Windows 7 Home will not boot

[Lucha_fan]

The system no longer boots up as normal. It is laggy and stays on black screens for an extended period of time. It then goes to a launch start up repair menu screen (automatically), spends another screen loading files only to arrive and sit at a blue screen for an indefinite amount of time. There is never any recovery manager menu for this pc. Is there any software for me offered by HP to fix this? I have successfully f8ed into safe mode, only for it to freeze when loading files.  I have attempted f11 on startup, only to be greeted by a blue screen with nothing but the mouse pointer on it. I have another computer and a flash drive handy, is there some way to get this thing at least to factory settings?

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi:

It sounds to me like you have a bad memory module in there causing havoc.

I recommend if you have more than one memory module installed, remove all but one and test each module in the primary memory slot and see if your PC works correctly with one memory module installed.

If it does, keep testing each one until you come across the memory module that is causing the problems.

Then replace it.

HP no longer sells recovery media for that model series.

You may be able to order a recovery kit from this vendor at the link below, but you will need to enter the exact model number or product number of your PC to get the correct kit.

http://www.computersurgeons.com/

An alternative would be if you can still read all 25 characters of the W7 product key on your PC's case, you can make your own W7 installation media as follows...

You can create your own W7 installation media as follows...

Click on the Windows ISO Downloader.exe link to download the tool to create the W7 ISO file download.

Select the Windows COEM ISO file download for the version of W7 the product key is good for.

https://www.heidoc.net/joomla/technology-science/microsoft/67-microsoft-windows-and-office-iso-downl...

I have zipped up and attached the Microsoft utility below, that will allow you to either put the file on a USB flash drive or DVD, or you can use a different free utility such as Rufus.

After you get W7 installed, you can install the drivers and available software from your PC's support page.

[Lucha_fan]

I have downloaded the programs and other software provided via your response post. Thank you for that. I have downloaded the appropriate image file to the USB drive with the program, but when I esc/f12 in order to boot with the media on the drive, it allows me to select the drive but after the selection, it just sits on a black screen  with no text and an open underscore blinking. Is there an input command that I am unaware of?

As far as the memory module issue, I am not too proud to say that I am not all too handy when it comes to fooling around inside of the computer like that. I don't believe I am comprehending your directions properly, Paul?

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi:

Below is the link to the service manual for your PC's model series.

There is a section for how to remove and replace the memory modules.

http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c01835715

It has been my understanding that you press the F9 key to get the boot options menu, and from that you select the USB flash drive and press the Enter key.

If that is not working, unfortunately I wouldn't know why that would be.

[Lucha_fan]

As it turns out, I f9 as soon as possible and the computer runs diagnostics. It appears that I am stuck at 50% testing the hard drive. So far, it has been nearly an hour with nothing changing except the fans turning on and off. Do you think a memory module is to blame still or, is this a hard drive issue?

[Paul_Tikkanen]

It is possible there is a bad memory module, or the hard drive could also be bad.

The thing is...even if the hard drive was bad, the PC should boot from the DVD drive or USB port.

If your PC has more than one memory module, remove all but one and test each one at at time in the primary memory slot (usually the one closest to the processor).

[Lucha_fan]

I did as you suggested and removed the bad module and so far, this is as far as I have gotten with it. The bad one WAS the one closest to the processor.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

So, it is possible that the bad memory module corrupted the Windows operating system, and it won't go any further.

Can you now boot from the W7 installation media?

[Lucha_fan]

I get the black screen still. No keyboard inputs are registering, either.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Unfortunately, I don't have any other ideas you can try.