InsydeFlash random popup on HP Pavillion (don't know model)

[jerusalemhpuser]

**bleep**. I hit the "Okay" button, and for about 15 minutes, it's chugging away, you can hear the computer working away, with the little "wait" icon. After 15 minutes, my screen goes black, but you can still hear the same sound chugging away. Now, 20 minutes after that, 35 minutes in all, it's still chugging away. I pressed the button to turn off the computer. Nothing. But then 2 minutes after that, blue screen of death. Windows has been shut down. DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE. Crash dump. Dumping physical memory. Etc. Try to turn computer off. Nothing. So now I'm left with a blue screen. Lovely. Thanks, HP! Thanks, Insyde!

[jerusalemhpuser]

Well, I pulled out the plug and removed the battery, so the computer turned off. When I restarted it, I got Windows as usual, but I'm nervous as hell that my computer is now no longer stable. And who knows whether the popup will appear again in a few days?

I phoned up Israel HP and the tech support guy was nasty. He kept on saying essentially that it's a virus. It was a struggle to get him to listen to me. I showed him this thread and that an HP rep had said that it's not a virus but something that was installed with the computer, and asked him to look into it, so we'll see what he finds.

All in all, a pretty nasty experience. The chances that my next laptop will be an HP have plummetted.

[Nadesri]

@jerusalemhpuser: Sorry to hear about your system. I wonder if others who own non-HP computers are getting similar pop-ups.

The fact that hpuser_ne indicated a smooth upgrade makes me suspect that the upgrade may not be compatible for all HP models, but this is admittedly pure speculation. For the time being, I will just hit cancel whenever it pops up again -- and so far since my last post, it hasn't..

Again, sorry to hear about your situation; I am, however, very grateful to see a follow-up on this issue. I just hope it eventually comes to HP's attention (if not already).

[Nadesri]

I forgot to add - I ran a full system check for viruses using AVG Free after the first occurrence and received no reports of any malware. If it truly is a virus as the Jerusalem HP tech speculated, it seems that AVG Technologies has not released any updates to address it. Hope that helps.

[jerusalemhpuser]

Well, the guy from HP called me back a few hours later, withe the following news flash:

1. It was a BIOS installer.

2. I don't need to hit "Okay" every time something tries to install on my computer.

3. My computer's working okay now, so it must have installed correctly. And anyway, there's nothing he can do.

Wow! How enlightening! I'm so glad I reported the whole incident to HP. What fantastic expert service!

[Steph6m]

Hi all,

i have a Pavilion dv7 laptop and about 1 1/2 weeks ago got this pop up, i hit ok, and i got the dreaded blue screen of death as you did.  pulled plug and battery to get it to shut off.  i turned on the computer in safemode, which i wouldn't know what to do with anyway.  so, then i did a normal reboot. things had worked fine since then.

tonight, i've got the same pop up again.  i don't have time for all this messing around so i think i'll check back in a week with any further updates from all of you.  i'm just greatful for a site like this for sharing information.

[rolexer]

Hey guys,

    I have a HP Pavilion dv6 laptop and I got the insydeflash BIOS update today. So I was wondering if I should update the BIOS since many of are getting blue screens of death. 

                 Thanks

[ziddia]

It doesn't seem as though it's a good idea to update unless you know for sure it's compatible with your system.

[jerusalemhpuser]

Well, it's a week later, and guess what? Yep, got the insydeflash popup again. Hit 'cancel' this time. Within seconds, pops up a second time. Hit 'cancel' again.

BTW, for the record, my laptop is HP Pavilion dv6.

[MarieDV6]

I got the InsydeFlash popup this afternoon, wasn't sure what it was so googled it and found the comments on this forum.  I didn't get as far as the blue screen of death comments before I decided it was OK to go ahead with update otherwise I might have chickened out!

I hit OK, the disc started whirring alarmingly and there were some horrible noises coming from the speakers at which point I crossed my fingers, held my breath and prayed that I hadn't unwittingly destroyed my laptop!  The screen went black while the whirring continued and then a few seconds later it rebooted.  Everything seems fine so far so I am hoping the bios has updated OK.

Assuming this is a genuine manufacturer update then perhaps a more informative message and some sort of certificate of authenticity from HP might be helpful.

I can work out most basic problems that crop up but this thing scared me!