BSOD: CRITICAL_PROCESS_DIED on Sleep/Wake (Windows 11 pro 25H2 ) - HP Laptop

Muhammed Hassan 0 Reputation points

I am experiencing a recurring CRITICAL_PROCESS_DIED stop code on my HP laptop, which occurs specifically when the system attempts to enter or wake from Sleep mode.

Troubleshooting Performed (Already completed):

scannow, DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth, and chkdsk to verify system file and drive health. All passed.

Drivers: Performed a clean uninstall of AMD graphics drivers using DDU in Safe Mode and installed the latest official drivers from the HP support portal.

Firmware: Updated system BIOS to the latest version (F.38).

Isolation: The issue is consistently reproducible with Sleep mode enabled. The system remains fully stable when Sleep mode is disabled or when the AMD graphics driver is disabled.

Conclusion: This suggests a power management compatibility conflict between the current Windows 11 kernel and the AMD driver stack for this hardware. I have exhausted all standard troubleshooting steps and request escalation to investigate this driver conflict.

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2 answers

  1. Clary-N 12,045 Reputation points • Microsoft External Staff • Moderator

    Hi Muhammed Hassan,

    Thank you for the detailed information. Since the issue only occurs during Sleep/Wake transitions and the system is stable when the AMD graphics driver is disabled, this may indicate a driver or power-management issue rather than general Windows corruption. Sleep-related crashes can occur when a driver does not properly handle power-state transitions.

    To investigate further, please share the latest dump file from C:\Windows\Minidump (or C:\Windows\MEMORY.DMP if available), along with the output of the following commands run from an elevated Command Prompt:

    powercfg /a
powercfg /sleepstudy

    These details can help determine whether the issue is related to Modern Standby, the AMD driver or another power-management component.

    Please let me know what you find and I'll be happy to assist further.

    If you have additional questions about this answer, please click "Comment".

    Note: If you want to receive email notifications about this thread, follow the steps in our documentation to enable email notifications.

    1. Muhammed Hassan 0 Reputation points

      Hi Clary-N,

      Thank you for your guidance. Regarding the Minidump folder, it is currently empty, likely because the system crashes so abruptly during the power transition that it cannot finalize the dump file write.

      Here are the requested diagnostics:

      1. Output of powercfg /a:

      Plaintext

      The following sleep states are available on this system:
 Standby (S0 Low Power Idle) Network Connected
 Hibernate

The following sleep states are not available on this system:
 Standby (S1) - The system firmware does not support this standby state.
 Standby (S2) - The system firmware does not support this standby state.
 Standby (S3) - The system firmware does not support this standby state.
 Hybrid Sleep - Standby (S3) is not available.
 Fast Startup - This action is disabled in the current system policy.

      2. SleepStudy Report: I have generated the sleepstudy-report.html as requested. Since I cannot directly attach the HTML file, please let me know the best way to provide the data from it, or if you would like me to paste specific sections of the report.

      It appears my system is restricted to Modern Standby (S0 Low Power Idle) and does not support S3, which seems to be where the power-state transition conflict with the AMD driver is occurring.

      Looking forward to your analysis."

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  2. AI answer

    The stop code CRITICAL_PROCESS_DIED indicates a bug check (system halt) caused by a critical process or component failing during a power transition. Because it is tightly correlated with sleep/wake and disappears when sleep or the AMD driver is disabled, this aligns with a driver or power‑management issue rather than general system corruption.

    Based on the available guidance, focus on isolating and mitigating the driver/power interaction rather than further integrity checks:

    1. Treat this as a bug check related to power transitions
      • Windows halts with a stop code when continuing to run could compromise system integrity or security. During this halt, a dump file is written (if enabled) and the system restarts.
      • For CRITICAL_PROCESS_DIED, general guidance includes checking for recently added or updated drivers, firmware, and hardware, and rolling back or updating them as needed.
    2. Use basic stop‑error troubleshooting steps
      • Ensure all Windows Updates are installed: Start → Settings → Windows Update → Check for updates.
      • In Device Manager, check for devices with an exclamation mark. For any such device, update, disable, or uninstall the driver.
      • Verify there is sufficient free disk space (at least 10–15% free) so Windows can create dump files and manage paging during sleep/wake.
      • If the issue started after a recent driver, firmware, or Windows update, use a system restore point or recovery option to roll back to a known‑good state.
    3. Apply power‑related bug‑check guidance
      • For power‑state–related bug checks (such as DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE), recommended basic steps include:
        • Temporarily disabling power‑saving features (for example, set the power plan so the system does not enter sleep) to confirm correlation.
        • In Power Options, disable or relax sleep/hibernate and hybrid sleep to see whether a specific state (S3 sleep vs. hybrid sleep) is involved.
        • Check Event Viewer → Windows Logs → System for critical errors around the time of the BSOD to identify any driver or ACPI/power component repeatedly failing.
        • Confirm BIOS/ACPI firmware is current (already done) and check the OEM for any additional firmware or chipset updates related to power management.
    4. If advanced debugging is available
      • For deeper analysis, use the Windows debugger and the crash dump to identify the exact module involved, following the CRITICAL_PROCESS_DIED bug‑check guidance. This can confirm whether the AMD stack or another component is corrupting memory or failing during sleep/wake.
    5. When self‑service options are exhausted
      • If all drivers and firmware are current, Windows is fully updated, and the problem is reproducible only with specific power states and the AMD driver enabled, the remaining path is driver/kernel debugging and potential driver fixes from the OEM or IHV. Collect the minidumps and system information and provide them to HP or AMD support so they can analyze the crash in detail.

    References:

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