Brand New HP Pavilion keep freezing

[mashmonster]

I bought a new HP laptop a coouple of months ago and it seemed like a fantastic machine. However it kept freezing to the point where I had to hold down the power button to turn off. Went back to retailer who said I could send it off but would need to copy all docs onto a hard drive first.....(which I don't have).  It is now happening daily and is so frustrating!

I'm not very technical but computer is automatically updated regularly

I'm completely confused and have spent a lot of money on the laptop. Any help would be greatly appreciated. 

HP pavilion 15-au174sa 15.6 gold
8GB memory
64bit windows 10

[MKazi]

@mashmonster

Welcome to HP Support Forums. 🙂 I came across your post and would like to help.

I understand that you have a new HP Pavilion - 15-au174sa laptop. I read that the laptop freezes when you try to power it off by pressing and holding the power button. 

For better clarity and to assist you better I would require more information regarding this:

• Why do you like to turn off the laptop by pressing and hold the power button? The correct method is to shutdown is through Windows. 
• When the laptop freezes what do you do to power it off? Do you remove the battery and disconnect the charger?
• Does the laptop freeze while working on it and not powering it off?

Meanwhile, I recommend you to perform the following steps to isolate the issue and arrive at a fix: 

• Power off the laptop.
• Remove the battery out. If the battery is integrated and does not have a latch to release it then leave the battery inside the laptop.
• Disconnected AC adapter from the laptop.
• Press and hold the power button for 15 seconds.
• Reconnect the battery and plug the AC adapter.
• Power ON the laptop.

Please check if these options are set correctly  in WIndows if shutdown does not happen properly in Windows: http://hp.care/2sxPPcF

If the issue persists then please perform a BIOS update on the laptop via this link. Let the charger be connected always while the BIOS update is going on. 

I sincerely hope this fixes the issue. Keep me posted on the results. All the best! 🙂

[mashmonster]

Thank you for your response.....

I switch the power off using the button because the laptop has frozen.  No buttons react so I have to switch it off at the power off button and then switch it back on.....

Have you any advice?

[MKazi]

@mashmonster

You're welcome. 🙂

In that case please perform the Windows refresh as suggested in my previous post.

If the issue persists post the windows refresh, you may run a hardware test on the laptop. The following steps will help:

• Hold the power button for at least five seconds to turn off the computer.

• Turn on the computer and immediately press Esc repeatedly, about once every second. When the menu appears, press the F2 key.

• On the main menu, click Component Tests.

• The Component Tests menu displays.

• Please initiate a test one by one on the hard drive and the memory.

When the tests pass, please reinstall Windows by performing a system recovery: http://hp.care/2nB7Wrv (refer to steps mentioned under "Recovery when Windows 10 does not start correctly").

If recovery does not initiate then please disable the secure boot option. The steps to disable secure boot are in the same document.

I hope this helps. Let me know. Cheers! 🙂

[mashmonster]

I've run the component test (everything passed) but I'm not comfortable reinstalling windows....do I really need to do that?

thank you

[MKazi]

@mashmonster

You're welcome. 

Glad to know that the tests have passed. If you're not keen to reinstall WIndows then instead you may perform a Windows refresh (repair). This should not delete your personal data but will fix any corruption in the Windows operating system and drivers. 

NOTE: Though the steps provided are for Win8, these steps should work for Win10 too. 

All the best! 🙂