HP is one of the most well known computer companies that makes high quality laptops, computers and other related electronics. Computers can freeze either every now and then or every time they are used in a certain way. Today, I will explain how to troubleshoot an HP laptop that freezes.
As a general rule, a component such as the RAM or GPU was asked to do too much and it crashed your HP laptop causing it to freeze. This can happen if you use too many resource intensive programs at once. In other cases, a component is faulty and needs to be replaced.
Also, a particular program can freeze and be ‘not responding’ and you need to close it manually. To get to the bottom of exactly what is causing your HP laptop to freeze can require a few steps. Luckily they’re all very easy once you know how, so below I’ll explain what they are in step by step detail.
HP Laptop Freezes
An HP laptop can freeze as you’re using it, when it’s booting up, when you connect the power cable, and when your HP laptop goes to sleep. Each of these specific issues does require unique troubleshooting steps but there are also some overall steps you should take. To start with, here’s some common reasons why it freezes as you’re using it, and after that are specific steps you should take for each of the different ways an HP laptop can freeze.
In general, you should run the HP crash diagnostic tool if possible, uninstall any programs you’re not using, and test if the charger and your battery are supplying enough power to your laptop. Also, only have programs you’re using running by closing programs you’re not using.
HP laptops can have a range of different specifications. They can have more RAM, a better processor, or a better graphics cards. Programs, and games nowadays are designed for relatively high end PCs.
And if your HP laptop is a few years old or more it can crash when running the latest games, or programs. Especially on the highest settings. A program can be installed on a computer that doesn’t have the required resources, and it will open. However, when you use it, it will crash your computer.
It’s easy to tell why this happens because it will freeze whenever you’re using a certain program. Web browsers such as Google Chrome, and Firefox use a surprising amount of computer resources. If you leave multiple tabs open AND try to run a computer intensive program like a computer game, or Photoshop it can cause your computer to freeze.
Now that you have a broad understanding of these issues, here’s the specific steps you should take when your HP laptop is freezing. If because of the specific way your HP laptop is freezing you can’t perform one of these steps, then skip the step and move on to the next one.
1. Make sure there is no pending Windows update
Windows puts out updates for Windows fairly often. These improve the security of Windows and fix bugs that have been discovered. When a Windows update is pending other programs can also be updated to reflect the changes in the new Windows update.
Often programs like computer games, VLC media player, and anti-virus software are updated to be compatible with the new Windows update. But, if the Windows update hasn’t been done, then it can cause issues. And can start to make your HP laptop freeze.
Therefore, it’s worth double checking there isn’t a pending update. You may have Windows updates set to update automatically in which case any updates should have been installed already.
2. Use the HP crash diagnostics tool to diagnose the issue
HP has a tool on their official website. Select the ‘launch now’ option on the left hand side under ‘Performance Tune Up Check’. It will run a tool that will scan your HP laptop to identify what the issue is that is causing it to crash.
It will go through and delete temporary files, and clear your internet cache. It’s common for these temporary files to get corrupted and cause an issue. The tool will delete any files your computer doesn’t need.
But, bear in mind it will clear your internet browser cache and cookies, which can log you out of all your accounts such as your email. So, after running the crash diagnostics tool you will need to log back in to any sites you were logged into.
Check the event viewer to see why the crash occurred
Windows keeps a record of events that happen on your computer. When your computer crashes, a record is made on your computer. If you look at this log the event will have an error code next to it.
You can reference this error code online to see why the crash occurred. Each of the error codes are unique.
After you find the error code you can Google it to see how to fix it. I noticed when doing this a few times myself from my laptop that some of the explanations for what to do to fix it were difficult to find, and in some cases there wasn’t any answer at all.
Whereas, others had a good explanation of what to do. If the answer doesn’t help to solve why your laptop crashed then it’s best to open a support ticket with Windows, or contact HP support for help with this issue.
Check all of the drivers are up to date
Drivers for the components on your computer such as the graphics card are rarely updated. But, it’s a good idea to go through and check each of the drivers the components plugged into your computer are updated to the latest version. This is very easy to do, first press the ‘windows key’ on your laptop or click the windows icon in the very bottom left of the screen.
Doing so will open the start menu. Then type in ‘device manager’, the device manager will show towards the top of the start menu and then click it with your mouse to open it. This will show a list of all the components installed on your computer.
Right click on each of them with the mouse. If the driver can be updated it will have an option that says ‘update driver’. Otherwise it will only say ‘properties’.
You can right click on each of them really fast to see if they only say properties or if the ‘update driver’ option. If they do click on update driver and a wizard will open to update the driver. Choose ‘search the internet for the driver’ and let it see if you have the most up to date version of the driver, and if not it will prompt you to update it.
