Reset BIOS, now it crashes on startup

[selendra]

Hello all. I recently reset my computer's BIOS to try to solve a fan detection issue, and now the computer crashes halfway through the Windows logo every time. In safe mode, it crashes after loading the "disc" and "CLASSPMP" drivers.  I can't access my manuals since I can't boot the computer to get to the HP assistant. Any advice? 

Some background information on what I've already tried:

Basically, I have this computer: https://support.hp.com/za-en/document/c03298983  Got it back in 2012-ish, and it's definitely starting to show its age. For some reason the message "S12-Rear Chassis fan not detected" keeps popping up at startup, even though the rear chassis fan seems to work perfectly fine. Unplugging and re-plugging it into the motherboard doesn't fix the error message.  

Someone recommended that I try resetting the BIOS before going to buy new fans, just in case, so I accessed the BIOS menu by pressing ESC on startup to to get to the Startup Menu, then went to Computer Setup (F10) to access the BIOS menu, then hit “Apply Defaults and Exit”. I can still access the Startup Menu at launch and the System Restore menu, but nothing else. 

I tried manually resetting the BIOS by removing the battery for 10 minutes and then replacing it; my computer showed me a new screen that said “BIOS default loaded”, and tried to boot, but it still won’t go past the Windows Logo screen before crashing and putting me at the System Restore screen.

On the System Restore screen, I get the following error messages: with startup repair it says StartupRepairOffline. With System restore it says "You must specify which Windows installation to restore. Restart, select an operating system, and then select system restore." System image recovery says the files were not found. Memory diagnostic says "Windows cannot check for memory problems. An error is preventing Windows from checking for memory problems."

[mdklassen]

> On the System Restore screen, I get the following error messages: 

> with startup repair it says StartupRepairOffline.

Does that mean "offline", as in "no Internet connection", or "offline", as in unable to access a hidden partition on the disk-drive that contains most of the "Startup Repair" diagnostic software?

> With System restore it says "You must specify which Windows installation to restore.

> Restart, select an operating system, and then select system restore.

You might have a 'C:\WINDOWS.OLD' folder, in addition to the usual 'C:\WINDOWS' folder.

It is asking you to choose between these folders.

Or, if you have more than one disk-drive in your computer, the second disk-drive could contain a '\WINDOWS' folder.

> " System image recovery says the files were not found.

If you have never before created a "system image recovery set", such a non-existent file cannot be found.

> Memory diagnostic says "Windows cannot check for memory problems.

> An error is preventing Windows from checking for memory problems."

It could be an error on the disk-drive that makes it impossible to load the memory-checking program from the disk-drive.

[selendra]

> Does that mean "offline", as in "no Internet connection", or "offline",

> as in unable to access a hidden partition on the disk-drive that contains

> most of the "Startup Repair" diagnostic software?

I assume it means offline as in unable to access, because this is happening on a screen where the computer SHOULDN'T have internet access to begin with. Startup Repair doesn't need internet to function. 

> You might have a 'C:\WINDOWS.OLD' folder, in addition to the usual 'C:\WINDOWS' folder.

> It is asking you to choose between these folders.

> Or, if you have more than one disk-drive in your computer,

> the second disk-drive could contain a '\WINDOWS' folder.

I have only one disc drive, so it's not that. How do I choose between the folders? The error message that pops up does not give me an option to select a folder, it just says "exit, select, and try again." But exiting puts me into the same loop of the computer crashing, so I can't select anything. 

[mdklassen]

>  ... does not give me an option to select a folder, it just says "exit, select ...

Oh.    

I wish that you could do a screen-capture with your smart-phone, and post that picture here.

[selendra]

Ask and ye shall receive!  http://imgur.com/a/7ecqu

File was too big to upload, so I had to link instead. 

[mdklassen]

> "Operating system: Unknown on (Unknown) Local Disk"

Wow!  That really is a strange message.

It probably means that the file-system on your disk-drive is so tucked-down that the (allegedly) existing Windows installation cannot be located.

Plan B:

1. Buy a new disk-drive;

2. Remove the current disk-drive;

3. Connect the new disk-drive;

4. Re-install Windows onto the new disk-drive;

5. Reconnect the old disk-drive as a "secondary" disk-drive;

6. Copy all your Personal Files from "old" to "new".

This assumes that the file-system is not totally messed-up, i.e., even though Windows will not boot, your personal folder, something like 'drive-letter:\users\owner', is still accessible, and is readable.

[selendra]

Alright, so assuming we go with Plan B: 

1. How much is a new disk-drive going to cost?
2. How can I reinstall windows, given that my computer originally came with it installed?
3. Why did this happen when I reset the BIOS in the first place, and how can I avoid this happening in the future?

[mdklassen]

> 1. How much is a new disk-drive going to cost?

To compare, how much does a Fiat 500 cost?  The same price as a Ferrari?

What currency do you use?  Euro?  Icelandic Kronor? 

Do you want a "consumer" disk-drive product, or a higher-quality "server" product?

What disk capacity do you want? 

The smallest currently available is either 500 GB or 1000 GB, and the largest commonly available is eight times larger, if you can afford it.

> 2. How can I reinstall Windows, given that my computer originally came with it installed?

Do you have a "System Recovery" partition hidden on your disk-drive?  Use it to reinstall Windows, after backing-up, to an external device, your Personal Files.

Do you have a DVD disk that contain the original HP-modified version of Windows? If so, then boot from it, after backing-up, on an external device, your Personal Files.

See: https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/selfservice/swdetails/hp-prodesk-400-g4-microtower-pc/15292287/...?

It may be possible to download the original HP software (on another computer).

> 3. Why did this happen when I reset the BIOS in the first place, and how can I avoid this happening in the future?

I think that it happened because you reset the BIOS.  Avoid doing that again.

[iomare · Accepted solution]

Hi,

Are you still able to acess Bios? If not try removing the hard disk and acess Bios.

Now can you tell me what the settings for hard disk conroller are ( sata, ide, ahci) Try changing these settings and rebooting the PC with hard drive attached to motherboard.

Let me know,

David

[selendra]

Thank you so much, David! That fixed the issue! ❤️  

I could still access the BIOS by pressing ESC on startup. The SATA Emulation was set to RAID, and I changed it to AHCI and now everything seems to work just fine. Typing this from my functional computer!