System Lockup Overview
System Lockup Overview
Over the past four days, I experienced two instances where my screen went black and the system became unresponsive. After a physical restart, I didn’t see any Windows repair attempts or file integrity warnings. This time, I switched to fullscreen Valorant to investigate, then tried Chrome which failed. Returning to Valorant caused it to crash completely. Previously, I’d smoothly switch in and out of games without any system lockups. I’ve kept my CPU and GPU at a moderate undervolt setting, yet no problems have arisen recently. While I was on Career mode in the game and only had Discord open, that shouldn’t normally affect my setup. I suspect the issue might be linked to the undervolt settings, but I’m puzzled as to why it started suddenly with my current configuration.
This situation has escalated to the point where starting Valorant with any active window in the background triggers an immediate crash. Even shutting down the game without other applications running still results in a complete lockup more frequently than expected. This behavior is unique to Valorant and differs from other activities I perform. I've adjusted its Windows settings, run everything in default mode, and reinstalled Riot/Game completely without altering this issue. What might I be overlooking?...
The simplest approach is to clear everything and reinstall all drivers. If that fails, check for hardware issues by testing each part separately—start with the CPU using OCCT and Cinebench, then the GPU with FurMark, and finally run MemTest. If everything functions correctly, it’s likely a software problem, and a fresh Windows installation would be the best solution. Also, could you share your system specifications?
Visit C:\Windows\Minidump to see if any minidump files exist. If present, return to the Windows directory and transfer the entire Minidump folder to the Downloads folder (use your desktop if needed). Compress the copied folder and include it in a post. Please adhere strictly to instructions since Windows doesn't allow file manipulation there.