Windows 8.1 Keeps freezing any help?

I was having very similar problems after the upgrade from 8 (very stable) to 8.1.  I noticed this happened after the machine had been idle for some time, monitor was sometimes off already but the machine was not asleep.  After a mouse move or key press monitor would turn on, mouse pointer would move, num lock would turn on and off, but the programs and applications were locked up.  Only way to fix was to use power button to reset.

There a few references to this problem on the web bu searching for "windows 8.1 locking up"

Not sure if it was stable before updates but I applied some Windows Updates shortly after the upgrade to 8.1 and then I noticed the problem fairly consistently when the machine was idle (should have gone to sleep).

My machine is an HP Z400 workstation, XEON W3520 CPU, 12 GB RAM, 1TB SEAGATE drive, NVIDIA Quadro FX 380.

I was considering re-installing 8.1 from scratch but I decide to make sure that all the drivers were up to date.

1. Updated the BIOS to the latest version (previous was from 2009).  My theory is that this was the culprit as it would be involved in the wake up/sleep process
2. Updated video drivers
3. Updated sound drivers
4. Updated storage drivers

I have not noticed the problem since then (this am) and the machine has gone to sleep and woken up a few times since then.

I will post an update in a few days to see if it is still working correctly.

Switching to Apple machines is going to be expensive, and I wonder how compatible Apple office products are with Microsoft Office (I have no experience with Apple).  In your situation I would consider loading your current PCs with either Linux Mint 16 or Ubuntu, depending on which sort of desktop you like.  Both of these come with Libre Office, which is compatible with Microsoft Office and a more than adequate replacement for it.  And there are at least three adequate (free) replacements for Outlook.  It is possible that there would be no need to replace your server software, although if you did want to, you could run Apache on Linux.

Two advantages of the Linux switch are (1) you don't need to replace your current PCs, and (2) the software is all free.

Or you could reload Windows 7.  Or you could do both; it's easy to dual-boot Linux with Windows, making adaptation and training easy.  Linux can access the Windows (NTFS) file partitions with no trouble, so there's no need to duplicate data.  I dual-boot Linux Mint and Windows 8.1 with no problem; networking to other computers over a LAN was a slight hassle initially, but I've sussed it now.  You wouldn't have to change over all your PCs at once; you could do it one at a time while your staff gets used to it.

It would however be advisable to make sure first that you can get hold of a Linux consultant if necessary.

The solution here is simple. Uninstall windows 8.1 for god sake and never install it again. I am doing some research development in Engineering field ... For that purpose I have to run simulations, that usually run for several days. At some point couple of weeks ago I realized, that I need a new laptop to conduct more simulations at once... So I bought a Samsung for 1.3k euro, for a best performance :). Gone through the sick process of updating windows 8 to 8.1, read like tons of forum posts to setup that ****, so it wont lag. Finally it all worked well and I started my first simulation. After three days my laptop's desktop was frozen ... Today I was installing windows 7 for about 9 hours and finally done it. I hate you microsoft, worst service ever.