@Ken-Tonks add your computer specs to your User Profile>Signature, like mine below.

Looking at your computer specs, your CPU is a little on the slow side for video editing. Something along the lines of a gaming computer will usually work. But you should be able to work and edit ok. It should not be crashing when you do a simple split.

Next, you will have to provide some info. What is the source of your video files? What created them? What is running in the background of your laptop while you are editing? Open Task Manager and take a peek.

Hi and thanks for giving me some hope here. I'm not opposed to buying a new computer if I have to. I love doing this editing and its not fun like this!

I am using simple MP4 music video files. Usually 1080. I get them from a paid music video service for a monthly fee. I mix the videos together to make a 2025 version of a mixed tape but in video. So its really basic stuff. I will run task manager now and report back.

Could you provide a sample of one of the files? MP4 is a container that can have "anything" in it. It can have something that Vegas likes, or something it doesn't.

One way to find out is to use something like Handbrake to convert one of your files to MP4 that Vegas might like.

Handbrake is easy to use. Just drop a video file on it, go to the bottom and choose your destination and give the file a different name. Click on the green arrow at the top and when done (it can do batch processing if necessary), give it a go.

Could you provide a sample of one of the files? MP4 is a container that can have "anything" in it. It can have something that Vegas likes, or something it doesn't.

One way to find out is to use something like Handbrake to convert one of your files to MP4 that Vegas might like.

Handbrake is easy to use. Just drop a video file on it, go to the bottom and choose your destination and give the file a different name. Click on the green arrow at the top and when done (it can do batch processing if necessary), give it a go.

These same files worked fine in Vegas Movie Studio for decades. It can’t be the files. The program freezes sometimes before even adding any files to a new project. Freezes just on opening

When your computer crashes, it's more likely a hardware problem or a driver. Temperature could be a problem or memory. A new computer from Lenovo really shouldn't have such problems, but it's worth taking some time to check some things. I don't know Lenovo or Windows 11, but sometimes a memory diagnostic can be found in the boot sequence. E.g. hit F2 or Del or F8 at boot time, whatever is indicated in Lenovo docs, to interrupt boot to reach diagnostics.

A thing to look at is the "View Reliability History" report, reachable by hitting the Windows key and typing "reliability". For your system crashes, it might have useful information.