HP bricks ProBook laptops with bad BIOS delivered via automatic updates — many users face black screen after Windows pushes new firmware

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HP / Microsoft seems to have removed the bugged BIOS download now.

HP ProBook 455 G7
(Image credit: HP)

6/11/2024 update: After reaching out to HP about this issue, we've received an official response from the company, included below. The original article continues after the brief statement from HP.

HP is aware of a potential issue with a recently released BIOS update that could impact the HP ProBook x360 435 G7, HP ProBook 445 G7, HP ProBook 455 G7, HP EliteBook 835 G7, HP EliteBook 845 G7, and HP EliteBook 855 G7. We’re continuing to investigate the issue and work closely with impacted customers. Customers who may have experienced this issue should contact HP Support.

On May 26, a user on HP's support forums reported that a forced, automatic BIOS update had bricked their HP ProBook 455 G7 into an unusable state. Subsequently, other users have joined the thread to sound off about experiencing the same issue.

If you've ever updated the BIOS manually on a PC, you may recall that there are usually warnings against making such updates while not charged, not powered on, or running background tasks that may interfere with updating system files. The BIOS is generally understood to be one of the most sensitive components of your system, with unexpected issues likely to result in crashes or even bricked systems like our main example.

This common knowledge regarding BIOS software would, then, seem to make automatic, forced BIOS updates a real issue, even if it weren't breaking anything. Allowing the user to manually install and prepare their systems for a BIOS update is key to preventing issues like this. Some users are pointing out that these auto-updates are so overzealous that they'll even start on a laptop that has just booted with minimal battery power reserves. This seems to be one of the more common causes of upset, as well.

At the time of writing, HP has made no official comment on the matter — and since this battery update was forced on laptops originally released in 2020, this issue has also bricked hardware outside of the warranty window, when previously users could simply send in the laptop for a free repair. Forum users reporting on the issue claim that no help from HP seems to work, only specialist ROM programming hardware seems to have the potential to fix the issue, so far.

Overall, this isn't a very good look for HP, particularly its BIOS update practices. The fragility of BIOS software should have tipped off the powers at be at HP about the lack of foresight in this release model, and now we're seeing it in full force with forced, bugged BIOS updates that kill laptops. A few users also seem to be reporting similar issues with some HP desktops, but HP ProBook 455 G7 laptops seem to be by far the most impacted.

Hopefully, HP will take action to right their wrongs here, soon. Your paying customers deserve better than to get forced updates that break the hardware they paid you for, 2020 laptop or not. This kind of practice certainly won't bring them back to you whenever they decide it's time to buy a new Ultrabook or pro laptop, particularly considering the professional branding and focus.

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Christopher Harper
Christopher Harper
Contributing Writer

Christopher Harper has been a successful freelance tech writer specializing in PC hardware and gaming since 2015, and ghostwrote for various B2B clients in High School before that. Outside of work, Christopher is best known to friends and rivals as an active competitive player in various eSports (particularly fighting games and arena shooters) and a purveyor of music ranging from Jimi Hendrix to Killer Mike to the Sonic Adventure 2 soundtrack.

30 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Alvar "Miles" Udell
    This kind of practice certainly won't bring them back to you whenever they decide it's time to buy a new Ultrabook or pro laptop, particularly considering the professional branding and focus.

    No it won't, same way HP's printer practices over the last couple of decades haven't kept people from buying them. Especially when it comes to business use, what are the alternatives? Dell, or Chinese owned Lenovo.
    Reply
  • kerberos_20
    does a second backup bios chip costs companies that much to not include them? :/ (3 bucks at best lol)
    Reply
  • Alvar "Miles" Udell
    The same companies who put hundreds of percent markup on storage and memory? It'd add $50 to the price at least!
    Reply
  • jojosbuddy
    This is the same antics Lenovo did on most of their laptops, a lot bricked over the years needing a send in repair or CH341A hack. In the end it was really windows update that bricked everyone due to MS not working with the OEMs directly.