Program is ‘not responding’ and you need to close it manually
A computer program is very complex, and at certain times it can glitch. Also, if it needs to use more computer resources than your computer can provide it, it will crash. When this happens it freezes your whole computer.
And the specific program will say (Not Responding) at the top of the window. To unfreeze your computer you can open up the task manager to force close it. If it keeps happening with a specific program it generally means the program requires too many resources than your computer can provide.
This is common for programs like graphics intensive games, video editing software, and photo editing software. Open the task manager by pressing the ‘Ctrl’, ‘Alt’, and ‘delete’ buttons on your keyboard all at the same time.
Be careful not to hold them too long or it will restart your computer completely. This will open up some menu options in a new screen. Select the option that says ‘task manager’.
Disable programs that are running in the background/on start up
A common feature of programs is that they will be set to open on startup. When you install a program it will typically ask you if you want to have it open on startup. However, this is generally not desirable.
And in general you shouldn’t have any programs that run automatically when you start your PC. It’s a good idea to go through and check what programs are opening automatically on start up and disable them.
Uninstall programs you don’t use or rarely use
Any programs you have installed on your computer can potentially cause a conflict with other programs and cause them to freeze. They also take up disk space which slows down your computer and increases the chances your computer will max out, and freeze. Therefore, you should go through all the programs you have installed and uninstall any programs you don’t use.
Open up the start menu by clicking on the bottom left, or pressing the Windows key on your keyboard. Then type in ‘add remove programs’. The add/remove programs option will show at the top of the start menu.
Click it to open it. It will take some time to create a list of all the programs installed on your computer. Once it’s loaded you can sort them by ‘last used’.
To do that click the column that’s labeled ‘last used’. Sometimes you need to click it twice to make the oldest date first. This makes it much easier to see what programs you hardly ever use.
For example, if it was last used like a year ago then you can safely uninstall it. Go through and uninstall all the programs you never use, or rarely use.
As a bonus it will make your computer run a lot faster. It does take a bit of time to uninstall each of the programs.
Check that the timezone is set to where you’re located
The time zone that your computer is set to is checked by programs that are running on your computer. They will then also connect to the internet to see what the time is. As a program does tasks it will record what it does as timestamps on your computer.
When it needs to undo deleting or editing certain files it will check what these timestamps are against the time on your computer to see what to do. If the time on your computer is different to the timezone a program is set to, it will cause an error with programs and they will freeze causing your computer to freeze. Here’s the steps to double check what time and date your computer is set to and update it where necessary:
1. Right click your mouse on the time and date on the bottom left of your screen.
2. A menu will open, select ‘adjust date/time’
3. You can choose ‘set time automatically’ and it will auto detect your timezone by checking the internet.
4. Double check that it’s correct by looking at what it says in the dropdown box a little bit below that, which says ‘Time zone’. It should say the time zone you’re in.
It can be a bit tricky in certain regions to know what your time zone is. For example, if you’re in a State such as Arizona, your time zone is Mountain Standard Time.
You can do a quick Google search to see what your time zone is by typing ‘time and date’ into Google. After it is all set you can close that window and the time and date will be updated.
HP Laptop Crashes on Startup
As you press the power button on your HP laptop it will show a few different loading screens and then the Windows loading screen will show up. When it’s loading it can suddenly restart itself again, or get stuck and not continue at all, and then you need to restart it. If this happens over and over again, or every now and then this is what you should do.
As a general rule, run the diagnostics tool from the BIOS as your HP laptop is starting up to identify what the issue is. As your laptop is starting up, repeatedly press F10, if that does nothing, restart it and repeatedly press F12, then follow the steps below once it enters the BIOS screen.
It’s possible you’re too slow when pressing the F12 or F10 button and your computer won’t enter the BIOS. If that happens you should restart your HP laptop and try again. As soon as it’s starting to turn on repeatedly, press the F12 or F10 key very fast.
When the BIOS screen loads up there will be some options listed there. The screen of the BIOS is controlled by the arrow keys on your keyboard. Use the arrow keys to highlight the option that says ‘Diagnostics’.
To select it press the enter button on your keyboard. After that the diagnostics wizard will open up. Follow the onscreen instructions by pressing ‘ok’, ‘accept’, and ‘next’ until it starts to run the diagnostics tool.
After the diagnostics tool runs it will let you know what the issue is. It will give you a code.
Note down what this code is on a piece of paper or on your phone. Then raise a support ticket with HP with the error code, and they will advise you how to fix the issue that’s causing your HP laptop to freeze on startup.
HP Laptop Crashes on Shutdown
Shutting down your laptop at the end of the day, or if you’re not going to be using your laptop for a while is a great way to save power. When you turn it off, however, there can be a problem with your HP laptop that will cause it to freeze and then you need to restart it, or unplug the power cable. To fix this issue, here’s what you should do.
