Surface Pro 7 shutting down randomly

Anonymous

If the device stays idle for a minute it directly shuts down. I have checked all the sleep and power settings and that's not an issue. I see this was an issue in previous versions too. **Any fix?**There are some answers to this which might have worked for some (marked as answer), but definitely not for everyone. If you face it, I strongly recommend returning it as the stress during this whole process is ridiculous and not worth it.

UPDATE:

After going through returning and rebuying 4 surface pro 7 devices (thanks to Costco). I decided to ditch it. The worst part is that Costco has essentially banned me from buying any laptops from them, even though I repeatedly told them that the devices were having issues. I just loved the device for its utility and I really wanted it to work out. Microsoft and Costco should beashamed** of this.

The first 3 devices were returned in <1-2 months. The 4th one stayed longest (3 months), not because it was perfect but because of the pandemic. I loved the device in general. I was hoping I would not have problems with the 4th device. I did not have the random shutdowns but I started having

sudden blue screens with faulty_hardware error
the display would just temporarily turn off even though the machine is working(happened during a zoom call, when they could still see and hear me but my screen was black)
The s creen had a 2cm square with distorted pixels (picture), out of the blue while I was working. It went back to normal automatically

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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Anonymous

Hey Everyone,

A fix is now available for the unexpected device shutdown through Windows Update:

Surface Pro 7 June 2020 update, https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4526363/surface-pro-7-update-history

Surface Laptop 3 with Intel processor June 2020 update, https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4526150/surface-laptop-3-update-history

Thanks,

BryanH [MSFT]

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510 additional answers

Anonymous

2020-04-04T14:36:40+00:00

While we wait for word from Microsoft, the below workarounds have proved legitimate. Option #4 has worked for many of us that had the same problem as you.

Option 1: Remove "Modern Standby" features and create a new (non-balanced) power plan:

Open the Registry Editor and navigate to "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Power".

Change the "CsEnabled" value from '1' to '0'. Click OK and restart the Surface Pro.

Create a new power plan using one of the newly available plan options. (I chose "High performance" and didn't bother changing any of its settings.)

Option 2: Change the display drivers to the Microsoft Basic Display Adapter:

Open the Device Manager.

Expand "Display Adapters".

Right-click on "Intel(R) Iris(R) Plus Graphics" and select "Update driver".

Choose "Browse my computer for driver software".

Choose "Let me pick from a list of available drivers on my computer".

Select "Microsoft Basic Display Adapter" and click Next to install the drivers.

Option 3: Update the display drivers to the latest version (from Intel, not Microsoft):

Download the latest display drivers from Intel as a ZIP file: https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/29426/Intel-Graphics-Windows-10-DCH-Drivers

Extract the files from the ZIP file to a local folder.

Open the Device Manager.

Expand "Display Adapters".

Right-click on "Intel(R) Iris(R) Plus Graphics" and select "Update driver".

Choose "Browse my computer for driver software".

Choose "Let me pick from a list of available drivers on my computer".

Select the "Have Disk" button and browse to the folder containing the extracted files.

In the "Graphics" subfolder, select the file "iigd_dch.inf" and click OK.

Click Next to install the latest Iris Plus drivers. (This also installs the Intel Graphics Command Center application by default.)

Before posting anything, I wanted to wait until I had time to test each of these "solutions" on multiple Surface Pro 7 devices. They all seemed to work, but obviously each comes with their own pros and cons:

Pros: Stops the crashing...

Cons: Requires registry changes and reboots. Removes quality of life features: quick wake from sleep and battery power settings.

Pros: Easiest to implement and fastest way to stop the crashing.

Cons: Initially changes display settings (display scaling primarily). Removes color profile switching and possible GPU benefits.

Pros: Official drivers don't remove any features. Includes several months of potential bug fixes versus Microsoft's current version.

Cons: Goes against official Microsoft recommendations. Unsure how Windows Update will handle driver updates in the future.

Then, while I was still testing, user 'rfh2001' posted another possible solution:

Option 4: Disable the "Panel Self Refresh" option in the Intel Graphics Command Center:

"I've fixed it on my SP7 i5/8G/256G by installing the Intel Graphics Command Center from the Microsoft Store, opening it, going to System>Power>Panel Self Refresh and turning it off for both "On Battery" and "Plugged In"."
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Anonymous

2020-04-04T15:20:29+00:00

Option 4 is apparently working for me.

The Surface is not switching off when on battery.

I will write updates if I will get blue screen.

Does anyone recommend to ask for a replacement or this will be fine in future with updates?
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Anonymous

2020-04-04T16:25:57+00:00

I'm having the same issues as voice previously. screenshot attached.
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Anonymous

2020-04-04T17:57:42+00:00

mine is the same...1st month thought it was me and the software i was using, cleared all extra software and tried repair and full replacent of win 10 but still displaying all the issues, started web search and ended up here...by which time it was past 30 day return policy for refund.

tried all the options, 4 worked for a week, even installed the intel lastest driver via the workround but it didnt resolve the basic issues...freeze...shutdown...blue screen and hard reboots.

So had to agree to 'repair / replacement' due to JL closure advised to send direct to microsoft...did this friday and waiting for the return, if its still the same issues which will take a couple of weeks to document this will still be within the 6mth of ownership. I will then be asking for a refund under the GB consumer law as the issues are from start of ownership.

I have emailed microsoft CEO...no reply, emailed various it mags who have done great reviews, nome want to highlight this issue so we are alone.

I wish you luck but don't think mircosoft can solve this quickly. they had an issue with an earlier surface!

pro 7 i5 128 8 ....christmas purchase 800£ with k'bd?.....shame it dosen't perform as designed.
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