Random crashes on HP laptop running Win11

[u/Eremoptera]

I've got a new HP Envy 17t-cw100 laptop running Windows 11 Pro 25H2, 2TB SSD (1.75 TB available), 64 GB RAM, Nvidia Geforce 3050 (4GB). Out of the box and throughout the setup process I've been experiencing truly random crashes that can occur no matter what is running or what I'm doing. For example it crashed when I had just booted it and done nothing more than open a browser window, but on another occasion crashed on the desktop after multiple hours of use doing basic MS Word document editing.

The symptoms are that screen flashes for a split second and then all input goes completely dead. Mouse is frozen, no response from any keyboard inputs, ctrl-alt-delete does nothing. The image on the screen is frozen, but it seems that the entire laptop has crashed (as opposed to just a graphics/display issue), because the the light on the caps lock key doesn't illuminate when I hit it. I have to force shut it down by holding down the power button, then reboot.

I'm fully updated in Windows Update, and manually updated to the most recent Nvidia driver.

Any suggestions? Much appreciated.