go from 60Hz to a high refresh rate for better game performance. My whole setup worked really well right away (I turned on the memory upgrade features as soon as possible) and started running Windows 10 in 32-bit mode. After a few months, they gave me a free upgrade to switch to Windows 11 without having to reinstall everything. Everything still went smoothly, so I could easily switch between apps while they were loading or taking breaks.
About two months ago, my PC stopped working properly three times in a row. Eventually, I got told to run an OS repair just to get back on the computer. Since I didn't lose all of my files compared to starting over with Windows 10, I chose this option and it worked fine at first. Everything seemed normal for a while. But then, almost immediately after launching any game (whether it's through Steam or another launcher, or even from other places), the computer started behaving very strangely. Other things like Explorer and my web browser would lag heavily, not just when I played games. It was so bad that the screen updated only once every few seconds, with single-digit frames per second while moving my mouse around. But if I stayed in the game (no matter how hard it is or simple) for a second or two, everything went back to normal and ran smoothly at the speed I expected.
This lag didn't stop until I closed the game that was causing trouble. If I just let games run normally without switching out of them, the computer works fine again. The problem only started happening when I tried to leave the game window open while it's running. I also tried the Windows 11 HDR calibration tool after the problems began, but I didn't expect that would help since I was looking for a fix rather than just checking if my picture looked better.
Here is everything I've tried so far without giving up on keeping the computer:
1. Checked all drivers for every piece of hardware.
2. Reinstalled the graphics card drivers.
3. Ran software to check how healthy the system was.
4. Unplugged and reconnected my RAM sticks.
5. Removed all games and put them back in.
6. Scanned for viruses with Windows Defender and Malwarebytes. No viruses were found.
7. Checked temperatures while the problem was active, but the image refresh rate was so low that I couldn't read anything in the Task Manager or get an accurate picture of what was going on inside.
8. Cleaned out my hard drive space.
I tried searching the internet for solutions but got very basic advice like "your computer probably can't run Windows 11 well" or "there might be malware." So, I don't know what else to try that doesn't involve starting fresh and losing everything. I would rather keep trying this way because I have a lot of files scattered around that I need to move somewhere safe in the next day or two. My system is as follows:
* **Motherboard:** ASUS TUF Gaming B550 (non-Wi-Fi version)
* **CPU:** AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D
* **RAM:** Corsair Dominator 3200MHz CL15 DDR4 (hardware scans confirmed this, though first boot latency is unknown)
* **Storage:** Samsung 980 NVMe SSD, 1TB for the main system drive plus some cheap 256GB drives for extra space, and an old 500GB SATA hard drive as a backup.
* **Graphics Card:** AMD PowerColor Radeon RX 7900 XT
* **Power Supply:** EVGA 1000 GQ semi-modular unit
* **Monitor:** KTC M27T20
I am hoping there is an OS fix or something I haven't tried that could help, and really don't want to spend a weekend backing up my files just for the sake of fixing it. Do you have any other suggestions? Thanks!
Well, thats just how they always say it."I'm too busy right now" to worry about backups. What if all this messing around causes total data loss? Even something so simple as a single mistake can ruin everything backing up is not just "good advice". It's just as important as changing the oil in your car!