HP Envy crashing all the time.

Forums › Laptops and mobile computers › HP Envy crashing all the time.

timbo1604

102 posts

Master Geek

#155967 14-Nov-2014 16:34

Whenever my laptop is processing anything, if I touch any key or try to switch screens or close a screen it freezes, gives me the 'not responding' message, then makes the screen black and eventually I have to do a hard restart to get it back. It's happening about 5 time a day and is very frustrating as I need to use it a lot. It's only about a year and a half old.

Have scanned system with Avira and MBAM and nothing has been found.

I don't know how to do any diagnostic tests so if anyone recommends one could they please give basic instructions please.

Cheers!

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#1175968 14-Nov-2014 16:36

As it is a HP machine the first thing I would look for is overheating, HP kit is notorious for overheating

timbo1604

102 posts

Master Geek

#1175971 14-Nov-2014 16:42

Doesn't seem to be hot at all.

ckc

321 posts

Ultimate Geek
Inactive user

#1175980 14-Nov-2014 17:05

Have you ever reinstalled Windows on the machine or has it been like that for 18 months? Do you install and uninstall programs and games regularly? Do you use a lot of applications that could use a lot of memory (Firefox, Office, etc)? Do you run antivirus/antispam as a matter of course? Do you move the laptop around a lot (take it to work, etc)?

My first thought is that Windows needs to be reinstalled/refreshed (Windows has some good options for that).

Windows tends to leave a lot of garbage lying around the place when you install and uninstall programs. Most issues aren't hardware related, especially after only 18 months, they're usually related to software. Browsers today consume a lot of memory and resources, so if your registry is bogged down with useless entries that don't get cleaned out, Windows is trying to do a number of things in the background at once: run the applications, search through the bloated registry to try and find entries, write to the page file. This means that it locks up without bringing up a fatal error (BSoD). If you wait for long enough, it'd probably finish what it's doing and come around again, but then it'd probably just start doing it again.

So reinstall/refresh.

But before you do that, check one of the only mechanical components in your laptop: the hard drive. Download HDDScan or similar and run SMART tests. The tests will tell you the status of your hard drive, whether or not it's ready to fail, etc. If you've ruled that out, then refresh/reinstall Windows. You will keep your files, but you will have to reinstall programs. My general rule with Windows, used for work, is keep it light. It's easy for bad program installers to mess with things and slowly break your computer. I would also recommend partitioning your hard drive into a section for the operating system and a section for data. That way you can keep things safe on the storage partition and have more options about doing a total reinstall (which is better than a refresh, no doubt).

CYaBro

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#1175984 14-Nov-2014 17:11

HP business machines have built in hardware tests but not sure if the Envy will have them too.
You could try turn the machine on and start pressing F2 and hopefully you will get into the tests menu.
I would run a full memory and hard drive test and see if they pass.

Opinions are my own and not the views of my employer.

timbo1604

102 posts

Master Geek

#1175995 14-Nov-2014 17:34

Would've replied sooner but it crashed again!!!!!

I updated to Windows 8.1 about a year ago but haven't since then. I might try and reinstall then.

Will post an update once it's done.

Ta

ckc

321 posts

Ultimate Geek
Inactive user

#1175997 14-Nov-2014 17:37

If you can, run the SMART test before then. If the HD is failing and you do something intensive like a reinstall, it could fail during the reinstall.

timbo1604

102 posts

Master Geek

#1175998 14-Nov-2014 17:39

ckc: If you can, run the SMART test before then. If the HD is failing and you do something intensive like a reinstall, it could fail during the reinstall.

ok will do

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timbo1604

102 posts

Master Geek

#1176001 14-Nov-2014 17:42

Make any sense??

HDDScan S.M.A.R.T. Report
Model: TOSHIBA MQ01ABD050
Firmware: AX001C
Serial: 82A1S3OPS
LBA: 976773168

Report By: HDDScan for Windows version 3.3
Report Date: 14/11/2014 5:41:28 p.m.

NumAttribute NameValueWorstRaw(hex)Threshold

001 Raw Read Error Rate1001000000000000-0000050

002 Throughput performance1001000000000000-0000050

003 Spin Up Time1001000000000000-040A002

004 Start/Stop Count1001000000000000-0584000

005 Reallocation Sector Count1001000000000000-0000010

007 Seek Error Rate1001000000000000-0000050

008 Seek time Perfomance1001000000000000-0000050

009 Power-On Hours Count0920920000000000-0CE9000

010 Spin Retry Count1281000000000000-0000030

012 Device Power Cycle Count1001000000000000-057C000

183 SATA Downshift Error Count1001000000000000-0000001

184 End To End Error Count1001000000000000-0000097

185 Head Stability1001000000000000-FFFF001

187 Reported Uncorrectable Error0010010000000000-0195000

188 Reported Command Timeouts1000990000000000-0003000

189 High Fly Writes1001000000000000-0000001

190 Airflow Temperature05904341 C040

190 Airflow Temperature Minimum05904337 C040

190 Airflow Temperature Maximum05904341 C040

191 G-sense Rate/Servo tracking1001000000000000-009C000

192 Emergency Retract Count100100000000001B-001B000

193 Load/unload Cycle Count0990990000000000-2B21000

194 HDA Temperature05904341 C040

196 Reallocation Event Count1001000000000000-0000000

197 Current Pending Errors Count1001000000000000-0008000

199 UltraDMA CRC Errors2002000000000000-0000000

timbo1604

102 posts

Master Geek

#1176003 14-Nov-2014 17:44

Model: TOSHIBA MQ01ABD050
Firmware: AX001C
Serial: 82A1S3OPS
LBA: 976773168

Report By: HDDScan for Windows version 3.3
Report Date: 14/11/2014 5:41:28 p.m.

