Laptop always crashes due to memory errors from doing very little

Understanding Persistent Memory-Related Crashes on Your ASUS Zenbook S 13: Troubleshooting and Solutions

Introduction

Modern laptops are designed to handle everyday tasks with ease, but sometimes, even routine activities can trigger unexpected system crashes. If you’re experiencing frequent freezes, crashes, or shutdowns on your ASUS Zenbook S 13 running Windows 11—despite minimal usage—it can be both frustrating and concerning. This article aims to shed light on possible causes of such issues, assess what diagnostics might reveal, and suggest practical approaches to improve your laptop’s stability.

Examining the Symptoms

Based on your description, your laptop exhibits:

• System freezes lasting several minutes during basic tasks (e.g., browsing with Chrome and listening to Spotify).
• Chrome tabs occasionally crashing with “out of memory” errors.
• Complete shutdowns with “KERNEL_SECURITY_CHECK_FAILURE” errors.
• High memory utilization (around 40-50% of 16GB RAM used even with minimal programs).
• Discrepancies between reported memory usage percentages in Task Manager and actual RAM usage.
• Surprisingly better performance when running resource-intensive Steam games compared to browser usage.

Initial Troubleshooting Steps

1. Memory Testing: You’ve already run MemTest86 with a passing result. Although this suggests your RAM modules are physically sound, consider re-running the test to rule out intermittent errors, especially if the last test was several months ago.

2. Operating System and Driver Updates: Ensure your Windows 11 system and all device drivers are up to date. Outdated drivers, particularly chipset, graphics, or BIOS updates, can cause memory or system stability issues.

3. Background Processes and Software Conflicts: Use Task Manager to monitor active processes during normal operation. Look for any abnormal activity or running processes that could be consuming excessive resources.

4. Resource Monitoring: Utilize tools like Resource Monitor or third-party utilities to get a more accurate picture of memory usage. Keep an eye on processes that might be leaking memory or causing fragmentation.

5. Operating System Integrity Check: Run system file checks using sfc /scannow and DISM commands to verify and repair corrupted system files.

Understanding the Crashes: Common Causes

• Memory Leaks or Insufficient Resources: Despite having 16GB of RAM, certain applications or processes can exhibit memory leaks, leading to gradual accumulation of system resources and eventual crashes.

• Corrupted System Files or Drivers: