Breaking out of a Recovery Manager loop

[DreF]

Trying to help a friend whose PC suddenly started booting to the HP Recovery Manager. On May 31, 2018, we rebooted her router, as suggested by the FBI. The computer was turned-off during the reboot of the router.

After rebooting the router, we re-started her PC to see if all was OK. It started fine so we shut it down. A few hours later when she powered-on the PC, it did not boot the way it usually did. It appeared to detect a problem with Start-up which it then tried to diagnose and repair, but failed, and then ended up with an HP Recovery Manager screen. It has gone through this same process ever since.

Although this may not be relevant, the HP Recovery Manager screen does not look like the screen that opens either on the HP laptop (Win 7 Home Premium) I’m typing this on, purchased in 2011, or on the HP Desktop (Win 10 Home) I purchased earlier this year. It has many fewer options. And, the screen does not have its usual sharp resolution.

The limited options on the Recovery Manager have no effect. Using the System Restore option failed because it was unable to move or delete a couple of files in the “D:” drive, and I do not think those files should be moved or deleted anyway. The “File Backup Program” option was backing up files on the “D:” drive as well. Inasmuch as the computer had been running from the “C:” drive, the Recovery Manager options accessing the “D:” drive seems, in my opinion, to be wrong since I believe that this is intended to be a recovery partition. Selecting the “Contact HP Support” button just reboots the computer into the same loop.

Attempting to access the BIOS by immediately and repeatedly pressing, during the start-up, either the F1, F10 or Del keys have no effect.

The computer was purchased in April 2014. It’s an HP Pro3500 MT desktop PC with a Pentium G2120 processor, running Windows 7.

I’m looking for a way to interrupt this start-up loop and re-set the start-up to the previous, and functioning, process, preferably without having to re-install the OS. If re-installing the OS is necessary, I would like to access and back-up the data files on the “C:” drive before doing that. While not a complete newbie, I’m not even close to being a pro either. Any ideas about how to correct this?

[CF4]

Hi

Manuals etc are here...

https://support.hp.com/gb-en/product/hp-pro-3500-g2-microtower-pc/7086944

Drivers etc are here...

https://support.hp.com/gb-en/drivers/selfservice/hp-pro-3500-g2-microtower-pc/7086944

Possibilities could include removing the HDD and (DOUBLE CHECK) add it to another PC temporarily that has upto date A/V etc software (BE VERY CERTAIN).

Mount it and copy off all the user files etc to a large capacity USB stick.

Run some disagnostics to see if there is anything resembling a working Recovery Area. Refit.

####

This First part only works when a valid Recovery Partition is enabled.
If it displays an error message then move onto the Second Part:-
OR if you have data you wish to try and save using the XCOPY command.
Then create your own Repair/Recovery/Rebuild/Re-install media or buy a set from HP.

Turn off the computer.
Disconnect all connected devices and cables, Media Drives, USB drives, printers, & faxes.
Remove media from internal drives, and remove any recently added internal hardware.
Do not disconnect the monitor, keyboard, mouse, or power cord.

Turn on the computer and repeatedly press the F11 key, about once every second,
until the Choose an option screen is displayed, and then continue.

On the Choose an Option screen, click Troubleshoot, and work your way through the screens.

Second Part:-
This may require another PC. Find and Download your .iso from…
(You will need a NON_OEM key for W7);
W8.x and W10 should activate automagically from their embedded licence key.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows7
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows8
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10

A 3rd party site is (Please be careful)...
https://mirror.corenoc.de/digitalrivercontent.net/

Expand/Extract/Burn the iso Image onto a DVD/USB as needed.
Microsoft’s Creator Tool will make the required DVD or USB.

Even though it has NO actual HP software/drivers included, you may be able to
XCOPY the C:\Users\* area onto a ‘large’ USB stick, via the Command Prompt.

You’ll need to try various drive letters; D:..-..Z: until it’s matched - could be G; mine’s S:

C:\>XCOPY C:\Users\* S:\ /e /i /h (then files like those 3 listed below get copied over)

C:\Users\desktop.ini
C:\Users\All Users\agent.1509128044.bdinstall.bin
C:\Users\All Users\HP Deskjet 2540 series\Help\flash\zoom.swf

Then you can try System Recovery Options / Advanced Options shown in the screenshots.

NB:- W7 Try running a Startup Repair more than once for a full fix.
NB: - W10 Begin with the Automatic Repair, then Startup Settings etc.

From either the C:\ or the X:\ prompt try the following

cd boot
bootrec /FixMBR
bootrec /FixBoot
bootrec /RebuildBCD

If the above FAILS then please try:-
http://www.thewindowsclub.com/repair-master-boot-record-mbr-windows
http://www.thewindowsclub.com/install-windows-7-from-usb
http://www.thewindowsclub.com/install-windows-10-from-usb

What capabilities / resources have you got?

If in doubt please ask.

[DreF]

I apologize for not replying sooner. Without informing me and without waiting for assistance from you or any other HP Support Forum members, my friend, the owner of the PC, took the unit and her recovery USB stick to a local repair shop. The tech apparently did not even try to determine the cause of the problem. He managed to back-up her data and then reloaded the OS. After that he reinstated her data and returned the PC.

Thank you very much for the obvious extensive knowledge you have and for taking the time to share that knowledge.

[CF4]

Prego.