My Asus Gl503GE freezing up.

[Sunshining]

My laptop is an Asus GL503GE that uses the Intel i7 8750H 6 cores and 12 threads. And my problem is that it freezes completely and the only way out is to force it off. I read a possible solution from user AlHill, about using drivers provided by Asus, that I did last night, uninstalled the drivers that I downloaded from the Intel and Nvidia website, and hope to come home today and test if that solution works for me. The version of Windows 10 that I am using is 20H2. I must comment that the laptop is used, I bought it from a person in Facebook Market Place, it originally had Windows 10 Home, but I installed Windows 10 Pro. Another question that arises is, should I keep Windows Update disabled? Because the drivers that Asus provide are from some time ago and if I activate Windows Update, it will surely update the drivers and possibly the problem will return, assuming it is gone with the AlHill solution.

[ClariceStarling]

I just bought my new NUC ... I looked at buying used with more power at same price, but there's nothing like unwrapping a new computer out of the sealed box.  I don't recommend used computers ... they should be given to charity!

[n_scott_pearson]

Al is correct that you should use the graphics drivers supplied by the laptop manufacturer. Laptop manufacturers often will modify the drivers - especially if supporting a dual-graphics (Intel+NVIDIA or Intel+AMD) configuration - to support features like graphics engine switching, brightness/focus buttons, hot keys, etc. Using the generic drivers from Intel (and/or NVIDIA/AMD) can cause these capabilities to either not work or work improperly. Only transition to the generic drivers if the manufacturer tells you that this will not cause problems. If the manufacturer is not updating the drivers with bug fixes from Intel (and/or NVIDIA/AMD), then you should ask them for updated drivers. If your warranty is expired and/or they are not providing updates any longer, you are free to try using the generic drivers, but the fact remains that there could be problems as a result.

I personally believe - even after having been burned once or twice - that Windows Update should always be enabled. In theory, Windows Update will keep updates optional if there is a chance of it causing any problems. In the case of custom drivers, Windows Update should not update these drivers unless the manufacturer tells Microsoft that this can be allowed. If there is a particular driver update that is causing problems, you can revert to the previous and then configure Windows Update to not offer this particular update any longer.

Despite him providing mostly useless information, I agree with ClariceStarling regarding the purchase of used computers. You are definitely inheriting someone else's problems. In this case, while it is possible that the lockup is the result of not having the right drivers installed, I am more inclined to believe that the issue has something to do with the laptop hardware. The most common cause of hangs like this are because of memory issues. I am not suggesting that you go out and purchase replacement memory, but you might want to borrow some memory and see if the laptop hangs or not using this borrowed memory.

Hope this helps,

...S

[Sunshining]

Thank you very much for answering. In fact yes, I have considered getting a ram memory to verify if it is a hardware failure. And I understand that you advise me not to buy things like this used again. But when I mentioned this problem to the person who sold it to me, without making excuses, he offered to return the money or give me another laptop. But the computer seems very good for the price that is why I try to find a solution in some way before trying to return it. It uses is a ram 8GB DDR4 at 2666mhz.

[n_scott_pearson]

The fact that they were willing to take it back so readily has my hackles up already. Still, if you would like to try replacing the SODIMM, go for it. If you have to make a purchase to try this, worst case is you have a SODIMM to return. Just make sure you don't take too long to try this as your return window could close.

...S

[Sunshining]

Tonight I will be testing video games, video editing and doing some tests with cinebench so that by forcing the laptop I will see if the problem is solved or not. Because the problem also appeared when I left the laptop on playing videos on YouTube, when I went to dinner and came back, the laptop was already completely frozen. So I will also do that today to see if it gets fixed. Thank you again for your prompt reply.

[ClariceStarling]

Before you do anything you should disconnect from the Internet and run a deep virus scan.  Could be some Trojan!

[Sunshining]

Good night. Thanks to God and to the user AlHill for their knowledge and for sharing it with all of us. Everything seems to be that it was all about the drivers. I've been using the laptop for more than 6 hours, I left it for more than two hours with music playing via YouTube and it didn't get stuck at all. I was playing, I was doing everything and it never froze. So again THANK YOU! If any other problem arises, I hope you can continue to help me as you did today. 

[Sunshining]

Unfortunately the error returned. As a last option before returning it, I will try to disable the intel gpu from the device manager and work only with nvidia always with the asus drivers. If after this nothing works, I will return it. Because I can't get anyone to loan me a SODIMM and buying it would be an expense that may not be worth it.