HP ProBook 440G8 :System Freezing at Idle Even After BIOS Update, MPO Fix & Fresh Windows 11 install

[Sachin_Khedekar]

Product Details:
- Product Name: HP ProBook 440 G8 Notebook PC
- Processor: 11th Gen Intel Core i7-1165G7 @ 2.80GHz, 4 Cores, 8 Logical Processors
- BIOS Version: HP T88 Ver. 01.24.03 (updated via HP Support Assistant)
- Previous BIOS Version: HP T88 Ver. 01.23.00 (dated 06-11-2025)
- SMBIOS Version: 3.3
- Embedded Controller Version: 84.38
- BIOS Mode: UEFI
- OS: Windows 11 (Fresh licensed copy installed recently)

Problem Summary:
My HP ProBook 440 G8 intermittently freezes when the system is idle for more than a minute. The screen becomes completely unresponsive and requires a hard reboot (long press power button) to recover. Sometimes the system stays idle for 5, 10, or even 15 minutes without freezing — making the issue inconsistent and difficult to reproduce on demand.

Key Observations:
- Freezing happens during idle state with no active user input
- Sometimes system stays idle for 5–15 minutes without freezing
- Freeze requires hard reboot to recover
- No error messages appear before or after freeze
- Event Viewer shows NO error logs during freeze period
- Fresh Windows 11 licensed installation did NOT resolve the issue
- Issue persists even after BIOS update from 01.23.00 to 01.24.03

Steps Already Tried:
1. Performed fresh Windows 11 licensed clean install — issue persisted
2. Ran Windows Update — system shows fully up to date
3. Disabled Multi-Plane Overlay (MPO) via registry:
Path: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Dwm
Created DWORD: OverlayTestMode = 5
4. Updated BIOS from 01.23.00 to 01.24.03 via HP Support Assistant (SoftPaq sp173285)
5. Applied PlatformAoAcOverride fix via elevated CMD:
reg add HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Power /v PlatformAoAcOverride /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f
6. Intel Driver & Support Assistant update — pending

Community Research Findings:
After researching this issue extensively, I found this is a widespread problem affecting multiple HP G8 platform laptops since March 2026:
- Issue confirmed on ProBook 440 G8, 450 G8, 650 G8 and EliteBook 840 G7 and G8
- Directly correlated with BIOS version 01.23.00
- Triggered by March/April 2026 Windows updates affecting power state management
- MPO conflict with Intel Graphics driver causing Desktop Window Manager lockup during idle
- Multiple organizations with 80+ units of this model reporting same issue
- Event Viewer shows no logs during freeze — making standard diagnosis difficult
- Fresh Windows reinstall does not help as bad updates reinstall automatically

Questions for the Community:
1. Has anyone confirmed complete resolution after BIOS update to 01.24.03? Freezing continues on my system even after this update.
2. Is the PlatformAoAcOverride fix confirmed to work alongside BIOS 01.24.03?
3. Has HP officially acknowledged this issue and is there an official fix or advisory released?
4. Should I proceed with DDU clean Intel Graphics driver reinstall as the next step?
5. Are there any HP diagnostic tools or logs I should collect to help identify the root cause?

Willing to provide Event Viewer exports, HP PC Hardware Diagnostics reports, or any other diagnostic data if it helps the community identify a solution.

[Mor-dar7777]

We are having the same issue.  We have tried everything that you have tried.  We have had some potential success with a few laptops, but I think there may be multiple issues at play here.

On one device I did the following and it seems to be holding:

1. Re-imaged fresh Windows 11 with all Windows updates

2. Changed Extended Idle Power States in the BIOS.  It is a check box in the Power Management settings.  Turned it off (unchecked it)

3. Updated BIOS to 1.24.03

4. Updated Bluetooth Driver through Intel Support Assistant

5. Updated WIFI driver via Intel website

It did not freeze in a day so I decided to give it back to the user and I have not heard from them since.

However, I made these changes on another device and it is still freezing, so we are at a loss.  We have well over 80 devices, not all of them have this issue though but we have not confirmed whether all of them have installed the April updates.

Do you know which updates from March/April caused these issues?  Have you tried rolling them back to see if it resolves the issue?

Thanks