Nitro 5 Computer Freezes Randomly the whole system freezing up at some point.

Hi there,

So my Nitro 5 usually runs fine when it's doing tasks that require little power or playing older games. However after playing more power hungry games, my laptop runs fine for a random amount of time before freezing up. All windows and the taskbar freeze up first, then my mouse stops responding, finally stopping my audio altogether forcing me to hold the power button down until it turns off. One time it was about two and a half hours after playing one of these power hungry games, and another it was around seven hours so it happens at random times.

I have made sure my charger is plugged in while playing these and all of my drivers are up to date. I also make sure the CPU and GPU are cool enough while playing as I also use a cooling pad. The system specs are more than enough to run these games, and I have also downgraded my OS to Windows 10 immediately after recieving it so I'd like some suggestions on what could be done to prevent this from happening in the future. The performance hasn't been affected thankfully but it gets annoying when you can't play a modern game without worrying about the whole system freezing up at some point later on in the day.

[Edited the thread to add model name to the title and add issue detail]

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StevenGen

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/683147/computer-freezes-randomly

What is your Nitro model number and what games are you talking about, as that is very important. As a Nitro laptop can’t play every high end game on high settings and you need to adjust the settings appropriately. The best way with to play games with an Nvidia gpu is to play these games through the GeForce Experience software as Nvidia has many games on this software’s list that Nvidia has ultimate settings for your Nvidia gpu.

For example, I’ve got a Nitro AN515-56 with the i7-11370H - GeForce RTX- 3050 4GB - 32GB RAM and I’ve never had problems playing games like Battlefield V, F1-22, Call Of Duty that I play with this laptop at 1920x1080p at refresher rate 144Hz and with all Nvidia, Intel and Windows updates and drivers up to date. Of course a laptop will never ever be as good as a gaming desktop but my Nitro plays these games very well and I’ve never ever had any freezing or sound problems

Puraw

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/683147/computer-freezes-randomly

Did you check the status of your HDD and memory when that happens in Task Manager.\>Performance? Forcing the system to shutdown may have corrupted a system file. While online run these 2 lines separately with 2 instances of the Command Prompt opened each time as administrator:

Dism.exe /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth (should end with "successful completed")

SFC /scannow (don't forget the space before/)

If you get "Found corrupted files and were repaired" run SFC again till you get "No integrity violations"

If you see your HDD spinning or SSD at 100% you need to reset your Windows10, if your memory maxed out you need bigger RAM sticks. Also see if your BIOS is up to date on the Acer Support site for your model, W11 will alert you but not W10.

BonOakley

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1193414#Comment_1193414

My nitro model number is N2201. It's the Nitro AN515-46 and the system specs are AMD Ryzen 7 6800, GeForce RTX 3060, 16GB of RAM and 165hz refresh rate. While using it in-game everything runs fine, it's after the fact that it begins to do the freezing and like previously mentioned it happens at random intervals of time after, and can be fairly close to closing the game or later on in the evening. The two games that I've ran so far are SoulCalibur V and Sonic Frontiers that run into these problems. My previous laptop wasn't nearly as powerful as this one and ran those fine without any hiccups later on so I would think this one should run fine too.

I'll try lowering the settings for these and see if that affects it later on however this has also happened when recording with GeForce Experience on something like TF2 for example but it has been more constant with the more powerful games.

BonOakley

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1193466#Comment_1193466

Unfortunately by the time it happens it's too late to try and check anything other than holding down the power button. I have tried the lines many times before as that was the solution for a problem I had a while back and both come back saying there's nothing corrupted or no violations. The disk rarely if ever shoots to 100%, do you mean when playing a game if it does that? If so I will need to check for that. Truth be told I've never run a BIOS update either so I'll look into that as well.

Alejandro_AC

Hi @BonOakley the computer is designed to work with Windows 11, in my opinion it is a mistake to install Windows 10.
Windows 11 has better management of processor and memory resources than Windows 10.
All the best.

