DPC_WATCHDOG_VIOLATION: Need to Fix Laptop Before Classes on Monday

[eliasfw]

Hi! My laptop has been exhibiting a few issues:

- The sound doesn't work as if the mute button is held down. The sound icon doesn't ever go away in the top left screen and the yellow light is on in the mute key.

- The screen randomly freezes for a few minutes before shutting down to a blue screen with a "DPC_WATCHDOG_VIOLATION" error.

I have reset the whole computer to it's factory settings (and lost all of my files 😞 ) but these errors are still occuring.

[Riddle_Decipher · Accepted solution]

@eliasfw Here's what you need to know:

Step 1 -- Reasons why the watchdog error occurs In windows, they have introduced a bug-checker called the watchdog. So basically when it detects a deferred procedure call which has been running for too long, it gives an error. You could be browsing through the windows explorer and you might get the blue screen of death out of nowhere due to which the system would restart automatically. The most common reason why this error can occur is because of the SSD hard drive that contains old firmware, which is no longer supported by windows.

Step 2 -- Open Device Manager Once the system restarts, open up the desktop and press the "Win+X" key to open up the advanced context menu. From the drop down menu, open up the Device Manager.

Step 3 -- Update Driver software Next, you simply need to update the hard disk driver and that should resolve the problem. In order to do this, expand the Disk Drives option and then right click on your drive. Now we will update the driver software.

Step 4 -- Browse computer for driver software Once the new window opens up, you can either allow windows to search for the driver online or if you have the updated driver on your computer, you can choose to browse and select for the driver software. For this tutorial, we will select the second option.

Step 5 -- Let me pick the device drivers Next, we will select the "let me pick the device drivers" option below.

Step 6 -- Un-check show compatible hardware If you un-check the "show compatible hardware" option, you will be displayed with all the listed manufacturers.

Step 7 -- Driver software update successful Simply select the update package and move on to the next step. With that done, the device driver would be updated and you would be required to restart the computer for the changes to take effect. And that's basically how you can fix the DPC_Watchdog_Violation

If the issue persists, please ensure you backup your files.

Here is information on how to do this: Backing Up Your Files

Once this is done, it is safe to reinstall the operating system. Performing an HP System Recovery

P.S: Welcome to HP Community 😉

Keep me posted, as I (Or a trusted colleague) shall follow-up on this case to ensure the concern has been addressed, 

And your device is up and running again, only in case you don't get back to us, first! 

That said, If the information I've provided was helpful, give us some reinforcement by clicking the solution and kudos buttons, 

That'll help us, and others see that we've got the answers!

Good Luck.