Mysterious monitor and wifi crash/power-off, please help.

Hey guys, I've been having monitor/wifi shutdowns that I've been trying to figure out for sometime. I just wanted to start another thread on it to summarize all of the problems and what I've tried to do to fix it.

The Crash:

-The screen turns off (usually blacks right out, but sometimes it flickers and the speakes crackle) and the capacitive-touch control/indicator for the wifi goes from blue (on) to orange (off). It first started a few months ago, only when bringing the computer out of standby. Now the power-downs are happening more frequently and under different circumstances with varying consistency. I can't tell if windows is still running after the screen blacks out. If the speakers are also turning off during the crash/shutdown, then I can't hear the startup chime that indicates that windows is still running. I just have to hold the power button to shut it down and then try again.

When:

EVERY TIME I bring the computer out of standby. Sometimes it happens right away in the account selection screen, sometimes a few seconds after it goes back into windows.

VERY FREQUENTLY while the computer is booting Windows. These startup crashes are always immediate, with no screen flickering or audio crackling. I usually have to shut-down and restart my computer a few times before I can actually get into windows without being interrupted during start-up.

LESS FREQUENTLY AND RANDOM while windows is running. Sometimes it happens 30 minutes after start-up. Sometimes an hour. Usually a few hours after start-up. I'm usually not even at my computer when it does happen. I'll walk away from my computer and leave it in windows (I tried turning the screen save off to minimize crashes). I

SELDOM when I am actually doing anything on the computer. When it has happened while I was using the computer, I'm doing light internet browsing or navigating windows.

NEVER outside of windows. I can spend hours running diagnostics in the bios and it will never crash.


Suggested Causes, Solutions and Inconsistencies/Contadictions.

Keep in mind that my knowledge of hardware/software issues is basic at best.

CPU, GPU and RAM: None of the diagnostics I've run have found any problems with any of them. And if it was a GPU issue, then why would it also affect the wifi? Why doesn't it ever happen when I'm gaming and running hot?

HARD DISK DRIVE: Definitely not. My first assumption was that I had too many bad sectors. I tried installing a fresh HDD and I still had the problem after windows was loaded back on. None of the diagnostics I've run have found any HDD issues.

TEMPERATURE: Very unlikely. I mostly use my computer for gaming so it spends very long periods of time running very hot. Yet none of the crashes have ever happened to occur while I was gaming. I still haven't run any programs to check the temps, but if it was a heating/cooling issue then I probably wouldn't be able to game on it the way that I do. Most of the time it happens while windows is running, I'm not even using the computer. The few times it does happen while i'm in the middle of using it, I've been web browsing, or navigating file; very light stuff.

WINDOWS/SOFTWARE/VIRUS: I don't know what to make of this. On one hand, the issue only occurs while windows is starting up, coming out of standby, or while it's just sitting there in windows. Never outside, so I would think it's a software issue. On the other hand, replacing the HDD and doing a fresh install of windows didn't solve the problem, which makes it look like a hardware issue.

DRIVER AND UPDATES: HP support assistant tells me that my bios and all of my drivers are up-to-date.

LOOSE/WEAK SOLDER JOINTS: I'm usually not even touching the computer when it crashes, so I don't think it's a loose solder joint. Also, if it was a weak solder joint, I would think that it would be more likely to happen when the temps are running high enough to warp the joint. But it never happens when my computer is running hottest. Of course, I'm making a lot of assumptions here.


I'm hoping that someone can help me find a solution, but I can deal with these issues as long as they don't get any worse or damage my hardware. I really can't afford a new computer (not even a cheapo that would probably out-perform this old dog). The crashes aren't frequent enough that I can't use my computer and get some solid game-time in.