Puraw

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1193515#Comment_1193515

If all that checks out it won’t hurt to run DISM and SFC in that order once more, like I said forcing a system shutdown will corrupt files in SysMain, pls don't underestimate that. As a last resort do a "Reset this PC" or like Alejandro_AC recommends reinstall Windows 11 again.

BonOakley

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1193517#Comment_1193517

Thanks for the information. As it was a clean "upgrade" that I did, there is no way to rever to 11 again, other than this option in the windows update tab. Is there a better way you recommend to go back?

Alejandro_AC

Try that option, otherwise go to the Windows 11 download page for an update:

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows11?ranMID=46133&ranEAID=uX9G0lYjaAY&ranSiteID=uX9G0lYjaAY-sAXqgBACMLPhm7BZjD7Kww&epi=uX9G0lYjaAY-sAXqgBACMLPhm7BZjD7Kww&irgwc=1&irclickid=_fpeumvbh6ckf6md1avjxjndikn2xqicyyedb9h9v00
As a last resort, you can create an installation USB from the Windows 11 download page and with the tool that appears on the same page.
Thank you.
All the best.

BonOakley

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1193565#Comment_1193565

Would you recommend that I back my files up or would they be fine if I went with the update option in windows update?

Alejandro_AC

Both options would be good, having a backup of your files is always a must.
Once I have made the copy, I would try an update and check how the system is running smoothly, if everything is acceptable and it does not present the above problems, leave it, otherwise perform a clean installation.
In any of the cases, do not download any driver for the moment and once updated, go to Windows Update.
Is the current NVidia driver provided by Acer or did you download it from NVidia?
Greetings.

BonOakley

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1193583#Comment_1193583

I usually update the drive from GeForce Experience so I would assume that means it's from NVidia

Alejandro_AC

Before installing Windows 11, if the driver is NVidia, try uninstalling and installing the Acer driver, try a game and see if the problem persists.
Also go to Windows Update and see if it offers any updates.
Greetings.

Commodore_1995#

When the crash occurs, note the exact time. Then in the event viewer, system and look for the error that occurred at that time.

BonOakley

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1193590#Comment_1193590

This is what I get, however I would assume that's because of me holding the power button down to forcefully restart it

Puraw

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1193593#Comment_1193593

BTW: Event 41 is recorded a lot when using Fast Startup, often after Windows updates or changing Power Plan. I never force a shutdown but still get that 41 Event error sometimes. Have you considered bringing your laptop to Acer Services to ask for a complete reinstall of the system (firmware, Acer recovery app, OEM Windows11 22H2, Acer W11 drivers, etc.,) I have done that some time ago (warranty was expired) and AcerPh did it as a courtesy, free of charge (service fee is quoted here as $25)😉

StevenGen

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1193588#Comment_1193588

Your Nitro AN515-46 is NOT setup properly as doing an upgrade to Win-11 is not the way to go, you need to do a Clean Install of Win-11 and if you have valuable files back those files up, as a Clean Install will delete all your files! You can do whatever you like or want with all the instructions above, but from my personal experience with the Nitro 5 laptops, the only way that you are going to fix your Nitro AN515-46 to function perfectly and 100%, is to do these steps below, but be very careful with the VBIOS and BIOS updates as you can brick your laptop if you don’t follow the appropriate update procedures:

Update the Update VBIOS NVVDD EDPc setting change from 90A to 135A GeForce RTX 3060 VBIOS ver: 94.06.36.00.63, Version:1.00a
Update the bios to the Version:1.08 titled 1. Update AMD PI for RMB+. 2. Update AMD SMU, don’t worry about versions 1.09 as they are not appropriate unless you are in Japan.
Download the Win-11 >>>Win11_22H2_English_x64v1.ISO file and initiate the Win-11 installation through Win-10 by right clicking the >ISO file and click on MOUNT to start the Win-11 installation
When you get to "Where do you want to install Windows?" section format the boot drive
Then proceed with the Win-11 installation until its finished and look at Activate Windows - Microsoft Support
Make sure that you download the latest NVidia drivers from NVidia and make sure that you uninstall the previous NVidia gpu driver before you install the new driver, as that is a must, also use GeForce Experience settings for gaming and set in the NVidia Control Panel all your games and high end software to NVidia processor

Doing all the above will install Win-11 properly and will stop you having all the problems that you are having with an inappropriately setup laptop, which is where your problems are. Good luck and hope this helps you out.

