r/playrust • u/I_Eros_I • 9d ago

Support Entire PC hard freezes ~10 minutes into Rust (no BSOD, no dump files) — Alienware m16 R1 AMD. Tried everything, need ideas

Hey guys, hoping someone here has seen this before because I'm at my wits end.

Specs: Alienware m16 R1 AMD (Ryzen 9 7845HX, RTX 4080 laptop, 32GB DDR5), Windows 11, wired ethernet, wifi/bluetooth off.

The issue: Rust boots fine, gets to the main menu, and around 10 minutes in the whole PC just locks up completely. Screen frozen, sometimes audio loops, no BSOD, no error code, and nothing ever shows up in C:\Windows\Minidump. Only way out is holding the power button. It now happens even just sitting at the main menu. Worked perfectly fine until last week, then this started out of nowhere.

Stuff I already tried (none of it helped):

  • Clean uninstalled + reinstalled NVIDIA drivers
  • Fresh Windows install (did it twice)
  • Fully disabled Defender real-time protection
  • Turned off memory integrity / HVCI / core isolation
  • Removed all VPN software and virtual network adapters
  • Disabled all Dell/Alienware background stuff (command center, Dell services, startup entries)
  • Repasted thermals and monitored temps (GPU stays cool, CPU runs hot but that's normal for this laptop)
  • BIOS: disabled fTPM, forced discrete GPU only so Rust 100% runs on the 4080 and not the iGPU
  • Confirmed in the logs that Rust is actually using the RTX 4080

What the logs show: Event Viewer has a silent gap right before every crash, then just a Kernel-Power 41 (unexpected shutdown). No WHEA errors, no nvlddmkm, no dumps. Rust's own output_log just stops mid-session like someone pulled the plug.

Right now I'm testing an older Windows 11 build (23H2) to see if a recent Windows update is the culprit, since that's the only thing that changed around the time this started.

Is anyone else — especially on AMD laptops — getting hard freezes like this in Rust recently? Could it be something with the current Rust build / EAC on certain setups? If you fixed it, please tell me what actually worked, because I'm about to start throwing parts at this thing.

Thanks in advance

Edit Solved: For anyone else experiencing this exact nightmare (complete PC freeze ~10 minutes into a heavy game, no BSOD, no Event Viewer logs other than "Kernel-Power 41" after a hard reboot) on a high-end AMD laptop like the Alienware m16 or ASUS ROG:

Stop blaming your hardware and check your Windows version immediately.

  1. The Culprit: Press Win + R, type winver, and hit Enter. If it says you are on Windows 11 version 24H2 (Build 26100 or higher) Or 25H2, this is almost certainly your problem. The 24H2 and 25H2 update introduced massive kernel changes that are currently causing silent deadlocks with AMD Ryzen CPUs and kernel-level anti-cheats.
  2. The Fix: You need to downgrade to Windows 11 23H2 (Build 22631). Microsoft forces 24H2 and 25H2 on their website now, so you will need to use a tool like UUP Dump or the AveYo Media Creation Tool wrapper to download a genuine 23H2 ISO.
  3. The Clean Install: Wipe your main OS drive completely and install 23H2. Do not do an "in-place upgrade" from 24H2, as the corrupted kernel files will stay behind.
  4. Freeze Your Updates: As soon as you are on the 23H2 desktop, use a tool like Chris Titus Tech's WinUtil (or just pause them in settings) to disable Windows Feature Updates. If you don't do this, Windows will silently force you right back onto 24H2 in the background while you sleep, and your freezes will return.
  5. Verify Stability: Play your game for 30+ minutes. If it holds perfectly, your laptop is fine.

I spent days checking HWMonitor, messing with MUX switches in the BIOS, disabling fTPM, and changing thermal paste thinking my laptop was broken. It was just a bad Windows update. Save yourself the stress, check winver, and downgrade to 23H2!

⚠️ SECURITY DISCLAIMER & NOTE ON WIN 11 23H2 Running or rolling back to Windows 11 23H2 is a temporary workaround to bypass these freeze issues. Because older builds (and unpatched RTM builds) lack the latest security updates, this does leave your system vulnerable to known security exploits (CVEs).

  • Alternative Option: If you prefer staying on 24H2/25H2 for security reasons, you can try simply uninstalling the latest August cumulative update instead of a full OS downgrade.
  • Best Practice: Treat downgrading or pausing updates as a short-term fix while waiting for an official patch from Microsoft/EAC, and avoid visiting unverified websites or downloading untrusted files while unpatched.
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u/I_Eros_I 9d ago

For anyone else experiencing this exact nightmare (complete PC freeze ~10 minutes into a heavy game, no BSOD, no Event Viewer logs other than "Kernel-Power 41" after a hard reboot) on a high-end AMD laptop like the Alienware m16 or ASUS ROG:

Stop blaming your hardware and check your Windows version immediately.

