Solved! My laptop randomly freezes but can be brought back to life by plugging/unplugging the AC adapter

[t_sharapov]

I have had my laptop for almost a year and I still don't understand why it sometimes freezes. It does so quite unpredictably and doesn't leave any hints in the event logs.

The laptop is Dell Inspiron 5570. All drivers are up to date according to the recommendations kindly given by the software provided by Dell (some people claim that this software could cause issues).

At first, there seemed to be no solution to the issue other than hard rebooting the laptop. I haven't noticed any patterns in freezes. After I had updated all the drivers (including for BIOS), the frequency of such freezes reduced significantly. On top of that, it turned out that whenever the laptop hangs, connecting/disconnecting the AC adapter helps. Today a freeze occurred when I was listening to music. As always, no errors in event logs, no BSODs, plugging the AC adapter worked.

I almost forgot to mention that, apart from this issue, my laptop works fine. I have followed the recommendations on the official forum and passed plenty of hardware tests. Everything seems to be okay with the hardware.

Based on the above, I have no idea what could trigger the issue. Probably, you could shed some light on the problem.

Thank you.

 

[captaincharisma]

i would first check and see hot hot the laptop the laptop is getting when in use. it could be overheating. if you are still under warranty i would contact dell before it runs out

 

[t_sharapov]

i would first check and see hot hot the laptop the laptop is getting when in use. it could be overheating. if you are still under warranty i would contact dell before it runs out

It's not overheating. It seems that there's no correlation with how many applications are launched and how heavily the laptop is loaded.

 

[batkamano76]

Hey,

I have exactly same model and same problem. whenever the laptop hangs, connecting/disconnecting the AC adapter helps. I'm getting nuts because of issue. Still no luck of find problematic part...

 

[batkamano76]

Power options - change plan settings - change advanced power settings - Processor power management - maximum processor state -> 99% for both plugged in & on battery solved my issue...

 

[t_sharapov]

Power options - change plan settings - change advanced power settings - Processor power management - maximum processor state -> 99% for both plugged in & on battery solved my issue...

Hello! How often would you encounter this problem? In my case, there is no pattern at all. It might not occur for weeks, but then happen several times within one day.

Are you sure that setting the maximum processor state at 99% is not a temporary solution?

Thank you

 

[mimi5555]

I had the same problem on my Dell G5 laptop with a GTX 1060 graphic card. I found this solution on the Web and it solved my problem:

"fix is done by right-clicking on the Start button, clicking "Control Panel", then "System..." then "Power Options" then when you see the "power plans", click "Change settings" for the power plan, then find the "Change advanced settings" link and a dialog will pop up with a tree: on the tree find "PCI Express", expand it so you can see the "plugged in" and "battery" options, click them both and choose "off". Apply the changes."