E545 BSOD all the time, starting to lose hope

[s0nix]

Hello, I recently got an old ThinkPad from a friend to try and boost its performance, as it was extremely slow with even basic tasks like opening Chrome or the Task Manager. When I booted it up for the first time, Windows 10 was installed, but it was very unresponsive—it took 2–3 minutes just to open Chrome or the Task Manager. Task Manager showed that disk usage was at 100% constantly, so I figured the hard drive was likely the issue. I decided to replace the old HDD with an SSD. Since the device only had 4GB of RAM, I also bought another 4GB stick and a new SSD.

After installing the SSD and RAM, I set up Windows on a USB stick, which booted fine. However, after completing the installation, the system crashed with a BSOD, usually showing the error "Critical Process Died," although I've also encountered other BSODs (see pics). I tried reinstalling Windows multiple times, but unfortunately, I kept encountering the same issue. Once, I managed to get it through the setup process and even used it for 5–10 minutes, but then it froze and crashed again.

I've tried a number of troubleshooting steps: swapping the RAM, running the system with only one stick of RAM, and running MemTest (which showed no errors). I even replaced the thermal paste, but the issue persists. Every time it boots into Windows, it crashes. A few times, I've managed to get it running for a few minutes, but it always crashes again. I even flashed the BIOS, but nothing seems to help.

At this point, I'm out of ideas and considering just giving up. Has anyone here encountered a similar problem or have any suggestions on what else I could try? I’d really like to get this laptop working again, as it’s still in decent physical condition.

[axur-delmeria]

Was the SSD you bought new or used? What brand/model is it?

[s0nix]

Was the SSD you bought new or used? What brand/model is it?

Brand new, ADATA SU650

[ZaZ]

Have you tried Linux?

[s0nix]

Have you tried Linux?

Yes, I've tried Linux Mint and Fedora. After clicking 'Start' on the boot menu, it doesn't boot at all in UEFI mode. If I switch to Legacy mode, it shows bunch of text, something about kernel panic according to chatgpt .

[axur-delmeria]

You mean that the Mint and Fedora installers don't even finish booting, and hang with a kernel panic error? That's a very serious issue. Can you take photos or a video of the Linux boot sequence?

[ZaZ]

Can you try a different power adapter? I'd boot it without the WiFi card too. Occasionally, you'll see a broken one of those do strange things. If I were a betting person I'd put my money on faulty motherboard. If possible you way want to inspect it for damage. You can get a motherboard on eBay inexpensively, but I'm not sure how it goes in Lithuania.