ERROR: No boot disk has been detected or the disk has failed (on black screen)

[Mogadishu]

Finally I am getting back to this Forum.  What I am getting from your post is that you were able to reinstall your Operating System and download 200 plus updates.  If this is so, this means that your hard disk was not destroyed.

In my case it was and resulted in the purchase of a new hard disk, resulting in removal of the existing and installing the new one.

In my case, with the disk only 3 years old, I would not be surprised if malware played a part  in this failure.

[Mogadishu]

I am reporting back to "The Old Man"

I did purchase and successfully install a new hard disk into my Desktop computer. The disk being the same as the one removed, namely WD Blue at 1TB in size.

From there it has been failure. I was able to successfully install the "Disk Image" from my external HD, but it resulted in Windows Repair trying to complete the installation and failing.

I have experimented as follows: From the DVD drive I made partitions with a partition disk and then was able to install Linux   Open SUSE  and it is operating OK. This indicates that the new HD is working at least.

Yesterday I was on on the Micrsoft website attempting to download the Windows 7 OS and then make an ISO disk from that.  So as instructed I entered my  25 digit ( 5 X 5) licence number and Microsoft came back with the following:  you have to contact the Seller, in this case HP, as they have added drivers etc. and have them provide the Windows 7 disk or download.

So this tells me that if Microsoft is prepared to provide a replacement copy free of charge then so should HP.

In its lack of wisdom, HP had all the back up system data on the same Hard Disk that failed, so that is a very bad design, as I have nothing.

So I am due to call HP Support but am not really OK with the thought of spending $60 just to dial the number.

Any suggestions?  Mogadishu.

[Mogadishu]

This follows  my post of 1 hour ago.

I just discovered that HP offers a "Recovery Kit", obviously because of selling computers without the inclusion of Recovery Media. What a Joke!!!

Anyway or is it Anyhow, I have ordered a Recovery Kit from HP with my Model and Serial numbers, due to arrive in 10  days in USB format hardware with instructions.

Cost is $45 plus tax and shipping which equals $53.15.

I will report back when I have my HP computer up and running.

Mogadishu.

[TheOldMan]

The Recovery kit will indeed return the PC to factory settings.  It will also reinstall the Recovery Partition, which was part of the factory install.  From that Recovery Manager can make a Recovery set of disks or a USB flash drive, the exact same thing as the Recovery kit ordered from HP.  So to refute the statement "selling computers without the inclusion of Recovery Media. What a Joke!!!"

It used to be that HP would advise the user to make this set of disks when the computer is new, however in going through the setup of the newer PC's, it is not included as part of the setup routine.  It is still the user's responsibility to make the disk set or the USB flash drive.

This statement "I was on on the Micrsoft website attempting to download the Windows 7 OS and then make an ISO disk from that.  So as instructed I entered my  25 digit ( 5 X 5) licence number and Microsoft came back with the following:  you have to contact the Seller, in this case HP, as they have added drivers etc. and have them provide the Windows 7 disk or download."  For whatever reason Microsoft has decided to not let a OEM key the ablity to download the Windows 7 OS, leaving the user at odds with HP or whatever OEM.

BTW:  Reinstalling Windows 7 fresh will result in a very long time for updates.  Many of those updates can be installed in one step by using the Convenience Rollup

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/3125574/convenience-rollup-update-for-windows-7-sp1-and-win...

This Rollup requires that Service Pack 1 be installed.  If the Windows 7 install was made before Service Pack 1, then install Service Pack 1 first from here

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=5842

Then do the rollup.  You can make these on a working PC and then run those on the PC in question before connecting to the internet.

[Mogadishu]

Thank you for your continuing help and patience.

With your very last sentence, I am unclear on how to apply the procedure.

On my working computer, which now has the 2 links on it, what happens when I click on the links?

Will I be given the option of saving the downloaded data to a folder and then copied to a USB drive ?

If so and then made available through USB to the newly installed Windows 7 OS, how does one integrate this info into Windows update, or is there some other location or folder where the updates would be integrated into the new OS.?

You make good points in defence of HP. However their failure to instruct new purchasers on the priority of making  Recovery Media is inexcusable in my view. If I had been pointed in that direction , I would have made the external media.

