Maddening BSODs on startup and in safe mode (what is the issue?)

Understanding Recurring BSODs During Startup: Diagnosing and Troubleshooting Your Lenovo Legion 5

Experiencing Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) errors during startup and safe mode can be a frustrating roadblock for any computer user. For owners of the Lenovo Legion 5 15ARH7H, persistent BSODs—especially during boot—may indicate complex hardware or software conflicts. This article explores common causes, diagnostic steps, and potential solutions to help you regain stability on your device.

Overview of the Issue

Recently, you’ve noticed an increasing pattern of BSODs occurring exclusively during system startup. Your Lenovo Legion 5 displays the manufacturer’s logo, then transitions into a BSOD before automatically rebooting. This cycle repeats multiple times, occasionally offering options such as “Restore,” “Restart,” or “Advanced Startup.” Over time, the system may temporarily recover, allowing normal use until the next restart.

In addition, actions like putting the laptop into sleep or hibernation, or disconnecting power, trigger shutdowns, complicating attempts to troubleshoot. Even after repairing Windows 11 via built-in utilities, BSODs persist with no consistent pattern. Notably, minidump reports are sparse, making detailed analysis more challenging.

Common Blue Screen Errors and Their Implications

During these cycles, certain BSOD error codes frequently appear:

IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL (most common)
INTERRUPT_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED
SYSTEM_THREAD_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED
CLOCK_WATCHDOG_TIMEOUT
DPC_WATCHDOG_VIOLATION
KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED
CRITICAL_STRUCTURE_CORRUPTION

These errors often point to problematic system files, including:

Ntfs.sys
Win32kbase.sys
RdyBoost.sys
Ntoskrnl.exe

At times, drivers like HDAudBus.sys are implicated, though attempts to disable or uninstall such drivers have not yielded resolutions.

Transition to Safe Mode and Its Challenges

While safe mode typically provides a minimal environment that bypasses some driver conflicts, your experience has changed. Once stable, safe mode now boots briefly, displaying the login screen then crashing within five minutes—regardless of actions taken during that window. Errors in safe mode include: