Possible bios problem affecting diagnostic check

[dds76]

I will try to keep this as simple as I can. I started having issues two days ago and to my knowledge it was not after anything that would normally explain it, such as an update or something like that. I'm having issues such as typing in the search box or omnibox, it has a serious delay. Also the search window closes after just a second or two on its own. Firstly I checked for all sorts of malware viruses, things like that and it all came out good. Next, it occurred to me to check the drivers and so I went to the AMD site and got all the updates to the graphics card but still there was no change. Then I thought I would try a restore point going back to a point that I knew it was good. That also made no difference. Also, it appeared as though by doing that I had lost the updates that I had gotten. I tried to reinstall them oh, and even though it went through the process when I checked what version I had I realized that it had not updated on my second attempt. And so I went to the device driver and try to update it by way of that method oddly enough, I believe it gave me an older version than the manufacturer's site did. However, that may or may not be relevant. I've been reading for two days about how to solve this problem. Most of my problems began when I decided to get a Windows reinstall after I had issues with my original preinstalled windows10 that came with my tower. Oddly enough, it seems the one that was given to me buy Windows the one they referred to as a fresh copy, seems to be more buggy than my original preinstalled. I have tried various methods of getting updates for drivers, making a point to avoid things like third-party applications that make it seem so easy. I tried to get updates by way of checking Windows updates as well as going directly to the HP website and looking up my particular model. However, we all know that updates are somewhat of a crapshoot. For that reason, I decided as far as picking and choosing which updates to take away from the HP site I chose to concentrate on the graphics card and displays. Now for the scary part. Bios. I have only heard nightmares about bios of dates and I've gotten advice that you should really only update your bios if it truly is something that I've given you a problem and not necessarily because there's an update available. Quite frankly, that sounds like good advice to me. Changing the BIOS is the last thing I want to do. Tonight, I decided to run the HP PC Hardware diagnostic program. And even though informs you very clearly that running the system scam should take some time period after what seemed to be a ridiculously long time, running in the fast version not the slower extended version, I did some more reading and someone had the same issue, the problem is when it gets to the second test and test the memory it gets stuck at 10% and stays there for literally hours. The reason I'm telling this story now is because the advice that someone from Microsoft gave was to default the BIOS. Here's my issue with that. I'm not entirely sure what would happen if you do default the BIOS what exactly gets defaulted? Secondly and this is a problem I've had for a while, one issue as had since Windows gave me their fresh copy was that I have a very slow startup. I was thinking that it may be the boot order, that possibly it was in the wrong order. This is when I discovered that I cannot get into my BIOS because there's a password that I don't know. I didn't set it password. And so, I put it to you people no option sounds very good or safe to me, however I have gotten more than one Windows reinstall and I've had issues with every one of them. Does this sound like a bios situation, if so, what is the process and what should I be aware of? By the way, that person I mentioned who had the same issue about the test getting stuck at 10% when he default in the Bios and then updated it, his problems were solved. This may be what I need to do, but it's quite frightening. If you're still awake after reading this, thank you.

[KrazyToad]

@dds76

Welcome to HP Support Forums. A really great platform for posting all your questions and finding solutions.

I understand that the computer has slowed down and you have already tried reloading the Windows.

May I know where did you get the Windows OS Media from? Was it from HP?

I also see that you are unable to access the BIOS since it is locked with a Password and the Memory Test is stuck at 10%.

Your computer came with 2 Memory Modules. If you are comfortable opening the Chassis, you can run the Memory test on each Memory Modules  individually to check the Hardware Functionality

Else I would request you to contact our Phone Support for further assistance.

Step 1. Open link: www.hp.com/contacthp/
Step 2. Enter Product number or select to auto detect 
Step 3. Scroll down to "Still need help? Complete the form to select your contact options"
Step 4. Scroll down and click: HP contact options - click on Get phone number and phone number appear.

Keep me posted if you need further assistance

Thank you 🙂

[Hibb1]

Hi,

What is the model of the PC?

Updating the BIOS should be fine, as long as you follow the on-screen instructiosn. Although it's unlikely that it will fix your problem.

Diags getting stuck or displaying 'Warning' when testing memory is a known issue on certain models with a certain version of the diags (can't remember which). To fix this, you'll need to download & install an updated version (such as 6.6.2.0, which you can get here: http://www8.hp.com/us/en/campaigns/hpsupportassistant/pc-diags.html). Once it's installed, re-boot the pc and while the screen is black, keep tapping F2.

Back to your issue... I have'nt seen that EXACT issue before, but my guess is with so many upgrades and system restores, Windows is just confused and unstable. Personally, I would back up my data & do a clean install of Windows. You can do this one of two ways:

1. If your HP Recovery partition is still intact & working, then turn off the PC & turn it on. When you 1ST turn it on, keep tapping ESC, and from the menu hit F11 for system recovery. Follow instructions from there. There will  be A LOT of updates after the OS is restored, and possibly even additional Win 10 version upgrades.

2. (My preferred method) Get a clean 8GB (or more) USB stick & download/install the Windows 10 install media from here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-au/software-download/windows10

Once you've created the stick, insert it into a USB port, turn off your PC and turn it on again. As above, keep tapping ESC then choose F9 for boot menu, choose the USB stick. Follow the instructions. Don't choose to 'upgrade' and if possible, delete all the partitions by clicking 'Advanced' when the available HDD's are displayed.

Once the Windows install completes, run windows update, and if any devices are missing drivers (check in device manager) then get them from the HP site. I recommend if you have an AMD or nVidia graphics card, get those drivers from AMD or nVidia.

Make sure to re-install the HP UEFI Diags again too.

Hope this helps. Michael.

[dds76 · Accepted solution]

That second part was quite helpful