HP Envy x360 Radom Restart and Freeze - Final Update

[Thom_N]

Hp Envy x360 Purchased Late 2023. Used very little until November 2024.

The laptop freezes or reboots unexpectedly.

Scroll to the bottom to see how this ends.

I have run every diagnostic suggested. I am getting nothing flagged.

I do not think I have had it freeze or reboot when I was running on battery and not plugged in.

I have probably used it in battery only mode < 6 times. So there has not been enough opportunity to free then either.

Most times it will freeze within a minute of starting up. One time it froze during the initial boot.

If I get past initial boot up. It will most likely freeze or reboot withing an hour.

It seems like once I have been using it for more than an hour I will not get a restart.

At first I thought it might be because I was using an external monitor so I stop using that and still have the same problem.

It is not EVERY time I use the laptop but it is the majority of the times.

All drivers are up to date. Bios up to date and all of the other suggestion that are given by help desk types who seem to only want to give a litany of things to do.

Hardware test says the adapter is good and the battery is good.

Usually only running Word Or PowerPoint. Files are very small.

There is no way I am stressing the system.

UPDATE:

This morning...the laptop and been on all night and had entered sleep mode. It was plugged in.

When I touched the mouse pad to wake it, it woke up and immediately restarted. Same problem...new look.

Another Update: Jan 25 - I have been working on this laptop over the last 2 day on battery only.

Brought it out of sleep mode this afternoon to continue work. about 10 mins in as I was bringing up a browser tab to see a youtube video. It froze again. Probably my own fault because I had just thought to myself that I had no problems in battery only mode so it must have something to do with being plugged it. I jinxed it.

Anyway, when it froze I heard a "click" from the speaker. Nothing dramatic but that was new.

Event log has some entries that look relevant:

Error - Event 6008 - The previous system shutdown at 2:10:57 PM on ‎1/‎25/‎2025 was unexpected.

Critical - Event 41 - Kernel-Power - The system has rebooted without cleanly shutting down first. This error could be caused if the system stopped responding, crashed, or lost power unexpectedly.

Warning - Event 10016 -A bunch of these.

I hate to throw away the money I paid for this laptop to move onto something else, but it should work out of the box.

I will not get an HP next time. I see plenty of others with HPs that freeze and reboot.

I may take it to Starbucks and leave it unattended in hopes it will get stolen. It would serve the thieves right.

Final Update:

I appreciate the efforts that HP Support made but...

The first  2 tries  were all about updating drivers and such. Always a good idea but it did not fix the problem even though I was assured by the tech that it would. I appreciated their optimism.

I was then able to get elevated to another level of support.

Using 3 different techs we ended up resetting the machine to factory out of the box. 

New bios install. New windows install.

The problem with that is. .. They were right. The laptop is just like it was out of the box.

The pc reboots and freezes on it own.

I called back to revisit the problem. My case was raised to a new level of support. HP smart support I believe it is called.

This is a level of support that I have to pay for. 

I am unwilling to pay for technical support for a product that has never worked correctly.

The tech person assured me that this support would be able to solve my problem but I have heard this at every step.

He asked how I intended to solve the problem if I don't engage this support group.

My answer was, "by scrapping this laptop and buying a Dell."

I fully believe that the technicians I engaged with did their best and they were a pleasure to work with.

But in the end...I think I got a bad laptop. It happens. 

Under no circumstances would I recommend an HP Envy360 based on my experience with this one.

HP support, I sincerely thank you for your help. This is not on you.

HP (corp)- I do not have the only HP Envy with this problem. This is on you.

[A_Gayathri]

Hi @Thom_N ,

Welcome to The HP Support Community.  

Thank you for posting your query, I will be glad to help you.

I understand you're dealing with a challenging and intermittent issue. Since you've already tried the basics and run diagnostics without results, let's dig deeper into potential causes and solutions:

Possible Causes:

Power-related Issues:

• The issue seems to occur primarily when the laptop is plugged in. This suggests a potential problem with power management or the adapter.

