Envy, not so much!

[DavidMorel]

I was in need of a new computer for my photo editing...decided to go laptop this time and settled on the HP Envy 17. The laptop should be great for what I want to do and was excited to have it show up today!

 I unboxed it, plugged it in and booted it up. Windows started its setup routine and asked for my name and password, I entered, then Boom! Blue screen of death! Tried re-booting, fail, os would not load! Called HP support, they tried a few things, no luck! Next we tried the recovery discs, failed! Support said the recovery discs must be corrupted. They said no worries, have two options to address this. I am thinking one of the options would be to download the discs, nope! They could overnight or replace the computer. No way to get me up and running today. How could they not have them available for download? That is crazy!

 So...i am waiting until tomorrow...unless they fail to get it out in time and then it would be Monday! My spidey sense is telling me the discs will arrive and nothing will be different, the discs will not work, telling me that there are other problems, and i will have to send the laptop back.

 Got to love the technology!

[DavidPK · Accepted solution]

Hi,

I would suggest trying the following procedure - this should tell you whether there is a physical ( ie Hardware ) problem with the notebook or if the issue is with the initial Windows 7 image/Recovery procedure.

If you have ( or can borrow ) a retail Windows 7 installation disc that is exactly the same version as your original OEM installation - ie as your notebook came with Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit this is the exact retail version you would need.

If you don't have access to a retail disc, you can create an installation disc yourself on another PC - just download the correct Disc Image from the link below and use an application such as ImgBurn to burn the ISO correctly to a blank DVD - a guide on using ImgBurn to write an ISO to a disc is Here.  These Images are clean and from a well-respected source, however there are only limited versions available.

Windows-7 sp1-iso-official-32-bit-and-64-bit

Use the disc to perform the installation, enter the Windows activation key found on the underside of your notebook when requested and when the installation has completed, use the 'Phone Method' detailed in the link below to activate the OS - this method supported by Microsoft and is popular with people who just want a clean installation of Windows 7 without the additional software load normally bundled with OEM installations.

http://www.kodyaz.com/articles/how-to-activate-windows-7-by-phone.aspx

Any additional software and drivers you may need can be found starting Here.

If you still get the Blue Screen issue with what is essentially a clean installation of Windows 7, you can be fairly certain it's a Hardware issue.

Does this install Ok?

Regards,

DP-K

[DavidMorel]

Thank you! I did the bios test for the memory and all went well. The primary drive failed, but the secondary drive is passing with flying colors. I am thinking i can move the secondary over to the primary slot and use the recovery disks i have to get up and running, Think that will work?

[Mumbodog]

I would get it repaired under warranty, that way you get a new hard drive for the failed one.

[DavidMorel]

They are sending me a new drive, but i am trying to get up and running sooner than later. When the new drive comes in, i will use that as my secondary and send the bad drive back to HP.

[Mumbodog]

Oh, that is better than sending in the laptop for repairs, yes, move the drive and use the HP recovery discs.

[DavidMorel]

Well...the plot thickens! My friend swapped drives, ran the recovery twice, both times completed but when he booted, received the following error:  “The recovery attempt has failed.  Select one of the following buttons:  Save Log, Details or Retry.”  He suspects the recovery disks might be bad, have some arriving today via fedex. A search of the internet found many cases of that error and everyone being told bad recovery discs were the culprit, but no follow up by any of those that had the issue for confirmation.  Does HP really have that kind of issue with recovery discs? Makes me worried about my choice of computer. Funny, just realized they have a whole section on this forum for Recovery...that might have been my first clue of their issues!

By the way, my friend was able to format the "bad" drive and via diagnostic software he determined the drive was fine. I guess it was just bad sectors on the drive. I still plan to swap it out. 

[Mumbodog]

That recovery error is usually due to the wireless being disabled during recovery, it needs to be turned ON during recovery.

See this

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c01612373&cc=us&lc=en&dlc=en

[DavidMorel]

We had the wireless on...but thanks anyway.

[Mumbodog]

Did you read the link I posted?

"A recovery process can fail if it is interrupted by pressing the keys, or turning off the power before the recovery is complete. The recovery process will pause for several minutes when it finishes reinstalling the operating system. If any user action is performed, or if the power is turned off, the recovery may fail. Do not press any computer keys and allow the process to unbundle and setup the original software programs. The recovery process is not complete until a prompt is displayed to log on to the computer."