A technician recently installed a memory upgrade for a laptop. Since then, the laptop has been experiencing random blue screen errors and unexpected shutdowns. Which of the following is MOST likely…

A memory module with integrity issues - such as bad cells, physical damage, or poor contact - causes the CPU to encounter read or write errors at unpredictable memory addresses, which triggers kernel panics (BSODs) and sudden shutdowns in a random, non-reproducible pattern characteristic of faulty RAM.

Incompatible memory type would typically prevent the system from completing POST or booting at all, rather than allowing the OS to load and then crash randomly.

Dual channel operation is detected and configured automatically by modern BIOS firmware and its absence degrades performance but does not cause BSODs or shutdowns.

IRQ conflicts are managed automatically by modern BIOS and UEFI firmware and do not apply to memory modules, which do not use IRQs.