Laptop freezing if "turn off display after n minutes" is selected. OK if set to "Never"

[jwseabrook]

I have upgraded to 8GB memory with a recommended Crucial (Micron) RAM stick which is deemed compatible. The computer works fine apart from in one scenario, for both when plugged in and on battery. When the "turn off display after n minutes" is selected in the power settings - which is the default setting, after the screen display goes off the computer regularly freezes completely. Even the caps lock led fails to switch on or off. The fans are still active. The computer is completely unresponsive and the only solution is to keep the power button depressed until the computer switches off. Restarting enables it to work normally, until the same thing happens again when left unattended. After searching the web for all the different solutions, upgrading drivers, getting windows up-to-date, it still happens.

If I disable this function by setting "turn off display" to "Never" and engage the screen saver, this works fine and it never crashes. However the problem is it will never sleep. This means it is using full power all the time with a screensaver.

Please could you suggest a solution - I have been trying to solve this for a long time and am getting nowhere. The HP support diagnostics shows no problems.

Thanks.

[Garp_senchau]

@jwseabrook, Welcome to HP Support Community,

Thank you for posting your query; I’m here to help by guiding you through steps to resolve this issue

Remove devices and perform a hard reset

To determine whether you need to contact HP or troubleshoot startup issues, perform a hard reset.

Turn off the computer.

Disconnect the AC adapter.

Remove memory cards from the card reader slot.

Disconnect all nonessential devices such as printers, scanners, external hard drives, and USB flash drives.

With the AC adapter unplugged, press and hold the power button for approximately 20 seconds.

Reconnect the AC adapter, and then turn on the computer.

Also, I suggest you refer to this guide for further troubleshooting: HP PCs - Computer does not turn on, start, or boot | HP® Support

I hope this helps.

Please feel free to reply here if you have any questions or if you need further clarification on any of the steps. 

Take care and have a good day. 

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