Understanding Unusual Laptop Behavior: When Gaming Temporarily Fixes System Crashes
Introduction
Experiencing persistent system crashes can be both frustrating and confusing. Recently, a user shared an intriguing issue with their ASUS TUF Gaming A17 laptop, which has been experiencing Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) errors over several years. The most perplexing aspect is that launching Genshin Impact—a popular game—appears to temporarily prevent these crashes, despite no apparent technical reason. This article aims to explore potential causes behind such anomalous behavior and suggest steps for diagnosis and resolution.
Background of the Issue
The user reports that their laptop encounters BSODs exclusively when not plugged into a power source. It restarts normally after each crash, allowing continued use as long as the device remains connected to power. However, after a recent Windows 11 update (version 23H2, KB5066189), these crashes happen even when the device is charging.
Common error codes displayed during these crashes include:
- KERNEL_SECURITY_CHECK_FAILURE
- UNEXPECTED_KERNEL_MODE_TRAP
- ATTEMPTED_EXECUTE_OF_NOEXECUTE_MEMORY
- UNEXPECTED_STORE_EXCEPTION
- DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE
- IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
The diversity of these error codes indicates multiple potential underlying issues, such as driver conflicts, hardware malfunctions, or system file errors. The user has attempted various troubleshooting steps, including driver updates, malware scans, and rolling back recent Windows updates, but the problem persists.
The Anomaly: Genshin Impact as a Temporary Fix
Interestingly, the user observed that launching Genshin Impact prevents the BSODs from occurring, at least temporarily. Other applications like Obsidian, Opera, and Minecraft do not produce the same effect. To avoid crashes, the user must launch Genshin Impact and keep it running at the login screen in the background.
Despite consulting with IT professionals, no one has a definitive explanation. The behavior suggests an unusual interaction between the game and the system’s hardware or software states.
Possible Explanations and Technical Insights
While it’s difficult to determine the exact cause without detailed diagnostics, several hypotheses can be considered:
- Power Management and Resource Allocation
- The crashes occurring only when not plugged in could relate to power management settings or battery issues.
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Genshin Impact might be triggering specific GPU or CPU states that stabilize the system temporarily.
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**Graphics Driver or Hardware Issues
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