Photo Credit: Gemini Nano Banana
The Shift from Black Screens to Frozen Cursors
After resolving a black-screen conflict between Microsoft and Lenovo updates, a new, distinct issue emerged. While rapidly switching between tabs and Copilot in Microsoft Edge, the cursor suddenly froze. Unlike the previous total system lockups, the display remained active and the browser appeared to continue rendering content in the background.
Symptom Analysis: The GPU Timeout
This behavior points toward a GPU driver timeout (TDR hang) or a stall in the graphics power-management layer. Because Windows relies on the GPU to render the cursor, the pointer is often the first casualty when the graphics stack stalls, even if the rest of the system hasn't fully crashed. This specific failure likely resulted from the friction between Edge’s GPU-accelerated rendering and Lenovo’s background power-management services. A forced restart was required to recover, prompting a deeper dive into the mechanics of this partial freeze.
If you prefer the short version, you can read only the Key Takeaways and jump right to the Final Analysis below. Otherwise, the full article walks through the diagnostic process step by step and explains the technical details behind the cursor‑unresponsive freeze.
Key Takeaways
- Evolving Failure Modes: After resolving a driver mismatch between Microsoft and Lenovo, the system transitioned from black-screen crashes to partial freezes (unresponsive cursor with an active display).
- The TDR Hang: The frozen pointer indicates a GPU driver timeout (TDR stall). Because Windows utilizes the GPU to render the cursor, the pointer freezes first when the graphics stack or power-management layer stalls.
- Trigger Conditions: The stall occurred during rapid tab-switching in Edge, a task that heavily stresses GPU acceleration and power-state transitions.
- Hidden Lenovo Services: Despite an attempted removal, Lenovo Vantage and its background services remained active. Task Manager confirmed multiple backend processes were still managing thermal, power, and ACPI states.
- Driver Conflict: Recent January 2026 updates to Lenovo’s ACPI and GPU components likely created friction with Windows power settings, leading to the kernel-level stalls identified in Reliability Monitor.
- Persistence of Bloatware: Uninstalling Vantage does not remove all low-level drivers (Power Manager, ITS, Active Protection), which continue to exert control over system stability and GPU workloads.
- Final Diagnosis: The freeze was a GPU/ACPI power-management stall triggered by the conflict between Lenovo’s background monitoring tools and intensive browser-based multitasking.
π§ Step‑by‑Step Summary of the Diagnosing Process
Step 1️⃣ — Identifying the Freeze Pattern
- I reported a system freeze while using Edge.
- Event Viewer showed Kernel‑Power 41 with no meaningful events before it.
- Reliability Monitor confirmed “Windows was not properly shut down.”
- This pattern indicated a deep kernel‑level stall, not a normal crash.
Conclusion: The freeze was caused by a low‑level driver or ACPI/power subsystem hang.
Step 2️⃣— Narrowing Down the Likely Subsystem
- I described switching between Edge tabs (Google, Copilot, Gmail).
- Cursor froze first — a classic sign of a GPU driver stall.
- AMD‑based ThinkPads are known for GPU + ACPI instability.
Conclusion: The freeze was likely triggered by GPU or power‑management drivers.
Step 3️⃣ — Investigating Recent Driver Changes
I showed a list of Lenovo driver updates from January 2026.
These updates often include:
- ACPI/power‑management components
- GPU‑related modules
- Embedded controller interactions
Conclusion: A recent Lenovo‑pushed driver update likely destabilized the system, an issue that was resolved in the previous article.
Step 4️⃣ — Checking Whether Lenovo Vantage Was Still Installed
- I initially believed Lenovo Vantage had already been uninstalled.
- However, I soon discovered that wasn’t the case—both Lenovo Vantage and Lenovo Vantage Service were still listed in the Apps menu.
Conclusion: The Lenovo ecosystem was still active and influencing drivers.
 |
| Open Task Manager → go to the Processes tab → look for any Lenovo‑related processes |
Step 5️⃣ — Inspecting Running Processes
Task Manager revealed:
- Lenovo.Modern.ImController (32 bit)
- Lenovo Power Manager Host (32 bit)
- Lenovo Power Management Service
- Lenovo ITS Service
- Lenovo Active Protection System
These are the core Lenovo backend components that manage:
- ACPI control
- GPU power-state management
- thermal behavior
- driver coordination
When active, this backend can silently push driver updates, override Windows power settings, alter GPU power states, load unstable ACPI modules, interfere with sleep and wake transitions, and even trigger freezes during GPU‑accelerated tasks such as rapid tab switching in Edge. In short, Lenovo’s backend was still fully active—and fully capable of causing the cursor‑unresponsive freeze I experienced.
Conclusion: Lenovo’s backend was fully active and could cause freezes.
Step 6️⃣ — Removing Lenovo Vantage
I uninstalled:
- Lenovo Vantage
- Lenovo Vantage Service
After reboot, Task Manager showed all Vantage components gone.
Conclusion: The Lenovo control stack was successfully removed.
Step 7️⃣ — Identifying Remaining Lenovo System Services
I still saw:
- Lenovo Vantage (2)
- Lenovo Power Manager Host
- Lenovo ITS Service
- Lenovo Active Protection System
These are separate Lenovo system drivers, not part of the Vantage app.
Their roles:
- Power Manager → ACPI + battery + power states
- ITS → thermal control
- Active Protection → HDD shock protection (irrelevant for SSD)
Conclusion: These remaining services can still influence system stability and can be disabled if you want a fully “pure Windows” environment.
π Final Diagnosis
The cursor-unresponsive freeze was caused by a GPU/ACPI power-management stall (likely a TDR hang), specifically triggered during rapid tab switching in Edge—an activity that demands high-frequency power-state transitions and stresses the GPU’s rendering pipelines.
This instability appears to be part of a broader trend; notably, system performance has become increasingly volatile since the Lenovo warranty expired one year ago. The current failure is almost certainly the result of a "perfect storm" involving:
- Lenovo’s January driver updates, which introduced regressions in power and GPU handling.
- Active interference from Lenovo Vantage and its persistent backend services.
- AMD GPU hardware acceleration demands during heavy multitasking.
Following an analysis via Microsoft Copilot, the primary recommendation is the complete removal of Vantage and its associated background services to eliminate these proprietary conflicts and restore system reliability.
