HP Pavilion a6720y Not Booting up, BIOS + HDD problems

[abc8520]

So I've got this desktop, running Win 64-bit, and it hasn't been able to boot up. It got up to the Windows loading screen (where the Windows logo just pauses after the animation is done and just stays on that, doesn't actually boot up to the desktop or anything. At first I thought it might be some bad files or sectors and it would mean just wiping the HDD or maybe the HDD died on me.

I tried to see if I could reformat it, but when I first tried to install a new Window 7 64-bit OS on top of it, it said the error "Error 0x80300001 install error"

After that i changed some settings in the BIOS a bit to see if I could fix it, or change the boot order to try repairing the drive, but now I've changed it so it looks like this when it boots up:

-=-=-=-=-=-

AMBIOS (c) 2008 American Megtrans, Inc.

Copyright 2008 by Hewlett-Packard Company

BIOS Revision 5.08______Bios date: 02/03/2009

{then some information about the system like its CPU, RAM, etc}

Initializing USB Controllers

Done.

Press <F10> to enter Setup
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

I press F10, but nothing happens. I've tried this with 2 different keyboards (not USB keyboards, just the old PS/2 keyboard).

I was wondering if there is something i can do to fix this; either change around/unplug/replug something or somehow reset the BIOS to its factory default settings.

From what it says on the motherboard, it looks like the motherboard is a "Pegatron m2n78-la".

Any advice/help would be greatly appreciated!

[vasilis1965]

I have a similar problem.  Called HP (India).  They had me go and change cables etc.  There is another listing that mentions a recent BIOS update problem that caused the fan to speed.  Since this computer is used by my wife and kids I did not notice it and it may have caused the problem I have now.  The BIOS does not recognize the DVD or HD.  This is the posting but for me it is probably too late.

http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Other-Desktop-PC-questions/To-all-with-M2N78-LA-CPU-fan-constantly-chan...

[Big_Dave]

Hi abc8520,

Try clearing the CMOS and then see if you can get into the BIOS.  You have to tap F10 several times at the HP blue screen.

If you can't get into the bios then disconnect the hard drive(s) and the optical drive and see if you can get into the bios. Unplug everything but the monitor, keyboard and mouse.

The motherboard in your PC has a bad history.

Are you using a genuine Windows 7 64 bit installation CD?