William_mk2

@BonOakley

Let us do the basic steps first. First of all, we need to find out whether it is a hardware or software issue.

Here are some of the steps to speed up or increase the performance your computer.

Try windows + r - on the run window - type msconfig - click ok
click on services
check - hide all microsoft services
click on disable all
click on startup
disable all the startup items
click on apply - ok - restart the computer. Loading process will be very fast now..

Note: You can always enable the services and startup items later or set it to normal startup from selective startup later on the General tab

Try windows + r - on the run window - type appwiz.cpl - click ok
it will show you the list of programs
remove all the unwanted third party programs.
Please don’t remove any drivers.
If you are not sure , please don’t remove it.

Try windows + r - on the run window type temp - click ok - it will show you the bunch of files - try ctrl + a - select all files - press the shift key and click on delete files

Try windows + r - on the run window type %temp% - click ok - It will show you the bunch of files - try ctrl + a - select all files - press the shift key and click on delete files

If you are not able to remove some files - click on skip and then click click on continue..

Try windows + r - on the run window - type cleanmgr - click ok
click on all the boxes except recycle bin and thumnail
Delete the items which are checked

Try windows x - on the menu - chose command prompt admin or power shell admin
click on yes
on the blue or black window type sfc /scannow
It will be running till 100 %

Try to do a chrome reset
open chrome
click on three dots on top right corner
click on settings
Scroll down - go to advanced
click on restore setting to default
you will see reset settings - cancel
click on reset settings
Open chrome
it will work faster now

If it is still not working then we have to do a refresh and reset

click on start - settings - update and security - recovery - reset this pc - get started

or

on start - type here to search - type reset this pc - click on reset this pc on the top - click on get started

It will show you keep my files and remove everything
chose keep my files
chose the account - type the password - click on local reinstall - click on reset
It will be in progress..
login to computer and start using the computer.
If it is still not working

click on start - settings - update and security - recovery - reset this pc - get started
chose remove everything
click on local reinstall - just remove my files - click on reset
It will be in progress

Note:

If you do refresh ( keep my files ) - all your personal files like pictures, music , documents , videos will still be intact. Only the applications will be lost

If you do reset ( remove everything ) - you are doing a factory default. It will become like a day one computer. It will wipe out everything and take your computer to day one like a new computer.

You can also do the recovery in an alternative way..

There are two alt keys on the keyboard. If you look at the bottom row of keyboard you can see the one on the left side of space bar and the other on the right side of space bar. The alt key on the right side will be looking like alt, alt gr or alt car. Turn off the computer. Hold the alt key on the left and tap f10 continuously. It will go to repair mode. It will show you chose an option, continue, troubleshoot. If it is not going to repair mode, turn off the computer. Turn on the computer. Hold the right alt key ( alt gr or alt car or alt ) and then tap f10 continuously. It will go to chose an option continue and troubleshoot..

It will show you chose an option, continue, troubleshoot
Go to troubleshoot - click on reset this pc
click on keep my files ( only applications will be lost ) chose your account and type your password - click on local reinstall - click on reset
It will be in progress

If the keep my files option is not working

Go to troubleshoot - click on reset this pc – click on remove everything – click on local reinstall – just remove my files – click on reset
It will reinstall windows.

If the just remove my files is not working..

Go to troubleshoot - click on reset this pc – click on remove everything – click on local reinstall – Fully clean the drive – click on reset
It will reinstall windows.

Note: You can also go to chose an option , continue , troubleshoot by holding the alt key + tapping f10 or alt gr + tapping f10 on the keyboard while turning on the computer. Once you see the troubleshoot option, you can stop tapping the f10 and stop holding the alt key. Then you can try the keep my files and remove everything ( just remove by files and fully clean the drive ) by following the steps which was mentioned above.