Lenovo crashing fixed, Windows 11 Tamed - Happy With My New System . . . Finally!

[RV_]

Short version:

I hated my new computer and Windows 11 because it was crashing several times day until I figured out that it was an Intel and Lenovo driver and registry issue. I love the system again and windows 11 is fine. If you are having crashing issues with 2022 computers originally delivered with Windows 10 that started after upgrading to Window 11 then you may want to read the long version. I also have some good reviews and sources for the upgrade M.2 NVMe drive and Ram I purchased for it.

Long version:

Earlier this year I bought a new Windows 10 Lenovo All In One (AIO) computer 27” QHD touchscreen i7 10^th gen 8 core 4.5 GHz, 16GB RAM, Samsung M.2 NVMe 256GB SSD, 1TB WD SATA storage drive. Windows 10 stock. https://www.lenovo.com/ca/en/p/desktops/ideacentre/aio-500-series/ideacentre-aio-5i-27/fficf500348?orgRef=https%3A%2F%2Fsearch.brave.com%2F#models

I loved the machine and accidentally approved loading Windows 11 in Windows update and since I had a backup system image I let it go and install. I was totally impressed as all my programs including Office Pro 2016 were there and activated with no issues. However, past the time limit to go back to Windows 10, it started crashing several times a day leaving an error that WinTV had crashed. It turned out it was just the last app that crashed due to system memory overload. It was never at less than 98% RAM used. Should not happen with 16GB of RAM.

I realized looking at Task manager that it was the memory loading up to 99-100%!! It was Desktop Windows Manager eating up all the ram and crashing it. Lenovo premium support was useless and since it came with 10 acted like they were not obligated to support Win !!

In Task Manager I found the culprit was DWM.exe or Desktop Windows Manager that was eating up all the resources until it crashed.

Apparently others with several brand computers running Windows 11 are/were having the same issues.

I was glad I had not sold my trusty Dell 2720 AIO 27” Win 10touch yet and put it back on my desk and the new Lenovo on the backup system desk. The actual backup computer is a Dell Micro system which was downstairs and new and being built as well. My old Dell Main AIO was still like new so was fine to use until I figured out the crashing problem with the new AIO..

It was a month of research before I had all the pieces to fix the Lenovo crashing - I hoped. I went over to YouTube and found the video that got me halfway there and an Intel Utility that finished the job. Now MY New Lenovo is screaming again on 11. And where I thought I hated Windows 11 I decided to keep it and am liking it again. So I bought another WD Black SN 770 1TB Gen 4 M.2 MVNe drive with read speeds of up to 5150 MBps, and another 32 GB of DDR$ RAM for it. I had already bought both and installed them in my backup system and I like them a lot. I also bought a 2TB WD Blue 3D NAND SATA SSD

So I have had it fixed for about three weeks now and it is stable so I am next going to do a disassembly and upgrade the M.2 256GB to the WD Black 1TB SN 770, upgrade the 5400 RPM storage Hard drive with a 2TB ED Blue #D NAND SATA drive, and upgrade the 16 GB of RAM to 32 GB DDR4.

Here are the fixes and links to the parts I am using.

Warning do not attempt any of these fixes without having a system image or cloned drive in case your system reacts badly. Use them at your own risk.

The first fix I applied was several registry edits using this YouTube video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jNJ8G0JAbo&t=11s

Once I had completed that I still had some minor issues and ran the Intel® Driver & Support Assistant you can find and install from here:

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/intel-driver-support-assistant.html

I ran that driver app on my Lenovo and the graphics driver updates fixed all the remaining issues as well as updating my Intel motherboard and Bluetooth WiFi drivers.

I ran the driver assistant on our three All In One desktops, our two Surface Go2, my Surface Pro 7+ and the Surface Pro 7 and updated all their Intel drivers as they are all Intel CPUs and chipsets as well as Intel WiFi and Bluetooth radio cards. On my Beelink minicomputer that always had weak Wifi Reception with its internal antennas for several years suddenly it had perfect reception anywhere in the house.

