Understanding and Troubleshooting Severe Laptop Freezes During Valorant Gameplay on Lenovo Devices
If you’re a Lenovo laptop user experiencing system-wide freezes while gaming, particularly with titles like Valorant, you’re not alone. Such incidents can be alarming, disrupting your gaming session and raising concerns about potential hardware or software conflicts. This article aims to provide a comprehensive overview of a real-world scenario, explore possible causes, and suggest effective troubleshooting steps to resolve the issue safely and efficiently.
The Scenario
A Lenovo laptop encounters a complete freeze during gameplay of Valorant, characterized by:
- Loss of mouse, keyboard, display, and sound.
- Absence of a Blue Screen of Death (BSOD); the display remains static.
- The Fn+Q key combination (which adjusts performance modes) remains functional, indicating some system components are responsive.
- Resolution involves a hard shutdown via the power button.
- Post-reboot, certain system settings, like fan modes, persist, hinting at some background activity continuing despite the freeze.
Initial Investigations and Diagnostics
Common troubleshooting steps include:
- Running System File Checker (
sfc /scannow) and Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM) to verify Windows system integrity—all returned clean results. - Examining the Event Viewer logs reveals errors related to
DistributedCOM (10016), indicating potential registry or permission issues with system components, although these are not necessarily causal. - Using Autoruns to identify startup items and drivers, one highlighted entry is a Lenovo Diagnostics Driver:
LenovoDiagnosticsDriver
Not Verified – Lenovo Group Limited
Path: C:\ProgramData\Lenovo\Vantage\Addins\LenovoHardwareDiagnostics\
Key Questions for Further Exploration
-
Could the Lenovo Diagnostics Driver be causing system freezes?
It’s possible that the driver conflicts with game processes or other system components. Diagnostics tools, while useful, sometimes introduce stability issues if outdated or incompatible. -
Is there a conflict with Valorant’s Anti-Cheat System (Vanguard)?
Valorant’s anti-cheat system operates at a kernel level, which can sometimes clash with other high-privilege drivers, especially hardware diagnostic tools. -
Is it safe to disable or remove the LenovoDiagnosticsDriver?
Disabling or uninstalling non-essential drivers can improve stability, but ensure that doing so doesn’t impair Lenovo-specific functions like hardware diagnostics or system updates.
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