Thermal Issues:

• Freezing during startup or early usage may indicate a heat-related problem, though less likely since you mentioned light usage.

Driver/Software Conflicts:

• Even with updates, conflicts between drivers or third-party software could cause instability.

Hardware Faults:

• Faulty RAM, SSD, or motherboard components could cause these symptoms.

BIOS or Firmware:

• Despite updating the BIOS, a corruption or misconfiguration might still be present.

Steps to Resolve:

1. Power Management Tweaks:

• Go to Device Manager > Battery and disable the "Microsoft ACPI-Compliant Control Method Battery" driver temporarily. Restart your computer and check if the issue persists.
• Try a different AC adapter if possible to rule out power delivery issues.

2. Advanced Diagnostics:

• Memory Test: Run a comprehensive memory test using MemTest86 (downloadable as a bootable ISO). Let it run multiple passes.
• SSD Test: Use HP hardware diagnostics to test the storage drive. Alternatively, use a third-party SSD health tool.

3. Clean Boot:

• Perform a clean boot to eliminate third-party software conflicts:
  1. Press Win + R, type msconfig, and hit Enter.
  2. Under the Services tab, check "Hide all Microsoft services," then click "Disable all."
  3. Under the Startup tab, open Task Manager and disable all startup items.
  4. Restart and test for stability.

4. Check Event Viewer:

• Open Event Viewer (Win + R, type eventvwr.msc).
• Look for critical errors in the System log around the time of the freezes or reboots. Common error codes to watch for:
  • Kernel-Power 41: Indicates power issues or unexpected shutdowns.
  • Driver-related errors (e.g., nvlddmkm for Nvidia).

5. BIOS Settings:

• Reset the BIOS to default settings. Sometimes custom power configurations can cause instability:
  • Restart your laptop and press the BIOS key (usually F10 or Esc).
  • Navigate to "Restore Defaults" or similar.

6. Reinstall Windows:

• A clean installation of Windows 11 may resolve software conflicts:
  • Back up your files and create a bootable USB using the Microsoft Media Creation Tool.
  • Install Windows and test the system before installing additional software.

7. Thermal Paste and Dust:

• If you feel comfortable, inspect the internals for dust buildup or improperly applied thermal paste. This is less likely to be the cause but worth checking.

I hope this helps. 

Take care and have a good day.

Please click “Accepted Solution” if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution. Click the “Kudos/Thumbs Up" on the bottom right to say “Thanks” for helping!

[A_Gayathri]

Hi @Thom_N ,

Welcome to The HP Support Community.  

Thank you for posting your query, I will be glad to help you.

I understand you're dealing with a challenging and intermittent issue. Since you've already tried the basics and run diagnostics without results, let's dig deeper into potential causes and solutions:

Possible Causes:

Power-related Issues:

• The issue seems to occur primarily when the laptop is plugged in. This suggests a potential problem with power management or the adapter.

Thermal Issues:

• Freezing during startup or early usage may indicate a heat-related problem, though less likely since you mentioned light usage.

Driver/Software Conflicts:

• Even with updates, conflicts between drivers or third-party software could cause instability.

Hardware Faults:

• Faulty RAM, SSD, or motherboard components could cause these symptoms.

BIOS or Firmware:

• Despite updating the BIOS, a corruption or misconfiguration might still be present.

Steps to Resolve:

1. Power Management Tweaks:

• Go to Device Manager > Battery and disable the "Microsoft ACPI-Compliant Control Method Battery" driver temporarily. Restart your computer and check if the issue persists.
• Try a different AC adapter if possible to rule out power delivery issues.

2. Advanced Diagnostics:

• Memory Test: Run a comprehensive memory test using MemTest86 (downloadable as a bootable ISO). Let it run multiple passes.
• SSD Test: Use HP hardware diagnostics to test the storage drive. Alternatively, use a third-party SSD health tool.

