Victus by HP Gaming Laptop 15-fb2xxx (Edited)

[federott]

To summarize: my laptop has been randomly resetting ever since I decided to update the drivers to try and fix an issue where I couldn't change my screen brightness. Guess I ended up f*cking it up even further by simply UPDATING DRIVERS. At least I figured out what was messing up the brightness lol (it was an AMD driver update).

I've tried everything, man. Clean Windows reset (you know, the option Windows provides to reinstall and keep your files except for apps), installing latest HP software, uninstalling some of them, etc. I've tried running commands like sfc /scannow, running the HP hardware check, UEFI BIOS hardware check, etc. Nothing seems to work. This started after I updated all the drivers and the BIOS. My BIOS was version F.04 I think, it updated to F.06. Even rolling it back to the previous version doesn't seem to work.
At least, I've managed to see what it is in Windows Event Viewer. Kernel-Power Event ID 41 Task 63. I'm starting to worry it could be a hardware problem, but that wouldn't make any sense. My laptop's not even a year old.

Unfortunately, none of the steps provided solved the issue. I tried to set the power plan to balanced or high perfomance, I checked for updates and updated all the drivers through the HP app (HP Support, something like that), ran the more complete option to check for malware in Windows Defender, and none of these were of any help. The antivirus didn't point any threats, and though the HP app had some drivers to update/install (figures, since I had reset Windows), it wasn't of any help either. Not sure if it's worth mentioning, but it failed to update/install AMD's driver. I tried to install it manually through HP's website, and while the installer opens up and runs, it doesn't seem to have made anything after it closes, HP's app also continues to show AMD's driver as a pending update.
Well, as for the system checks, I ran the extensive tests in the BIOS. Again, no flaw pointed out. I've tried monitoring for more clues as to what it could be. I tried to see any patterns through event viewer, but couldn't make out any clear ones. The restarts usually happen within a 20 to 40 minutes time span from each other, sometimes longer, sometimes shorter.

System temps seem fine to me, although a bit hotter than ideal. It's expected since it's a laptop, right? More heat sources near each other in a tight space and such... Anyway, CPU and MOBO temps vary from 55 to 65 degrees Celsius under regular use (browsing the web, playing music, etc.), sometimes momentarily peaking at 75 and such. SSD and RAM is usually in the 30's, GPU's usually in the 40's to 50's. The laptop is always on a flat hard surface, I've got a wooden board just for that. I don't think it could be temps, cause I can't even remember when or even if it shut down while I was running some more intensive tasks such as gaming. These reading are all according to HWMonitor, but HP's app and OMEN Gaming Hub give me roughly the same numbers.

Finally, I guess this is more important: the restarts seem to happen more often when the laptop is idle. Say I went to get something, when I come back to it, it's back at the logon screen, indicating it's restarted. There were a couple of times it restarted while I was in the middle of something, but it appears to be less frequent.

Right now, I'm testing to see if it has something to do with the RAM sticks. I still haven't tested long enough to be certain, but I gathered this: the restarts aren't happening as often when I use only one of the RAM sticks (so far, I haven't seen it happen, but I need a couple of days to be sure). It can be either one, stock or the Kingston one I bought. That'd probably make you think it's a RAM compatibility issue, but honestly that makes no sense to me. Before it started doing this (when I hadn't updated the drivers and BIOS), it ran fine, no problems. That was from around june last year, to a month or so ago, so why would RAM be a problem now??? Did they suddenly turn incompatible with the updates? That makes no sense to me, but again, I don't have enough knowledge to be certain.

[Max3Aj]

Hello @federott and welcome to the HP Support Community!

Thanks for posting your question. I'm here to help you get things back on track.

Thank you for the detailed breakdown, you're clearly putting in a lot of effort to troubleshoot this, and I understand how frustrating random restarts can be, especially on a relatively new laptop. Let's walk through a structured approach to resolve this.

BIOS Rollback or Reflash

Even though you rolled back to F.04, the issue persisted. Try reflashing the same BIOS version (F.06 or F.04) using HP's official tool:

• HP BIOS Update Utility for Victus 15-fb2082wm
• Use the UEFI USB method for a clean flash:
  • Format USB as FAT32.
  • Use HP BIOS Update tool to create recovery media.
  • Boot into BIOS (F10) and flash from USB.

Fix AMD Driver & Brightness Issue

This is a known issue with newer AMD drivers on Victus laptops. Here's how to fix it:

Steps:

Uninstall AMD driver completely:

• Open Device Manager → Display Adapters → Right-click AMD → Uninstall device.
• Check "Delete the driver software for this device".
• Restart.

Install stable AMD driver manually:

• Use AMD’s Auto-Detect Tool or manually download version 31.0.14051.1000 (known to work).
• Avoid HP Support Assistant for this step.

Fix brightness control:

• Open Registry Editor (Win + R → regedit)
• Navigate to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System
• Create a new DWORD: EnableBrightnessControl and set value to 1.
• Restart.

RAM Compatibility Check

Your observation is spot-on. BIOS updates can alter memory timing or voltage profiles, causing previously stable RAM setups to become unstable.

Recommendations:

• Use matched RAM sticks (same brand, speed, and timings).
• Victus 15-fb2082wm supports DDR5-5600 MHz, up to 2x32GB.
• Refer to Crucial’s compatibility guide: Crucial RAM for Victus 15-fb2000 Series.

If stability improves with one stick, test each individually for 24–48 hours. If both are stable alone but unstable together, it's likely a timing mismatch or BIOS-level memory bug.

Power Settings & Sleep Behavior

Since restarts happen mostly during idle:

• Go to Control Panel → Power Options → Change Plan Settings → Advanced.
• Set:
  • Sleep → Hibernate after → Never.
  • PCI Express → Link State Power Management → Off.
  • Processor Power Management → Minimum processor state → 100%.

Also, disable Fast Startup:

• Control Panel → Power Options → Choose what the power buttons do → Change settings → Uncheck Fast Startup.

Optional: Clean Windows Install via USB

If all else fails, consider a clean install using Windows 11 ISO from Microsoft, not the built-in reset. This ensures no residual driver conflicts.

Final Notes

• Keep BIOS and AMD driver versions stable once the system is working.
• Avoid HP Support Assistant for GPU drivers, use AMD directly.
• Monitor with HWInfo or OMEN Gaming Hub for thermal spikes.

I hope the information shared has been useful and resolves your concern.

Wishing you a smooth and hassle-free experience ahead!

If this solution helped, please click “Accepted Solution” so others can benefit too. Don’t forget to hit the “Yes” button if you found this helpful!

Warm regards,

Max3Aj

HP Support

[eric345345]

Man, I know how frustrating that is. Event 41 just means “Windows didn’t shut down right,” so it doesn’t really tell you the cause. Since you noticed it’s more stable with only one RAM stick, I’d definitely test that further—sometimes a BIOS update changes how RAM is handled, even if it worked fine before. Running MemTest86 overnight could help confirm if it’s memory-related. I’d also try doing a clean uninstall of the AMD drivers with DDU and then reinstalling either HP’s version or the latest from AMD’s site, since half-baked installs can cause weird idle crashes. Also worth turning off “fast startup” in Windows and tweaking power settings to see if that stops the idle restarts. If none of that works, I’d lean on warranty support since the laptop’s under a year old.