Newly-bought refurbished computer frequently freezes and crashes.

That's how activation works in Windows 10. When you first activate a legal copy of Windows the Microsoft activation servers store your hardware ID (made up of a CPU identifier and a motherboard identifier). If you reinstall Windows the activation process sends your hardware ID to the activation servers, which recognise a valid license and activates Windows.

In your System log there are a couple of entries that are of concern...

Code:

Event[661]:
  Log Name: System
  Source: Service Control Manager
  Date: 2023-08-05T23:38:45.2160000Z
  Event ID: 7001
  Task: N/A
  Level: Error
  Opcode: N/A
  Keyword: Classic
  User: N/A
  User Name: N/A
  Computer: DESKTOP-QUPKJ33
  Description: 
The hns service depends on the VfpExt service which failed to start because of the following error: 
A device attached to the system is not functioning.

Event[662]:
  Log Name: System
  Source: Service Control Manager
  Date: 2023-08-05T23:38:45.6280000Z
  Event ID: 7000
  Task: N/A
  Level: Error
  Opcode: N/A
  Keyword: Classic
  User: N/A
  User Name: N/A
  Computer: DESKTOP-QUPKJ33
  Description: 
The VMSP service failed to start due to the following error: 
Insufficient system resources exist to complete the requested service.

Both these errors point towards some sort of hardware issue.

In your Application log there are activation errors...

Code:

Event[62]:
  Log Name: Application
  Source: Microsoft-Windows-Security-SPP
  Date: 2023-08-05T00:03:45.2960000Z
  Event ID: 8198
  Task: N/A
  Level: Error
  Opcode: N/A
  Keyword: Classic
  User: N/A
  User Name: N/A
  Computer: DESKTOP-QUPKJ33
  Description: 
License Activation (slui.exe) failed with the following error code:
hr=0x80072EE7
Command-line arguments:
RuleId=31e71c49-8da7-4a2f-ad92-45d98a1c79ba;Action=AutoActivate;AppId=55c92734-d682-4d71-983e-d6ec3f16059f;SkuId=bd3762d7-270d-4760-8fb3-d829ca45278a;NotificationInterval=1440;Trigger=TimerEvent

Can you please open up a command prompt and enter the command slmgr /dlv. A small window will pop up, please post a screenshot of that small window.

Paul Black said:

Hello @hbenthow,

MS do NOT make it easy, especially with OEM, Retail, Volume, UEFI/BIOS [ embedded ] etc. and the introduction of Digital Licenses.

I normally use these for Product Key - Partial, Product Key, and Product Key - Backup Default [Registry]:

Copy & Paste the following commands ONE at a time into a CMD Prompt and press Enter.

The partial product key that I got from that first command matches the full key from the second command. However, the backup default key from the the third command is different (it's the same one that the registry editor showed).

I'm about to pack up the computer and send it off tomorrow, as, for certain reasons, it's my last chance to do so for a while (and I think that the chance that a replacement will fix the issue is worth taking). When the replacement comes in, I'll report whether it works correctly or also malfunctions. In the meantime, I'll still be watching this thread on my phone in case anyone replies before the replacement comes.

hbenthow said:

I'm about to pack up the computer and send it off tomorrow....

IMO you made the right choice. It shouldn't be up to you to fix a faulty product, refurbished or not.

I received the replacement computer yesterday. Within a few hours of using it, I experienced another freeze. I found out that the installation of Windows on it was apparently made using something called SysPrep. I found this out after Googling a key called CloneTag that I found in the computer's registry (the name of which piqued my interest).

From what I understand, this means that the installation of Windows included with the computer may not be very clean, and it's possible that this could be related to the problem. The odds of two computers having the exact same problem due to both having the same faulty Windows installation seems higher than the odds of both happening to have faults in the exact same hardware, so I'm hoping that it may be a Windows problem rather than a hardware one.

After finding and recording the Windows product key and backup key and making a Macrium system image backup just in case, I proceeded to clean install Windows 10, using instructions from this forum. Interestingly, I didn't have to re-register the installation at any point. After the clean install, the command prompt was able to instantly find the same product key and backup key already registered.

After making another Macrium backup, I installed the latest drivers for the Quadro M2000 graphics card that was included in the computer (I downloaded the drivers directly from the NVIDIA website), made yet another Macrium backup, let Windows Update download and install updates (including some drivers), then made another Macrium backup.

Currently, the Device Manager has a warning showing that three drivers are apparently missing:



Windows Update shows the following under "Optional Updates":



Should I select and install all of them? And if I do, should this fix the warnings in the device manager?

What should my next steps be?

Firstly, are you CERTAIN that this is a different computer? It is most unusual for two different computers to have the same issue.

Sysprep is the normal way that OEMs and system integrators install Windows. Sysprep 'generalises' a Windows image making it deployable on any hardware. This image however doesn't contain the necessary drivers for the hardware it's deployed on, so the seller should have installed all necessary drivers before shipping and it's evident that they haven't done that.

If this were me, I'd return this replacement and ask for your money back. The seller doesn't seem very reputable.

If you want to keep it though then yes, you should install all these drivers and that should fix the Device Manager missing driver errors. Keep running Windows Update (across reboots) however, until no more updates are found and every device in Device Manager has a driver installed.

ubuysa said:

Firstly, are you CERTAIN that this is a different computer?

It has a different Windows product key and backup key than the other computer (and from what I understand, those are tied to the hardware), and when I looked within the case before booting it up, I saw that the SSD was a different brand, and there was an extra SATA cable that wasn't included with the first computer. The outside of the case also seems to have a different pattern of shelf wear. I'm pretty sure it's a different computer.

It is most unusual for two different computers to have the same issue.

That's why I think it may be a Windows issue rather than a hardware one. Both seem to have essentially the same installation of Windows (via SysPrep), so maybe that's why they have the same problems. My clean install of Windows may have fixed the problems, although I don't know yet (so far, there have been no freezes since I performed the clean install).

Sysprep is the normal way that OEMs and system integrators install Windows. Sysprep 'generalises' a Windows image making it deployable on any hardware. This image however doesn't contain the necessary drivers for the hardware it's deployed on, so the seller should have installed all necessary drivers before shipping and it's evident that they haven't done that.

They did include all the drivers in their installation of Windows. It's my clean install that's missing some drivers, since it wiped out all traces of the refurbishers' installation, including the drivers.

If this were me, I'd return this replacement and ask for your money back. The seller doesn't seem very reputable.

The seller is called Teksavers, and I bought it from them through Newegg. They seem to have positive reviews from what I can find, but I don't exactly how high their standards are when it comes to the quality of their refurbishing jobs.

Returning the computer is still an option if the problem persists, but I want to try to see if clean installing Windows has fixed the issue and to only return the computer if it hasn't and the hardware is the problem.

If you want to keep it though then yes, you should install all these drivers and that should fix the Device Manager missing driver errors. Keep running Windows Update (across reboots) however, until no more updates are found and every device in Device Manager has a driver installed.

Thank you for clarifying that. I'll install them.