I believe the Intel® Driver & Support Assistant is a wonderful; tool and was safe on my systems. It does not work on older systems and 32 bit systems. It does not work on my Dell 2720 with a 4th gen i7 nor on my HP micro system with a 4^th gen i5 at all.

Once installed it checks your system on every boot and tells if you have newer drivers to download.

I like it, but as with all system changes, you use it at your own risk. I cannot guarantee any tools that work on my systems will work on yours. Always have a full system image or at least a cloned spare drive if you want to play with registry editing (regedit).

Upgrade list: I already bought them for my Lenovo AIO 5 and will install them as soon as I get my NVMe 2 port cloning dock. Still shopping it.

Main SSD - WD Black SN770 $99.99 currently on Amazon. It is the number two review in the PC Gamer Best NVMe drive article:

https://www.pcgamer.com/best-nvme-ssd/?utm_source=pocket_mylist

Storage SSD - Western Digital 2TB WD Blue 3D NAND Internal PC SSD - SATA III 6 Gb/s, 2.5"/7mm, Up to 560 MB/s - WDS200T2B0A 560MB/s read speed. 

https://www.amazon.com/Blue-NAND-2TB-SSD-WDS200T2B0A/dp/B073SBRHH6/ref=sr_1_3?crid=391MIP2RBRPCN&keywords=WD+Blue+2TB+3d+Nand+SSD&qid=1661028684&sprefix=wd+blue+2tb+3d+nand+ssd%2Caps%2C110&sr=8-3

I have used these WD Blue SSDs for years as both main SSDs and storage SSDs. A WD 1TB Blue SSD has been my 2720 main drive since 2018, and in our 10^th gen Dell Inspiron 27” Touchscreen AIO since December 2019 as the storage drive behind the M.2 NVMe main SSD with zero issues. I only have this 2TB because it was used a couple of times and the guy never loaded it up because he did not understand that there will always be a system partition on the drive and he thought there was something wrong with it having a 512MB system partition so he sold it used to me for $40.00 with only an hour’s use on it. And it will replace a 5400 rpm 1TB HDD. It works and tests out perfectly. Essentially it was new just tested. New it is $179.99 and I would have left the HDD 1TB storage had I not run into the 2TB locally. 

 

RAM - TEAMGROUP Elite DDR4 32GB Kit (2 x 16GB) 3200MHz PC4-25600 CL22 Unbuffered Non-ECC 1.2V SODIMM 260-Pin Laptop Notebook PC Computer Memory Module Ram Upgrade - TED432G3200C22DC-S01 Currently $87.99 on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08T17RQ87?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details 

I used the same WD770 M.2 drive and Team 32GB RAM already on my Dell Optiplex 5080 11^th gen micro.

To clone the 128GB and 256GB M.2 NVMe drives that came with my systems to the much faster 1TB WD Black SN770 M.2 NVMe drives, I used the Acasis single M.2 NVMe drive dock here for an example only. They are cheaper on eBay but no reviews there, or few:

https://www.amazon.com/Enclosure-Tool-Free-Portable-Docking-Station/dp/B084ZKLQR8/ref=nav_signin?keywords=Acasis%2BM.2%2BEnclosure%2BClone%2BDocking%2BStation%2BUSB%2B3.1%2BFor%2BNVME%2BUSB%2Bto%2BM2%2BKey&qid=1660688094&sr=8-3&th=1

They also make one with two slots that can clone without using the computer offline that I have found pretty cheap on eBay. However on Amazon you can return free seller usually pays shipping and there are some of these on eBay that pay return shipping for defective and wrong items. But with this lowest price the buyer, us have to pay return shipping to China. So for the cheapest cloner two bay go here: https://www.ebay.com/itm/284907080226

This one is ~$25.00 more but seller pays shipping for returns. Amazon has them for much more than that!

Take what you can use and leave the rest!

 

Edited August 20, 2022 by RV_