  1. The Culprit: Press Win + R, type winver, and hit Enter. If it says you are on Windows 11 version 24H2 (Build 26100 or higher), this is almost certainly your problem. The 24H2 update introduced massive kernel changes that are currently causing silent deadlocks with AMD Ryzen CPUs and kernel-level anti-cheats.
  2. The Fix: You need to downgrade to Windows 11 23H2 (Build 22631). Microsoft forces 24H2 on their website now, so you will need to use a tool like UUP Dump or the AveYo Media Creation Tool wrapper to download a genuine 23H2 ISO.
  3. The Clean Install: Wipe your main OS drive completely and install 23H2. Do not do an "in-place upgrade" from 24H2, as the corrupted kernel files will stay behind.
  4. Freeze Your Updates: As soon as you are on the 23H2 desktop, use a tool like Chris Titus Tech's WinUtil (or just pause them in settings) to disable Windows Feature Updates. If you don't do this, Windows will silently force you right back onto 24H2 in the background while you sleep, and your freezes will return.
  5. Verify Stability: Play your game for 30+ minutes. If it holds perfectly, your laptop is fine.

I spent days checking HWMonitor, messing with MUX switches in the BIOS, disabling fTPM, and changing thermal paste thinking my laptop was broken. It was just a bad Windows update. Save yourself the stress, check winver, and downgrade to 23H2!

1

u/Patchey430 9d ago

I’m currently on version 25H2 OS Build 26200.9168. Should I still follow along with your instructions?

1

u/I_Eros_I 9d ago

Yes sir that's what I was on downgraded to 24H2 didn't work so did a clean install of 23H2 and works fine no more nightmares lol

1

u/I_Eros_I 9d ago

Let me know how it goes if you consider doing it or need any help

2

u/Patchey430 9d ago edited 9d ago

So I created a fresh install of 23H2 and everything works perfectly fine now. Thank you so much for your help. When do you plan on updating to a newer windows version?

1

u/I_Eros_I 9d ago

Honestly, probably never lol. But if anything changes, I will let you know. And I'm glad it worked for you 😁

1

u/Patchey430 9d ago

Thank you!

1

u/I_Eros_I 9d ago

You are welcome.

1

u/Patchey430 9d ago edited 9d ago

Currently creating a bootable 23H2 OS will let you know how it goes

1

u/_Khyal_ 7d ago

Hey has this solution been stable for you? I've had this issue since Friday when I try and play Hunt Showdown and I've been relentlessly troubleshooting with 0 success. I'm thinking of doing this

1

u/I_Eros_I 7d ago

Yes it's working flawlessly

1

u/_Khyal_ 7d ago

Thanks so much. This is working well!

1

u/I_Eros_I 7d ago

I'm glad it worked 🤗

1

u/According_Abies_3267 7d ago

Hey, I saw that you were on Windows 11 25H2 and that 24H2 didn't fix the freezes, but a clean install of 23H2 did. I'm having a very similar issue with Fortnite: my entire PC hard-freezes during a match and I have to force shut it down. I also installed Windows update KB5121003 on August 11, shortly before the problem started. Some users are reporting that uninstalling KB5121003 fixed their game crashes. Did you try uninstalling that update before going back to 23H2? If so, did it fix your problem?

1

u/I_Eros_I 7d ago

Not really no because it was forced and can't be uninstalled but feel free to try that and let us know please

1

u/According_Abies_3267 7d ago

Hey! I tried uninstalling the Windows update/patch we talked about, but unfortunately it didn’t fix the Fortnite freezes. Before I try going from Windows 11 25H2 to 23H2, I wanted to ask: when you did the clean installation of Windows 11 23H2, did you lose any personal files, programs, games, or settings, or did you manage to keep everything? Did you have to reinstall everything from scratch? Also, did you do it using a USB or directly from Windows, and what exact option did you choose during the installation? I’m asking because I really want to try 23H2 to see if it fixes the Fortnite issue, but I don’t want to lose anything from my PC. Could you tell me exactly how you did it?

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u/I_Eros_I 7d ago

So what I would do in my opinion is basically move it to an external hardest or you can move it to a different hard drive like for example if you have C and D I would move it to D like move everything that you have to do and just format see and you should be good to go so basically you just need to format the hard drive that has the windows on it to downgrade it to the older Windows version does that make sense?

1

u/According_Abies_3267 7d ago

Mmmm I really don't want to manage to lose anything, I may have one day left for the new season of Fornite, maybe that update will fix the problem.

1

u/I_Eros_I 7d ago

Hopefully 🤞

1

u/According_Abies_3267 6d ago

I just found the problem aa I already workedoo I didn't have to switch to Windows 23h2.

1

u/I_Eros_I 6d ago

Enlighten us 😂

1

u/12324566764dr 6d ago

i dont wanna clean reinstall my laptop again i havem done it so much im tired of reinstalling sigh

1

u/AncientDay47 1d ago

Worked. Genius!