It is not that the $50 recovery cost is the issue, it is that with the Recovery media in hand and with HD failure, how to proceed is a no-brainer instead what I am going through.

When I think of the HP Calculator products from the Seventies/Eighties and the Manuals that came with the products and compare it with what you get now, it is night and day, or day and night would more accurate.

Robert Hewlett and David Packard must be turning in their graves.

Mogadishu.

[TheOldMan]

I would download the SP1 and the Rollup directly to the flash drive but it could be copied to the flash drive after it is downloaded to the host.

Here is an instruction post on how to do the two, if both are needed.  In there it is stated how to do the downloads on a host and then install on the PC in question.

https://www.howtogeek.com/255435/how-to-update-windows-7-all-at-once-with-microsofts-convenience-rol...

The instructions for a PC that came with Windows 7 installed should have referenced making the Recovery Media disk set.  The newer PC's that come with windows 10, might not include that step in the setup instructions.  But, since you do not have them makes no difference now.  You can proceed when the Recovery Kit arrives.

[Mogadishu]

OK, Old Man, I have received the Recovery Package and tried to install last night and ended up in Failure. Quite discouraging.

So this is what I received from HP. It was labeled as a USB Recovery kit, which is not an accurate description.

Paperwork was limited to a packing slip showing what was shipped, which included 3 items, one of which was the Reinforced Envelope containing the Media.

USB Thumb drive----NO.

2 packages of CD/DVD disks, one containg 3 disks labeled "System Recovery" and the other a single Disk labeled "Supplemental Recovery"

With no instructions it is trial and error, no big deal.

Supplemental disk did not boot.

Recovery disk 1 of 3 did boot and eventually instructed me to insert the Supplemental Disk, which did its job by Reformatting the Hard Drive and producing a green (successful) checkmark.

Reinserted disk 1 and waited until it stated to follow on with Disk 2.

Disk 2 plugged along until suddenly ( I believe the DVD drive stopped spinning) the "Time Left" instead of decreasing started Increasing. Eventually the error notice came up       OXEOEFOOOE.

I tried a second time, repeating the process.

This time it failed on Disk 1 with the same error code.

On HP Support website I found the following, referencing the making of the Recovery Disks by the Consumer.

There was a list of ERRORS and explanations.

OXEOEFOOOE  Error explanation is "Copying File/Directory FAILED."

The first question I ask is this. The first attempt it failed on Disk 2 and the second attempt it failed on Disk1.

Is it faulty Recovery Media or could it be DVD drive hardware? Bear in mind I had successfully installed a linux system previously.

One scary thought. If this error was listed on attempting to MAKE a Disk Backup, what does this mean.

If this question can be answered that might solve my issue as well.

Obviously I can make more attempts, but I think it better to seek advice at this point.

Thank you for any assistance on this.

Mogadishu.

[TheOldMan]

Well, this certainly is a troubling situation. Assuming the hard drive is a new one, then it might be possible the DVD drive is having problems with the disks. - in answer to the question -   'Is it faulty Recovery Media or could it be DVD drive hardware?"

If you have a working computer with a DVD drive, you could try making a copy of each of the three disks.  Use ImgBurn to copy the disks.  Available from here:

https://ninite.com/

If those copies still present with the same problems, try replacing the DVD drive. Then try again.  At least replacing the DVD drive is relatively cheap - $25 US or less

[Mogadishu]

Will you please explain why reproducing the 3 disks, which I should be able to do, can somehow improve the disk quality and eliminate the error I am getting?

I will say that the disks show a 2014 copywright and I assume that they could well have been made at that ime, which is some 4 years ago.

Thank you.

Mogadishu.

[TheOldMan]

I have seen on this forum that making a copy of the disk may improve the chances of the DVD drive being able to read the disk, if that is what may be causing a problem.  It will also verify that the original disk is indeed readable.  When using ImgBurn to make the copy, it will/can verify the read can alert the user if there is a read error and where it might be.  That is not to say it will correct the problem that you are having, just a step in checking where this problem might be.

The copyright date may not be that date the disk set was made, but that does not mean there are out of date.  The disk set is to return the PC to factory settings, so there will not be a more up-to-date set made, if that is what you are asking.  All updates still need to be installed after the PC is working again.