Automated Maintenance freezes my PC, how do I identify the specific task causing the problem?

[Windy-Bill]

Hi again Fortran77,

I am following your search for a solution closely.  I believe my issue has the same cause.  While I think I understand the general concepts of the issue, the details are well beyond me.  While trying to educate myself on the details, I came across this page: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/windows/it-pro/windows-server-2012-R2-and-2012/f.... 

At the top of the page, it says, "

We're no longer updating this content regularly. Check the Microsoft Product Lifecycle for information about how this product, service, technology, or API is supported."   Is it possible that either the BIOS update or the Windows update are no longer compatible with W32TM?

Wishing  You Success,

Windy-Bill

[Fortran77]

Bill, it is possible that a Windows update and/or the BIOS update created the problem with W32TM, but exactly how and why is still a mystery. Another complication is the last time anyone reported W32TM freezing Windows was almost 7 years ago. See the link https://superuser.com/questions/1061605/w32time-freezes-windows. Again, the solution mentioned therein did not solve my problem. There are two ways you can test your PC to see if you have the same or similar problem that I do. First, same all your work so you do not lose anything. Then run the CMD window as an Administrator. At the command prompt enter the command w32tm.exe /resync. If your PC freezes then you may have the same problem that I do. The second method is to navigate to the Date & Time control panel and click on the Sync button. That may also freeze your PC. I will take a look at the link you sent me and see what I can learn myself. Best regards.

[Windy-Bill]

Fortran77,

I searched "Date & Time"  in the search window, opened it, and under "Synchronize your clock", I clicked "Sync now".  In less than a second my PC froze up. 

It looks like something about W32TM either causes the freeze or triggers something else that causes the freeze.

[Fortran77]

Bill, so now we know that at least two of us on planet Earth have this problem. I am continuing to experiment to see if I can find a solution. Google and Bing searches do not seem to yield anything useful. Let me know if you discover anything else. Keep the faith and best regards.

[Windy-Bill]

Hi Fortran77,

I found a person who has successfully rolled back his PC from f.57 and one other person said it worked for him.

https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Desktop-Boot-and-Lockup/Computer-is-freezing-after-Bios-Update/m-p/861...

His PC is the same model as mine: 690-0067c.

Have you tried this?  If so, was there an issue?

I will see if I feel competent to complete it this afternoon.

[Fortran77]

Bill, please make certain you back up all your data including your email before you attempt the rollback. If you successfully rollback to the previous BIOS version and retest the time synchronization, I definitely will want to know if it works or not. Part of my problem is that the new version of the UEFI utility that HP had me install does not have the rollback feature, whereas the old version did. The HP help center advised me not to attempt the BIOS rollback as the old BIOS version is supposedly less secure than the new one. They seem oblivious to the fact that the new version of the BIOS makes the PC less reliable. I will examine the link you supplied me and decide whether to use it to rollback my own PC. Thanks for your help. Please keep me informed.