my laptop was freezing at startup screen..... now the screen is black and caps lock is blinking

[ompapoma]

the laptop was freezing on the startup hp screen with the loading circle and the only way to get past it was to keep restarting by holding the power button or go into the bios mode but now that wont even work and when i tried to fix it i had a usb to upgrade to windows 11 and factory reset it but it just kept freezing on that spot also. i watched so many videos on fixes that dont work until i tried unpluging the batery and draining the energy or something by having it unpluged and holding the power button for about a minute then pluging it all back together. now when it gets turned on its just a black screen and the caps lock is blinking. now i found a fix on youtube with using a usb and bios on it but when i try to download it onto my desktop pc to put in the usb the installer keeps closing so that is where im at right now. any idea how to get out of this predicament? 

[ompapoma]

ok it booted up fine somehow and i was about to conect to the wifi to try and factory reset it and got a blue screen saying critical_process_died 

[zoey7886]

@ompapoma, Welcome to the HP Support Community!  

Thanks for reaching out about your query regarding your laptop facing a blue screen with an error! 

We're thrilled to have the opportunity to assist you and provide a solution.  

Since your laptop initially froze on the HP logo and now you're seeing a black screen with a blinking Caps Lock key, it sounds like a hardware-related issue, possibly with memory or the motherboard. But don’t worry, let’s troubleshoot.

Identify the Blink Code

The blinking Caps Lock key is actually an error code. Count how many times it blinks in a sequence before pausing, as that helps pinpoint the issue. You can check official blink code guide here.

Perform a Hard Reset (Again)

Since unplugging the battery helped earlier, let’s try it one more time:

Unplug the power adapter and remove the battery (if removable).

Press and hold the power button for 30-60 seconds.

Reconnect the battery and power adapter, then try turning it on.

Reseat the RAM (If Possible)

If your laptop has easily accessible RAM slots:

Power off the laptop and remove the back cover (if you're comfortable doing so).

Carefully remove the RAM sticks, clean the gold contacts with a soft cloth, and reinsert them.

Close everything back up and try booting again.

BIOS Recovery (If It’s Still Not Booting)

You mentioned trying a USB BIOS recovery. If the installer keeps closing on your desktop, try:

Running it as an administrator (right-click > Run as Administrator).

Disabling any antivirus temporarily (it might be blocking it).

Using a different USB drive (preferably 16GB or less, formatted as FAT32).

Downloading the BIOS recovery file from HP official website for your exact laptop model.

If It Boots Again (Blue Screen Issue)

If you manage to boot up again but get a CRITICAL_PROCESS_DIED blue screen:

Restart the PC and enter Safe Mode by pressing F8 (or Shift + F8) during boot.

Run CHKDSK and SFC scan to check for corrupted system files.

If needed, try a fresh Windows installation using a bootable USB.

Let me know how it goes or if you see any specific blink codes! We'll figure this out together. 😊  

Take care, and have an amazing day!  

Did we resolve the issue? If yes, Please consider marking this post as "Accepted Solution" and click "Yes" to give us a helpful vote - your feedback keeps us going!  

Regards, 

[zoey7886]

@ompapoma, let me know how it goes!