3. Clean Boot:

• Perform a clean boot to eliminate third-party software conflicts:
  1. Press Win + R, type msconfig, and hit Enter.
  2. Under the Services tab, check "Hide all Microsoft services," then click "Disable all."
  3. Under the Startup tab, open Task Manager and disable all startup items.
  4. Restart and test for stability.

4. Check Event Viewer:

• Open Event Viewer (Win + R, type eventvwr.msc).
• Look for critical errors in the System log around the time of the freezes or reboots. Common error codes to watch for:
  • Kernel-Power 41: Indicates power issues or unexpected shutdowns.
  • Driver-related errors (e.g., nvlddmkm for Nvidia).

5. BIOS Settings:

• Reset the BIOS to default settings. Sometimes custom power configurations can cause instability:
  • Restart your laptop and press the BIOS key (usually F10 or Esc).
  • Navigate to "Restore Defaults" or similar.

6. Reinstall Windows:

• A clean installation of Windows 11 may resolve software conflicts:
  • Back up your files and create a bootable USB using the Microsoft Media Creation Tool.
  • Install Windows and test the system before installing additional software.

7. Thermal Paste and Dust:

• If you feel comfortable, inspect the internals for dust buildup or improperly applied thermal paste. This is less likely to be the cause but worth checking.

I hope this helps. 

Take care and have a good day.

Please click “Accepted Solution” if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution. Click the “Kudos/Thumbs Up" on the bottom right to say “Thanks” for helping!

[Thom_N]

Gaya1239, Thank you for the reply to this problem.

That is a lot of stuff to work through.

It will take me while to work through these.

But I start one at a time and see if there is a solution in here.

This may take a while. I have real work to do and will find these solutions along the way.

Let's hope #1 works.

Thank you.

[Thom_N]

Update: The MemTest86 passed 100%

HP Diagnostic on the SSD passed.

I have disabled the Microsoft ACPI-Compliant Control Method Battery.

Let's see what that does.

I do not like not having the power indicator in the tray though.

All drivers are up to date.

Gaya1239 - Your #4 says to look at the system log. I already mentioned that in my original post.

I do see an error event and a critical event.

Error - Event 6008 - The previous system shutdown at 2:10:57 PM on ‎1/‎25/‎2025 was unexpected.

Critical - Event 41 - Kernel-Power 

Thank you for your time on this.

[Thom_N]

Update: The MemTest86 passed 100%

HP Diagnostic on the SSD passed.

I have disabled the Microsoft ACPI-Compliant Control Method Battery.

Laptop restarted after about 5 mins of use after being in Sleep mode for about 2 hours.

All drivers are up to date.

Gaya1239 - Your #4 says to look at the system log. I already mentioned that in my original post.

I do see an error event and a critical event.

Error - Event 6008 - The previous system shutdown at 2:10:57 PM on ‎1/‎25/‎2025 was unexpected.

Critical - Event 41 - Kernel-Power 

Thank you for your time on this.

#3 says to perform a "clean boot". What is that? What does that do?

It seems to me that I am getting into the weeks where this computer should just work out of the box.

Jan 31 - I have had 2 restarts this morning. 

Disabling the Microsoft ACPI-Compliant Control Method Battery doesn't appear to be a solution.

I have another power supply. I am going to try that next.
Feb 1 Update - Using the other power supply did not seem to help,.

[A_Gayathri]

Hi @Thom_N,

Thank you for your response, I appreciate your efforts. As the issue persists, I am sorry to hear that I'm sending out a private message to assist you with the next course of action. 

Please check your Private -icon on the upper right corner of your HP Community profile Next, to your profile Name, you should see a little blue envelope, please click on it or simply click on this link.

I hope this helps! Keep me posted for further assistance.

Please click “Accept as Solution” if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution. Click the “Kudos, Thumbs Up" on the bottom right to say “Thanks” for helping!