AN515-58 Hardboot/No Boot and DRIVER IRQL BSOD

dauphong
dauphong Member Posts: 4 New User

Since last week, my laptop has been experiencing infrequent instant shutdowns with no BSOD (like when I open a windows app like windows reset) When I try to turn it on, I have to hold the power button and hope for the best. The blue indicator light appears, but most of the time, the red keyboard backlight doesn’t turn on, and it fails to boot. when I close the lid it also hard boots

Occasionally, I do get a DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL BSOD. The shutdowns became more frequent, so I tried resetting the laptop through Windows settings, but it kept BSOD-ing with the same error. Yesterday, I attempted a reset via Windows Recovery, but at 80%, it crashed with the same BSOD.

Now, I’m trying to reinstall Windows via USB, but the problem has worsened. Most of the time, the Acer logo doesn’t even appear. Instead, only the blue indicator light turns on. Sometimes, the red keyboard backlight does turn on, but it either fails to boot, heats up the CPU with no fan activity, or briefly turns the fans on before shutting off after 10 seconds of trying to boot with red keyboard turning on and off.

Things That Are Probably Not the Problem:
• Battery – It’s new and tested at a care center and via CMD last week, all good.
• Power Circuit – Recently repaired due to a past charging issue; now works fine, charges, and shows indicator lights.
• Display – No visible cable damage, and the Acer logo does appear, but very rarely because its hard booting.
• RAM – Running 2x16GB DDR5, which is new and has passed MemTest. I also swapped it with stock RAM, but boot issues persist
• SSD – Never had issues with it. I even removed it, yet the laptop still won’t boot.

Things I’ve Tried:
• Holding the power button for 1+ minutes (multiple times).
• Disconnecting the battery.
• Removing the CMOS battery for 1 hour.
• Removing the SSD.
• Reseating RAM & swapping slots/RAM sticks.

Possible Causes I Suspect:
• Corrupt Windows OS (Insider build + possibly bad drivers).
• Corrupt BIOS.
• Bad RAM - I memtested it and it passed yet when it restarted on its own it shut down and hard booted
• Unlocking advanced BIOS settings – Did this in December to change RAM frequency, but the laptop was stable back then.

I really hope someone can help. I rely on this laptop for work, editing, and gaming, and I can’t afford repairs (im a broke student asf) and support in my country is very terrible and expensive. Thank You

Answers