I work for a state government agency and have been working from home for 5 years. I use a wifi dongle since they won’t buy computers with built-in wifi cards. We just got new computers that still don’t have wifi cards, and within a month of using them, I started getting blue screens. We discovered that whenever the dongle is plugged in, it causes the computer to crash. The company reimaged the computer, but after about a month, the same issue happened again. I’ve tried using Xfinity and T-Mobile internet, but no matter which one I use, it crashes. The crash happens even when booting, and it occurs even if the router is off. My wireless headset and keyboard started acting up too. The tech support team keeps telling me it’s my internet and that I need to upgrade it, but I’ve been using the same internet setup for 5 years with no problems. They replaced the dongle, but the problem continues. They refuse to replace the computer and keep blaming me for not changing my internet. What do you all think about this? Am I being gaslighted?
You’ll need to get the crash logs to help figure out what’s going wrong. These are called dump files. If you can get into Windows normally or through Safe Mode, go to C:\Windows\Minidump and see if you have any dump files. If you do, zip them up and upload them to a file sharing site. You can use something like catbox.moe or mediafire.com. It’s better if you can upload multiple dump files for analysis. If you don’t have many dump files, follow this guide to change the dump file setting to ‘Small Memory Dump’ so that new ones are generated. The ‘Overwrite dump file’ setting will be grayed out when you do this. Let me know if you need more help with this.
Have you tried taking the computer to the office to test it there? If the problem continues at the office, it would prove it’s not the internet. If the issue stops at the office, then it could be something specific to your home setup.
@Caius
I’m going in on Friday to test it there. I really can’t imagine that both Xfinity and T-Mobile could be causing the issue. Plus, I’ve been using this setup for 5 years with no problems, and the only new thing now is the computer.
@LisaMoore
You could also call your ISP to check coverage in your area. Try unplugging the internet power cord and plugging it back in to reset it.
Sadie said:
@LisaMoore
You could also call your ISP to check coverage in your area. Try unplugging the internet power cord and plugging it back in to reset it.
I’ve already tried that. I’ve run several speed tests, and the coverage is fine. I’ve had no issues with speed on either Xfinity or T-Mobile. My speed tests are showing 300-400 mbps download, 40-100 upload, and latency that’s usually fine. I’ve had occasional days where the coverage was bad, but never any blue screen issues, just high latency. I’ve even unplugged the router, turned off the PC, unplugged it, and kept the router off, but it still crashes during start-up unless I unplug the dongle. They did check the driver, and it’s the latest version for the dongle.
Is your computer running Windows 11? If it is, there might be an issue with the temperature of the CPU or GPU, or even a faulty RAM stick. Try resetting the PC through the taskbar or doing a clean install using a USB or CD. It could also be a power supply issue if the voltage is too low. Check if the BIOS needs an update, and if you get another blue screen, take a photo and share it here.
@Sadie
Yes, I’m using Windows 11.
Check the Event Viewer or Reliability History to see if any specific errors are logged. Also, check the CPU and GPU temperatures to make sure they’re not overheating. You can run a memory diagnostic by typing ‘memory’ in the start menu. Try unplugging any extra external devices and see if the PC still crashes. Also, make sure the RAM is running at the correct speed in Task Manager. Sometimes issues with USB devices are caused by RAM speed. Check the blue screen messages for any clues. Also, try restarting the PC instead of shutting it down completely to see if it helps. Running a DISM and SFC scan might help too. To do this, open Command Prompt as administrator and type ‘sfc /scannow’, then restart. After that, run ‘DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth’ and restart again. Run ‘sfc /scannow’ once more after the reboot.