NumAttribute NameValueWorstRaw(hex)Threshold

001 Raw Read Error Rate1001000000000000-0000050

002 Throughput performance1001000000000000-0000050

003 Spin Up Time1001000000000000-040A002

004 Start/Stop Count1001000000000000-0584000

005 Reallocation Sector Count1001000000000000-0000010

007 Seek Error Rate1001000000000000-0000050

008 Seek time Perfomance1001000000000000-0000050

009 Power-On Hours Count0920920000000000-0CE9000

010 Spin Retry Count1281000000000000-0000030

012 Device Power Cycle Count1001000000000000-057C000

183 SATA Downshift Error Count1001000000000000-0000001

184 End To End Error Count1001000000000000-0000097

185 Head Stability1001000000000000-FFFF001

187 Reported Uncorrectable Error0010010000000000-0195000

188 Reported Command Timeouts1000990000000000-0003000

189 High Fly Writes1001000000000000-0000001

190 Airflow Temperature05904341 C040

190 Airflow Temperature Minimum05904337 C040

190 Airflow Temperature Maximum05904341 C040

191 G-sense Rate/Servo tracking1001000000000000-009C000

192 Emergency Retract Count100100000000001B-001B000

193 Load/unload Cycle Count0990990000000000-2B21000

194 HDA Temperature05904341 C040

196 Reallocation Event Count1001000000000000-0000000

197 Current Pending Errors Count1001000000000000-0008000

199 UltraDMA CRC Errors2002000000000000-0000000

timbo1604

102 posts

Master Geek

#1176006 14-Nov-2014 17:47

Does this make any sense?

TOSHIBA MQ01ABD050-82A1S3OPS-SMART.mht
HDDScan S.M.A.R.T. Report
Model: TOSHIBA MQ01ABD050
Firmware: AX001C
Serial: 82A1S3OPS
LBA: 976773168

Report By: HDDScan for Windows version 3.3
Report Date: 14/11/2014 5:46:44 p.m.

Num Attribute Name Value Worst Raw(hex) Threshold

001Raw Read Error Rate 1001000000000000-0000050

002Throughput performance 1001000000000000-0000050

003Spin Up Time 1001000000000000-040A002

004Start/Stop Count 1001000000000000-0584000

005Reallocation Sector Count 1001000000000000-0000010

007Seek Error Rate 1001000000000000-0000050

008Seek time Perfomance 1001000000000000-0000050

009Power-On Hours Count 0920920000000000-0CE9000

010Spin Retry Count 1281000000000000-0000030

012Device Power Cycle Count 1001000000000000-057C000

183SATA Downshift Error Count1001000000000000-0000001

184End To End Error Count 1001000000000000-0000097

185Head Stability 1001000000000000-FFFF001

187Reported Uncorrectable Error 0010010000000000-0195000

188Reported Command Timeouts 1000990000000000-0003000

189High Fly Writes 1001000000000000-0000001

190Airflow Temperature 05904341 C 040

190Airflow Temperature Minimum05904337 C040

190Airflow Temperature Maximum05904342 C040

191G-sense Rate/Servo tracking 1001000000000000-009C000

192Emergency Retract Count 100100000000001B-001B000

193Load/unload Cycle Count 0990990000000000-2B21000

194HDA Temperature 05904341 C 040

196Reallocation Event Count 1001000000000000-0000000

197Current Pending Errors Count 1001000000000000-0008000

199UltraDMA CRC Errors 2002000000000000-0000000

timbo1604

102 posts

Master Geek

#1176015 14-Nov-2014 17:54

Ok the last 3 posts aren't readable from my end. Can you see this?

timbo1604

102 posts

Master Geek

#1176016 14-Nov-2014 17:56

Ok I have no idea where that image came from...

Sod this I'm reinstalling Windows and see if that works.

ckc

321 posts

Ultimate Geek
Inactive user

#1176026 14-Nov-2014 18:00

So in the report itself, it should have coloured icons on the left. It should look like this if you have any errors.

timbo1604

102 posts

Master Geek

#1176353 15-Nov-2014 16:22

Well I never got to try it. Had to restart due to another crash and now in the file manager it shows my 500gb hard drive as '0 bytes left of 1gb' so now I can't download, open or run new files.

Is that a dead/dying hard drive?

JaseNZ

2576 posts

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#1176376 15-Nov-2014 17:43

Get what ever data you can off it now as it looks like a dying hd to me.

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