Windows build 1903 and HP Spectre x360 model 13-4193dx

[bgirton]

I wrote this while attempting to create create recovery media on a USB flash drive, using HP Recovery Manager.  The Create Recovery Media function fails with the error message "the capacity of the inserted flash drive is insufficient".  The capacity of the flash drives I have tried are clearly sufficient, as each has over 57 GB of free space.  I have tried formatting them as both exFAT and NTFS.  Finally, I tried one configured with a 32 GB partition formatted as FAT32.  That worked, but the web site said not a word about that particular issue.

The laptop in question is an HP Spectre x360 model 13-4193dx running Windows 10 build 1903.  This laptop is not tested to run build 1903, meaning HP is not going to fix any problems that subsequent Windows updates create.  The laptop has been producing more and more blue screen errors since build 1903 was installed; they seem to be related to one or more drivers, but it's very difficult to determine which ones.  It seems pretty stable in safe mode.  If it never crashes there, I could reboot over and over, turning on drivers one by one, until the crashes return.  That could take a week.  I would like to roll Windows back past the most recent feature update, to the last build that worked, to see if that resolves the issue.  Windows won't let me roll back as part of the normal recovery options, as over 10 days have passed.  When not in safe mode, it crashes randomly, sometimes a few minutes after booting, sometimes after many hours.  Troubleshooting by HP and third party experts is ongoing, but I am pretty sure there is not going to be a way to fix the long term issue.

Here's where the grumbling part begins: This is beginning to seem like a case of HP sneaking away from functional hardware with their logo on it because it's not making them money any more.  No one at HP warned me not to install build 1903. Even if I succeed in rolling back to the previous build or otherwise resolving the issues, what happens when Microsoft stops supporting the previous build, as they are threatening to do?  Back in the early 90's, I spent what seemed to me to be a lot of money on my first computer; Apple completely abandoned it within a year of my purchase.  I appreciated that early disappointment so little that I have not purchased an Apple product since.   Apple does not care that I was disappointed; to this day, Apple still makes a lot of money selling hardware that needs to be thrown out every three years or so. This HP product is only about 4 years old, and the hardware may very well remain functional longer than I do.  Yes, this laptop model out of warranty, but I am not afraid to replace parts myself, so that doesn't matter much.  HP has decided, in effect, that I am done using it, whether I want to be or not. I am not naive, but on some level I had implicitly trusted HP not to swim in Apple's dirty water. A company's reputation used to mean something, and there was a motivation not to play planned obsolescence tricks on its customers; I guess that may have changed.  Fool me once...

So, the question is, what are other people's similar experiences, and has anyone got any helpful suggestions?

[BobRossi]

HP owes us a fix. There are features in Photoshop and Lightroom that I cannot use because they require 1809/1903. 

I purchased my HP x360 with the understanding that HP would support it. They have failed miserably. I have purchased 4 HP laptops in the past few years for all the members in my family. I will not purchase anymore.

[The_Fossette]

@BobRossi, @bgirton,

I have brought your issue to the attention of an appropriate team within HP. They will likely request information from you in order to look up your case details or product serial number. Please look for a private message from an identified HP contact. Additionally, keep in mind not to publicly post personal information (serial numbers and case details).

If you are unfamiliar with how the Community's private message capability works, you can learn about that here.

Thank you for visiting the HP Support Community.

[bgirton]

Correction: my attempt to create a recovery drive using the FAT32 formatted drive ultimately failed also - there's some kind of blind spot in the error process for the 32,768 MB partition size.  If I made the partition size 1 MB larger, FAT32 is not an option;   1 MB smaller, and the attempt to create a recovery drive fails in the same manner as exFAT or NTFS formatted drives.  The HP Recovery Drive creation function is simply not working with these USB drives.  

Using a different laptop of the same model but not yet updated to the Windows 1903 build, the Windows 10 create recovery drive function works normally on these USB drives.  However, the recovery drives created in that way do not work on the failing laptop; the error message is completely uninformative.

[Fibrebond]

We have about 15 HP Spectre x360 in a business environment as well as Zbooks.  We need to update to 1903.  These Spectres are less than one year old, so it doesn't make sense that they are already obsolete.

[bgirton]

That model name covers many different products. I've been talking about a 2015 era model 13-4193dx. Sounds like you have completely different hardware to me. If your model is still supported by HP under 1903 , then lucky you.

[Fibrebond]

I have the 2019 version of the HP Spectre x360. I'm unable to load 1903 on it.  The Zbooks update to 1903 with no problem.  I'm stuck with my 2019 HP Spectres running 1803.

[bgirton]

My advice is to start a new thread, Fibrebond.  That has literally nothing to do with this topic.