Why is my ASUS laptop freezing when I remove power cord?

[Windows Central Question]

Why is ASUS laptop freezing when I remove power cord?

I upgraded to Windows 10 and all was well. After a few weeks I did a clean install of Windows 10. After the clean install I am experiencing problems with the laptop freezing when I remove power cable from computer. The computer will completely lookup and has to be reset to resume usage. The problem is this is not consistent. It does not do it every time and I can not determine what is causing the problem. I have uninstalled and reinstalled almost every driver. I have updated everything I know to update and still the problem happen. Anyone else having this problem?

 

[gpobernardo]

Re: Why is ASUS laptop freezing when I remove power cord?

Have you checked the advanced power options of your laptop? By default, the processor power management settings drive the processor power down once the laptop is in battery mode to save power. Naturally, with the processor power down (lower clock speeds), the processor won't be able to handle loads efficiently, which in turn may result in lags or lock-ups.

Change the minimum processor power to around 30% or 50%.

I didn't have this problem exactly, but I did experience some lags before. Doing the above steps remedied the issue.

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[mike india]

Re: Why is ASUS laptop freezing when I remove power cord?

Thanks for your reply.

I changed the advanced power setting.
Process power management - minimum processor state - from 5% to 30% and then 50%.

Still having same problem.

 

[gpobernardo]

Re: Why is ASUS laptop freezing when I remove power cord?

Hmm, what specifications does your laptop have?

Welcome to Windows Central by the way.

 

[mike india]

Re: Why is ASUS laptop freezing when I remove power cord?

It is a ASUS with core i7 and 4 gb ram - 125 gb SSD.
Windows 10 pro.

 

[gpobernardo]

Re: Why is ASUS laptop freezing when I remove power cord?

Have you tried running SFC /scannow in command prompt with administrator privileges?

 

[rhapdog]

Re: Why is ASUS laptop freezing when I remove power cord?

It is possible that a hardware issue may have cropped up with your laptop's power adapter. It is definitely something you want to rule out just to make sure you don't cause damage to your laptop. If you have access to another power adapter that you know to be reliable, try it and see if it fixes the issue. If so, order a replacement. If it doesn't fix the issue, you've ruled out a possible hardware issue that could have caused damage to your laptop, and you'll be able to rest a "little" easier knowing it's just a matter of finding out what's wrong with the software end of it.

Doesn't hurt to check it out, and it could actually fix the issue and prevent future damage.

 

[mike india]

Re: Why is ASUS laptop freezing when I remove power cord?

Thanks for the idea. I did the scan and received the following message "Windows Resource Protection did not find any integrity violations" I am assuming this is good.

 

[mike india]

Re: Why is ASUS laptop freezing when I remove power cord?

I don't have access to another power adapter. I will see if I can find one from a friend. I am suspicious of this being the problem because it happen with the installation of windows 10. It would be a very strange for the power problem to happen at the exact same time but I want know until I try.

 

[rhapdog]

Re: Why is ASUS laptop freezing when I remove power cord?

Okay, Mike, Let's try something else here. I have to agree that the timing would be just too much of a coincidence to point to the power adapter, but when you want to rule out possibilities, you have to try to think of everything.

I don't have an ASUS, so this is a shot in the dark, but I remember reading about a few people that had issues with some Lenovo laptops where they were getting the dreaded Blue Screen of Death (BSOD). I actually helped with one of these trouble shooting in person. The reason I bring this up is that they were all in some way "power related" issues. For example, they would only occur if using the Lenovo Energy Manager to change the settings for the Windows Power Management.

Turns out, after many weeks of frustration, it was determined that the BIOS had to be updated for Windows 10 Compatibility on a couple of the models. Others had to uninstall the Lenovo Energy Manager, which included "drivers" for the Windows Power Management, and allow Windows to use it's own power management drivers.

So, there is a possibility that it could be a power management driver, an energy management process in the background from ASUS, or even a BIOS that needs to be updated.

It will probably be easier to check in on those solutions easier than obtaining the spare power cord, which will most likely not help.

 

[Stefan Holder]

Re: Why is ASUS laptop freezing when I remove power cord?

I agree with what rhapdog stated. Check for BIOS drivers for your laptop from Asus. Sounds like a BIOS issue

 

[mike india]

Re: Why is ASUS laptop freezing when I remove power cord?

Thanks so much for all the ideas. I have tried everything I know. There is not BIOS update for windows 10 from ASUS for my zenbook. I have installed ASUS power management software and uninstalled it and reinstalled it. I have had conversations with microsoft 10 support over this issue and have tried 6 different methods they suggested.

ALL have the same results. I guess I will have to live with this problem but it is a real pain. I wish I could roll back to windows 7 now but I cannot. I really like windows 10 but this issue is a real problem.

One last thing. I have noticed that the problem seems to happen when the system is under stress. If I am loading graphics or have many things going at once and unplug the machine it will freeze up completely. It has even just power off completely a couple of times.

I will keep trying all your suggestion so keep them coming.