Install OS on hard drive GF0

[Razzmatazzz]

When I start my pc I get a prompt that says “ boot device not found, please install an operating system on your hard disk. Hard disk (3F0) “

Here are the unsuccessful methods I tried to fix this error.

1. legacy boot, secure boot disabled ( prompt then changed to “ error : no boot disk has been detected or the disk has failed “ )

2. secure boot, legacy boot disabled ( prompt went back to original prompt at the top of the page )

3. drives passed diagnostic test, everything else also passed diagnostics test

4. hard reset

5. bios recovery by holding win + b after turning the power on ( it loudly beeped 7-8 times then I got a prompt that said “ the bios recovery files cannot be found or the files are corrupted “ it also mentions a usb and another computer to download the latest bios drive “ )

6. the last thing I tried was unplugging the cords labeled p4 and hdd from my hard drive then plugging them back in and turning on pc. This did not work either. 

are their any other options I can try that don’t include spending $150 on windows 11 usb/dvd? Please help, thank you!

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi:

If your PC came with W11, the product key is encrypted in your PC's BIOS.

You should never have to purchase a new copy of Windows unless the motherboard is replaced with one that doesn't come with a Windows product key.

You can make your own W11 installation flash drive with the Media creation tool from the link below (2nd option).

Download Windows 11 (microsoft.com)

Boot the flash drive using the original BIOS setting of secure boot, legacy boot disabled.

When you get to the 'Install Now' screen, on the lower left, there is a 'Repair this PC' option.

You can try to repair the current installation, using the built-in repair options.

If that fails, you can clean install W11.

Now if you need to recover files and there are still some remnants of Windows on the drive, install Windows on the existing Windows partition and it will create a Windows.old folder.

After W11 has completed installing you can explore the Windows.old folder, find your old user profile and copy and paste the folders in your old user profile to the new one.

[Razzmatazzz]

So I would need to buy a flash drive then install w11 on it? Since I can’t even log into my computer how would I be able to do that? Would I have to use another computer? I don’t have access to another computer so what is the work around with that

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You'd have to use another PC running W10 or newer to create the W11 USB installation flash drive.

FInd a friend or relative with a PC, because I don't know of any other options you have.

There is one way to get inside the troubleshooting section of Windows if there is still enough of Windows on the drive.

Watch this video:  Should be the same for W11

How to boot into Automatic repair or recovery on Windows 10 - YouTube

[Razzmatazzz]

is there a specific flash drive or any requirements it would need to meet in order to download w11, if I’m able to use someone else’s computer. If I can’t find another computer then buying w11 usb from the Microsoft store or bestbuy would work? 

if you had to guess, why do you think this has happened? I would like to avoid this problem in the future lol

[Paul_Tikkanen]

To make a plain W11 USB installation flash drive you need an 8 GB flash drive.

You can check to see if your PC is supported by the HP cloud recovery tool by entering its full product number in the search window at the link below.

The product number would be arranged like this: XXXXXXX#ABA

Cloud Recovery (d34z73bbtpzgej.cloudfront.net)

Here's an info link for how to use the cloud recovery tool.

HP Consumer PCs - Using the HP Cloud Recovery Tool in Windows 11 and 10 | HP® Customer Support

For that, you will need a 32 GB USB flash drive.

My advice would be to buy a 32 GB USB flash drive and you can do either option with it.

Why did it happen?

Unfortunately, that I do not know, but it seems to happen quite a bit.

Search - HP Support Community