Crashing on sleep - Realtek audio driver

[Joe162]

I have a brand-new Pavilion.  A couple of days after i got it, I found that it was crashing or restarting when entering sleep mode.  This happened whether I closed the lid or clicked Start -> Sleep.  

After some debugging, I found that the Realtek Audio driver was causing the problem.  I uninstalled it, let Windows reinstall it, and sleep mode started working again.

Today the problem is back.  Again I uninstalled the Realtek driver and the problem was corrected.

How do I fix this problem permanently?

[IT_WinSec]

Hello @Joe162 

Thank you for posting in the HP Support Community.

If you repeat the steps you performed initially and if it works fine again (temporary), this means that Windows probably reinstalls some local version but the driver eventually may gets updates to another newer faulty version later. I cannot be 100% sure but this is how it looks like.

If you repeat the steps again and if it works fine, try to disable drivers updates from Windows by following one of the steps/options described in this article >> https://www.windowscentral.com/how-disable-automatic-driver-updates-windows-10

[Joe162]

But that will prevent automatic installation of all drivers.  I 

[IT_WinSec]

Well, that will only prevent automatic updates via the means of Windows Update.

Nothing is perfect.

Unless you are a tech developer, I don't see a reason why would you care which driver version you will be using as long as your computer and its hardware is working properly.

Driver updates usually provide fixes to some issues not specific to everybody. Most important are Windows updates and updating software which you use usually such as browsers, for example, security software, etc.

You will still be able to update drivers manually from time to time if this is necessary - from HP websites or by using HP Support Assistant

[Joe162]

You're right, it's not important to me which versions of drivers are installed.  But I'm not thrilled that I have to disable automatic updates in order for my two-week-old laptop to be able to sleep without crashing.

Thank you for your time.

[IT_WinSec]

You may also check this article >> https://support.hp.com/bg-en/document/c03383935

[Joe162]

I had already tried the options in the first section ("The computer does not wake up from sleep or hibernate mode").  

The second section ("Sleep and Hibernate issues after upgrading to Windows 10") seemed promising, although this was a pre-build with Windows 10 rather than an upgrade.  I got as far as the Updates Troubleshooter but it did not have the Realtek Audio Driver listed.