Windows 10 upgrade 1903 causes freezing HP Performance Advisor.

[musician54]

Yesterday I did the 1903 update of Windows 10. Before the upgrade HP Performance Advisor worked perfectly. Never a problem. After the update the pc freezes when I start that program. It stops with the words in the screen: Interrogating platform...Baseboard...
I have to push the on/of button of the PC for 5 seconds and then I can restart the computer. Very frustrating. I searched on the internet to find a solution. The advice to install an older Intel Management and security tool didn't give the solution. I uninstalled and reinstalled the program > same problem. I hope that somebody can give me the right tip. Thanks in advance.

[BobGa]

I have a similar issue on a Z440. Running HP Performance Advisor causes the workstation to reboot after starting to run. Tried 3 times so far. 

[28wagram]

Exact same issue (HP Performance Advisor freezes the whole workstation while at launch when "interrogating the platform", on an HP Z420 on Microsoft Windows 10 Pro (64 bits) but on version 1809, since last week's patch day. Can be reproduced every time.

1) Applied additional optional remedial updates (KB4512534 directly from Windows Update Catalog) fixing issues with applications using VBA (both 1809 and 1903 users were reporting multiple bugs ) - Fixed issues with other applications, but not with HP Advisor.

2) Now suspecting that the recent monthly Windows Updates focused on the .NET framework (for both 1809 and 1903) may be to blame.

Have you found any solutions on your side? Thank you in advance for letting me know.

[BobGa]

Not yet. I was told by my vendor to remove HP PA, then re-install it. 

Didn't work, though, as I still have the same issue. 

Haven't had time to further investigate. 

[28wagram]

Dear Bob - Thank you for taking the time of replying to my update request; I sincerely appreciate it. As I could not find a solution from any other posts online, after much digging around the most recent .NET updates, I have seemingly found a remedy. For the last 48 hours or so, it has put an end to HP Performance Advisor's (v.2.1.4130.0) 'terminal freeze at app launch' ("Interrogating platform..."), on both of my HP workstations (Z600 - 3.61A and Z420 - 3.95A, both on Windows 10 Pro for Workstations - 1809 - Build 17763.720).

The core problem detected: HP Performance Advisor's current version is not compatible with the latest generation of the .NET framework (4.8) deployed in Windows 10. On Windows 10 1809, .NET 4.8 was not installed by default, as I believe it is on 1903; this explains why most 'freeze' reports have so far emanated from 1903 workstations. 1809 PCs automatically received and installed .NET 4.8 via Windows Update KB4486153 during August 2019; the first 'freezes' occurred the same day as the KB installation, at least in my case.

The solution so far: To remove .NET 4.8 (e.g., by uninstalling Windows Update KB4486153 on 1809 builds; alternatively, by turning off, rebooting, then turning on ".NET Framework 4.7 Advanced Services" in Windows Features on builds 1809/1903) BUT ONLY AFTER preventing the automatic re-installation of .NET 4.8 by following the registry-edit instructions from this recent article by Microsoft Support (https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4516563/how-to-temporarily-block-the-installation-of-net-fr...).

One final word of caution: On my HPZ600, just (i) removing the Windows Update module along with (ii) modifying the registry stopped Advisor's 'terminal freezes,' without having to re-install Advisor itself. However, with the .NET framework working through in-place upgrades (I believe), I subsequently used the alternative method (see above) and re-built the ".NET 4.7 Advanced Services" for safety's sake.

On my Z420, on the other hand, where most of the 'freezes'/crashes had taken place (quite a few of them), a lot more remedial work was necessary. It included a full re-install of HP Performance Advisor (beware of installed Start Menu shortcuts' occasionally weird behaviors), a system files check and repair for corruption (e.g., "DISM /online /clean-image /restorehealth", then "SFC /scannow" in CMD as Administrator), and a check and repair scan for all disks and RAID arrays (e.g., "chkdsk" with appropriate arguments for your systems).

Before the "Advisor terminal freezes," my workstations had never, ever crashed, or been corrupted, and they had maintained their performance through repeated operating systems, software and hardware upgrades/updates, and security patches. These 'freezes,' when repeated, seriously endanger tools one depends on daily.

I sincerely hope this solution works for you also. And that it keeps working for me!

[HHH003]

Unfortunately, it does seem .Net 4.8 and PA don’t get along on build 1903 and now 1809 after the .Net update. I’ve read several posts online indicating that many programs using .Net need to rewritten to work with .Net 4.8. 
HP does know about this problem, but since there hasn’t been a lot of complaints concerning PA crashes and mine became an isolated incident and no fix was offered.
My case was closed and that’s was that.  More users need to complain to HP, because if it’s apparent there is a problem, it will get addressed. Otherwise, get accustomed to not using the PA software as it will crash your computer. 

[musician54 · Accepted solution]

In the meantime there is a update of the program. As far as I can see all things are working fine now!