Recovery USB not Installing

[invinver]

Hi -- I have an older, out of warranty HP Phoenix 860-121 gaming PC that suffered a C: drive failure.  Luckily (or so I thought) I had previously created a recovery USB key.  When I try to recover from the USB key, though, the boot service tells me there has been a problem with my recovery. and will not allow me to recover my computer.  I know the motherboard recognizes the new SSD, because I can install Linux on it.  

Does anyone have tricks to recover my computer?  If not, is there a way to get recovery media without paying HP a ridiculous $99 for a one-time "Solve my problem" tech support call?  Thanks!

[erico]

Have you tried using the USB 2.0 port at the rear of the PC or on top?

If the USB installer you previously created does not work, you still have options that shouldn't cost you anything but some of your time.

What is the brand, model and type of the SSD?

With the state of Microsoft's licensing model for Windows 10 having the motherboard  (MAC address) and processor combination on their licensing servers, you should be able to us the Windows 10 media creation utility to create a USB Windows 10 installer.

Once you go online it should activate automatically.

The only thing that you will have missing may be some of the drivers.

You can get all of the drivers from the HP support portal's drivers and software page for the version of Windows 10 you have installed.  

Here is a link to the Software & Drivers portal for your desktop PC

https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/selfservice/hp-envy-phoenix-860-desktop-pc-series/8667927/model...