RGB Lighting Identified as Cause of Windows 11 Crashes

Microsoft has identified RGB lighting as the culprit behind recent Windows 11 and game crashes. The tech giant investigated reports of games becoming unresponsive and crashing on the operating system, particularly after the August 11 KB5121003 update. PCs running Windows 11 version 25H2 or newer are affected by this issue.

The problem is caused by driver or code components that use file names similar to 'inpoutx64'. The exact reason why inpoutx64 causes these headaches for Windows 11 and affected games is not specified in Microsoft's knowledge article on Microsoft Learn. However, it's likely that the anti-cheat technology in these games doesn't play nicely with RGB software when it behaves abnormally.

Microsoft recommends disabling inpoutx64 within the operating system's registry and/or service list as a temporary fix. Disabling this file could stop RGB effects from working properly, however. Both Microsoft and game developers have promised fixes for this issue.