    Most bios chips have a firmware backup option but the OEMs never have them turned on by default. Hence it's a he said she said problem.
    Reply
  • ukperson
    As long as the boot block wasn't corrupted and it's actively detecting main bios code as a corrupted you can usually put the update onto a usb stick in a certen folder and it will auto repair (


    it's it's not beeping just flat black screen then yes hp/Microsoft need to coff up some money for repair, bios updates shouldn't be done via Windows update unless the system has a working recovery bios boot mechanism (like below) and checks for power connected and battery is above 50% at the same time

    had it happen to a hp desktop where I did the update in windows it erased the bios then failed to write the update and then told windows to restart and got lots of beeps (didn't touch it for 5 months as I didn't realise it had a built in recovery just had to wait 30 seconds while it was beeping to trigger recovery mode and plug in a usb stick with the bios on there)
    Reply
  • purposelycryptic
    I have always hated forced automatic updates - it's my damned machine, and no one has the right to push anything to it without my explicitly authorizing it, not in some ToS wall of text, but manually, each time, unless I make the conscious decision otherwise - but force-pushing BIOS updates is just a couple hundred steps too far.

    I don't even want that capability to exist on my machines. BIOS upgrades/installation should be restricted to local, manual user-initiated action only.

    It's like getting a colonoscopy: I don't want drones dropping from the sky to shove a probe up my butt when it happens to be convenient for the doctor, and I don't want anyone force installing BIOS changes on my machine whenever they feel like it.

    This really shouldn't even be up for discussion.
    Reply
  • hotaru251
    this issue has also bricked hardware outside of the warranty window

    if its a forced update by the manufacturer that the user had no control over that damages device.....that should be covered even outside warranty and if they denied it they'd likely lose a class action lawsuit if someone started one up over it.


    No device update should ever be forced (Windows has shown us time and again why its bad).
    Bios specifically is a "unless its not workign dont update" for msot people as its a known risk factor.
    Reply
  • das_stig
    Funny how my company use automatic updates on our 8000+ Dells using their own app and I think I can count on one hand how many failed to complete a bios update, many not down to a bios issue but some other hardware glitch.
    Reply
  • CmdrShepard
    This article is total BS -- poorly researched, written just for outrage and click generation.

    If you read the thread of complaints linked in the article, the very first post says:
    I started the BIOS upgrade for my HP Probook 455 G7 initiated by HP Support Assitant.
    The second post:
    I have the same problem. I started the update from the BIOS, the update began, the screen went black, and now the PC turns on, but nothing happens.
    The fourth post:
    HP Authorized Service suggested that the BIOS in the Windows Update patch is faulty, but installing version 1.17 straight from the BIOS, via the Internet or using Support Assistant, the effect is the same. The service technician replaced the motherboard and updated the BIOS from version 1.14 to version 1.17. Upgrading from versions 1.15 and 1.16 causes the problem.
    So, the lazy author who wrote the title didn't even have to read the whole complaint thread to understand that:

    1. There was no forced update -- in most of the complaints they were either self-initiated or allowed
    2. Windows Update is not to blame, because firmware updates can be disabled in BIOS (“Native OS Firmware Update Service” set to disable)
    Reply
  • TheyCallMeContra
    CmdrShepard said:
    This article is total BS -- poorly researched, written just for outrage and click generation.

    If you read the thread of complaints linked in the article, the very first post says:

    The second post:

    The fourth post:

    So, the lazy author who wrote the title didn't even have to read the whole complaint thread to understand that:

    1. There was no forced update -- in most of the complaints they were either self-initiated or allowed
    2. Windows Update is not to blame, because firmware updates can be disabled in BIOS (“Native OS Firmware Update Service” set to disable)

    I, the author, did not pick the title. You'll notice Windows Update isn't mentioned once in this entire piece.

    But also, plenty of people referred directly to the BIOS updates being forced start on their laptops, including a user who had it happen within moments of starting to charge a laptop on an empty battery. I spent plenty of time on this. I certainly read more than four posts.

    For that matter, even in situations where the BIOS update wasn't automatically forced, it's still a pretty bad look for a major PC manufacturer to be pushing BIOS updates that brick hardware outside of warranty...something people should perhaps know about, especially if they own the HP laptop in question.
    Reply