Overall, you should run the HP crash diagnostics tool to identify what the issue is. If that’s not showing anything then open up the event viewer tool in Windows which shows a log that will tell you why the crash occurred, then you can apply the necessary fix to stop it from happening.
HP Laptop Freezes When Lid Closed
Typically, when you first get a laptop it works perfectly. Over time, as more and more programs are installed on it various things can stop working and it can begin crashing. The exact reason why this occurs can vary but here’s what to do if your HP laptop freezes when you open the lid after closing it.
As a general rule, you should restore the power plan settings to their default, run the HP crash diagnostics tool, and if it’s still not working then refer to the windows event log to see why the crash occurs.
Change power options
HP Laptop Freezes When Plugged In
Computers such as HP laptops do freeze from time to time. But, you can also isolate what the cause of the issue is if it happens every time you do something with your HP laptop such as plugging it in. Here’s what to do if your HP laptop freezes when you plug it in.
In general, either the battery is starting to become faulty, the charger is faulty, or the power options need to be changed. The battery can be tested by turning off your HP laptop, unplugging the battery, then plugging the battery back in and turning it on. After that do the steps below.
The steps to troubleshoot if it’s the battery or charger is very simple to do. But, it’s a good idea to also do what’s called a static discharge. This is recommended by HP to do for virtually any problem you’re having with an HP laptop.
To do a static discharge:
1. Turn off your HP laptop
2. Disconnect the power cable
3. Remove the battery – unclip it using the button underneath
4. Hold down the power button for about a minute
5. Put the battery back in
6. Turn your laptop back in
Test to see if the same issue occurs by waiting for it to boot up, log back in, and then plug the charger in to see if it freezes again. If it does then repeat the steps above. But instead of doing step 5 leave the battery out.
Rather than putting the battery back in, plug the charging cable in and turn your HP laptop on. After it boots up, log back in and see if it freezes again. If it still freezes it’s likely the battery or power cable are faulty and need to be replaced.
But, before doing that first reset the power settings back to the default.
HP Laptop Freezes When Connecting to WiFi/Internet
The internet connection on an HP laptop can be toggled on and off. For example, if you go somewhere and connect to the Wi-Fi you will search for the connection, click connect, and then put in the password. When doing that your HP laptop can freeze so here’s the main reason this happens, and how to stop it from happening.
Generally, you should check that the driver for your network card is updated to the latest version, remove the Wi-Fi connection from your list of connections, and then add it again, and if it’s still not working temporarily disable your anti-virus software.
HP Laptop Freezes When Moved
There are a range of ways that an HP laptop can freeze, such as when it’s starting up, or if you use a specific program. An advantage of a laptop is you can take it with you and move it around a lot very easily. But, there can be a problem with your HP laptop that causes it to freeze when you move it, here’s an explanation of how to fix this problem.
Copyright protected content owner: ReadyToDIY.com and was initially posted on April 15, 2022.
Overall, it’s likely one of the components in your computer has a loose connection which crashes your HP laptop when it’s moved around a bit. But, to diagnose the issue first run the HP crash diagnostics tool, check the Windows event viewer to see what caused the crash.
HP Laptop Freezes When Unplugged
An advantage of a laptop is it can be unplugged and run completely off the battery. Provided the battery has enough charge you can unplug the power cable and plug it back in as often as you like. There can be a problem with your HP laptop where it will freeze when you unplug the power cable, here’s how to troubleshoot this issue.
Overall, the power settings are set incorrectly, and you should restore them to the default settings. After that if it still happens it’s likely your battery is faulty. But, before replacing it you should run the HP crash diagnostics tool, and check the Windows event viewer and see why it crashes.
HP Laptop Freezes When Going To/After Sleep Mode
An HP laptop can be put into sleep mode by closing the lid, pressing the power button once, or it will go into sleep mode on its own after not being used for a certain amount of time. After you try to wake it up it can have an issue and your HP laptop won’t turn back on, or the screen will be completely frozen. To stop this from happening here’s what you should do.
As a general rule, you should restore the power plan settings back to the default. After that, if the problem reoccurs, then run the HP crash diagnostics tool to solve the issue. If after running that it still happens then refer to the Windows event viewer to see why the crash occurs.
Copyright article owner is ReadyToDiy.com for this article. This post was first published on April 15, 2022.
Overall, you should run the HP crash diagnostics tool on the official HP website. After that if it continues to crash and you can turn your HP laptop on then refer to the Windows event viewer to see why the crash occurred and apply the relevant fix.
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ReadyToDIY is the owner of this article. This post was published on April 15, 2022.