Windows Update bricks HP Pavilion x2

[Leolo]

A recent Windows Update causes a BSOD with the message KERNEL MODE EXCEPTION NOT HANDLED and afterwards another BSOD says IRQL NOT LESS OR EQUAL

I have the latest available BIOS version (F.12). I've also formatted the internal eMMC drive, and reinstalled Windows 8.1 from scratch. This laptop works perfectly well if you don't update it. It's stable and works well.

But if you try to update with a relatively recent cumulative update, it will brick itself and show those BSOD errors.

I'm trying to find which one is. I'm guessing it's probably one of those Microsoft updates that include microcode updates (those are very famous for causing BSOD).

Has anyone have more information about this bug? Do you know the exact update that causes this?

[Leolo · Accepted solution]

Guys, don't bother with Windows 8.1 in this laptop. I've tried several recent cumulative updates from this year 2021 and ALL OF THEM cause the BSOD and brick the computer.

It's better to just download the media creation tool to create a bootable Windows 10 installer:

https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=691209

Get also sp72930.exe (bay trail chipset drivers) and sp69247.exe (realtek audio drivers) directly from HP, because the drivers from Windows Update won't work at all and won't produce sound.

You can get the remaining drivers (Broadcom Bluetooth, Invensense Accelerometer sensor and Capella Micro ambient light sensor) from Windows Update, those do work correctly.

This laptop includes a Windows 8.1 serial key embedded into the BIOS chip, and thankfully Windows 10 will automatically read the serial from the BIOS during installation and will activate legally without any problems. Nice!