All in One Pavillion (touch screen) 23-q010 unable to start - failing more quickly with each restart

[BBBKING]

Pavillion All-in-One (touch screen) 23-q010 begin abruptly showing Blue Screen on a random basis  (this was observed within a period of a day or two and progressively got worse) and also performing unrequested re-starts (probably because the automatic re-start was enabled).  Blue Screen error rarely was the same each time.  Initially blue screen was observed 4-12 hours apart but then frequency of failures increased to the point (at approximately day 3 to 4) that the computer was unable to restart without going to a black screen and restarting to the HP logo.  I noticed that the longer the power was applied to the computer that the errors/restarts increased in frequency (possibly boards/circuits were getting hotter with time).

I was able to somehow copy my Documents folder to a backup drive without failure, but now I have resorted to using a previously prepared USB recovery drive to get the machine to at least restart to various system checks (BIOS menu, hardware check) or to command prompt to perform a manual diskchk.

diskchk  found no errors on several checks (I think the hard drive may still be good), but there were failures on the RAM memory checks.  

I have 2 memory sticks installed (4 and 8 GB).  I removed each and tried re-starting with only one memory stick (tried both alone) and even tried each memory stick in a different slot.  I was unable to restart to the Windows 10 login screen without the machine crashing.

Using the USB recovery drive, I was initially able to get to various diagnostic and repair menus or to a command prompt.  I tried multiple attempts to roll back OS updates and go to prior images but these all failed with the machine restarting or indicating that the machine was not able to return to a prior version.  Occasionally, I was able to restart in safe mode to the command prompt using the USB recovery disk, but as time has gone on the machine fails to basically a black screen (or rather dark grey/black) even earlier in the restart process.  The computer seems to be on (fan noise) with the grey/black screen but nothing happens and there is no response from the keyboard or touchscreen.

At this point I do not believe that I can get the system to start and move very far beyond the HP symbol without getting the black screen (machine locked up).

Question:  I see from searching the web that Motherboard failures or to a lesser extent touchscreen failures are fairly frequent with the All-in-One computers,  Is there any reliable way to be sure that this is a Motherboard failure or a touchscreen failure (black screen) rather than something else that might be fixed in a cost effective manner?

If I can get back to the BIOS menu (a big if, may require multiple tries), are there any recommended actions that could be expected to possibly help?

This computer has been back to HP once for a repair under warranty and has not performed well in general until I added extra memory (it is no longer under warranty)  - probably it has only provided 300 hours of good use and has required 100+ hours of my own diagnosis and repair.  Even though it was a moderately expensive computer based on the experience thus far I am having trouble justifying spending more than ~100$ to repair it if the repairs are unlikely to be successful.  I am basically looking for a low cost way to determine if it is worth significant effort in further diagnosis or repair.

[Lil_Boy_Blue]

Hi
First:- Turn off the computer, press and hold the PWR button for 4 seconds.

Then - Leave only keyboard and mouse connected, disconnect all externally connected
devices such as Docking Station, USB storage devices, displays, and printers.
Unplug the AC adapter from the computer.

Next - Press and Hold the Power button for 15 seconds to Hard Reset.
Rinse and Repeat

AND/OR - Power on your PC, press Esc (repeatedly), then F2 at the prompt.
Choose System Tests (Fast Test does a 4 minute hardware check).
AND/OR
HOW DO I USE DIAGNOSTICS?

HP PC Hardware Diagnostics Windows is a Windows-based utility that allows you to run diagnostic tests to determine if the computer hardware is functioning properly. The tool runs within the Windows operating system in order to diagnose hardware failures. HP PC Hardware Diagnostics Windows comes pre-installed on new HP computers, but if not on yours, download here:- http://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp93001-93500/sp93457.exe

[BBBKING]

I  was able to eventually download a HP Diagnostic (I believe UEFI diagnostic) which is shown as version 7.1.0.0 - USB.  For reference this is Pavillion All-in-One 23-q010e (sometimes shown as 23-q010).  Product ID: L9K88AA#ABA.

I also checked the Bios version is 2B42. My search of HP website indicates that there are no upgrades for this BIOS currently.

Remarkably while the machine will not start or load windows from the HD or from the USB recovery disk, the machine has not crashed (over the past 4+ days) every 2 to 5 minutes like it used to be doing during previous attempts to diagnose and fix the machine.  I cannot explain this significant change other than I believe I possibly was able to run chkdsk from the DOS command level at some point, while it seems unlikely to me something somehow improved  at least enough to make the machine more stable.  I believe I also ran chkdsk with a repair option.  I was also able to back up my HD again for my personal files (still need to check for hidden appdata).

Back to the HP Diagnostic evaluation: When restarting I was able to get the UEFI diagnostic to load after getting the blue diagnostic screen using the F2 key (this blue diagnostic screen occurs after black HP screens of "Preparing Automatic Repair" then followed by "Diagnosing PC").  I am fairly certain that the UEFI HP Diagnostic is running off the USB (Previously I got a much simpler black screen diagnostic test that allows HD and Memory tests only).  I was able to run multiple memory checks and system board checks and all passed.  I then ran an extensive system check on loop until failure.  It ran 13 cycles without failure (3 days of continuous running).  I also noted at times the fan turned up to about medium speed possibly because hot air was being recirculated from the exhaust to the intake openings; when I change the orientation of the monitor to remedy this the fan speed slowed down.  I followed this with 2 cycles of an extensive memory test which both passed (another 10+hours).  I ran a 15 minute thermal test which reached ~65 degrees C without failure.  I also ran touch screen checks and USB checks and probably a few others.  All passed except on USB port failed initially but then passed and 2 following attempts (I checked the 24 digit code and the look up says the USB failed and to retest; the same USB port passed twice on retesting).

One interesting observation: I asked the UEFI diagnostic to check the fan and it reported no fan present which is odd because I know there is a fan present and that it appears to work.  I am thinking that this is just a glich in the diagnostic.

After all of the above,  I tried to restart from the USB HP recovery drive and from the HD both times failed in the same sequence as described above. 

I was able to get a message during the HD based restart (not sure which exact choices I made to get to this result) that the "Boot Configuration Data [file?] is missing or contains errors"  "\EFI\Microsoft\Boot\BCD"      It also reported an error code(?): 0xc000000f       I am thinking that this means some boot instructions are missing or damaged?

For Reference: Using the UEFI HP Diagnostic earlier I was able to determine that the diagnostic sees both RAM memory cards (4 and 8 GB) and that the OS Image is 15AM2ARA603#SABA#DABA.  I am not sure if that is the image on the HD or from the USB Recovery Disk as I don't recall which way I booted the machine at that time.

The only thing I haven't attempted is to reset the computer using the USB Recovery Drive.  I was thinking that is the next step as nothing else seems to have worked (I was avoiding that to save potentially re-installing lots of software and settings).   

One additional question is whether a reset will fix the Boot Configuration Data [file?]?      Input is welcome.

[Lil_Boy_Blue]

Hi

I am baffled, but...

Commands that might make a difference.

cd boot
bootrec /FixBoot
bootrec /RebuildBCD