After startup it won’t let me sign into my Microsoft account

[Leo300]

After startup it brings me to my Microsoft account screen to log in. I press sign in and it tells me that I need to download an app from the App Store. When I press yes it searches for a minute and then back to square one. As a result I can’t access my laptop. Can anyone please help? Thank you 

[itsmyname]

@Leo300 -- as soon as possible after signing-in to your Microsoft account, disconnect the Ethernet cable from your computer. Then, does Windows notice the lack of Internet access, and thus bypass the attempt to download something?  After this, can you use your computer, while "offline". If you reconnect the Ethernet cable, to go "online", can you still use your computer?

[Leo300]

Thank you for your response but it won’t let me sign in. It won’t even give the option to put in my password

[itsmyname]

@Leo300 -- restart your computer a few more times. After 3 or 4 "consecutive failures", the next start-up should show the "Recovery" screen, with some software "tools" to trouble-shoot your copy of Windows.

[Leo300]

Hello again and once again thank you for taking the time to help me. I’ve done what you’ve suggested several times and still nothing. Is there a way to do a complete restore and wipe everything out?

[itsmyname]

@Leo300 -- Is there a way to do a complete restore and wipe everything out?

Yes.  The steps:

1. on a working computer, Download Windows 10 (microsoft.com
2. it will burn the image onto any DVD-writable media, or write the image onto an 8 GB (or larger) empty USB memory-stick
3. I would temporarily remove the current disk-drive
4. I would purchase and connect a new SSD -- much faster than your current disk-drive
5. install Windows
6. download the HP Assistant, and run it, to download HP-specific updates
7. temporarily reconnect the old disk-drive, and copy your Personal Files from "old" to "new"
8. disconnect the old disk-drive.

If the above process fails, you can revert to your old disk-drive.

Then, boot from that image that you created in #2, above, and choose "Repair", instead of "Install", to see if your current installation can be "repaired".