Issue booting Windows 7 on Pavilion p6687c-b

[Rich421]

I have a HP Pavilion p6687c-b tower running Windows 7, which I purchased from Costco around five years ago. Last week I began having an issue on startup, where a screen with nothing but a blinking cursor comes up. I don't know what might have caused it, as I haven't installed anything lately.

After some experimenting with the F8, f9 and f11 keys, I was able to attempt some fixes including reverting to a previous state. I also successfully backed up my files to a flash drive--at least according to the message on the screen.

When it still wouldn't start up, I dug a little more and learned that there was a boot error, with the test page giving a biohd4 error code. I then read about the possibility of fixing the issue with some simple code by selecting command prompts, but fixmbr and fixboot give a message of 'device not ready.'

I'm not sure how to proceed from here. The software was preinstalled, and I don't have installation disks. My understanding is that it would be possible to boot the computer from a recovery disk, and possibly rebuild whatever is preventing it from functioning. Unfortunately I don't have a separate laptop to create one myself. Is this something I can get from HP? If so, and I use it to get into my computer, would that return everything to normal? Looking at responses to similar sounding issues in the forum, some say yes, others that the HD will need to be replaced.

From the description I have given, how bad does my particular situation sound? And if HP has a disc that could fix my issues, how would I go about requesting it?

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi:

Yes, I would agree that the biohd4 error is normally indicative of a hard drive failure, or major problem with the drive.

HP does not sell recovery media anymore for your model, but you can still order a set from this non-HP vendor.

http://www.computersurgeons.com/p-22486-windows-7-64-bit-recovery-kit-by018av-for-hp-pavilion-deskto...

What I would do were it my PC, would be to try the recovery disk set on the current hard drive.

If it doesn't work, then I would replace the hard drive.

Now, if there is somewhere that you can use a Windows PC, you can make your own plain W7 installation media, and if you can still read all 25 characters of the W7 product key on the PC's case, you can use that to reinstall W7.

The benefit of making your own W7 installation media (besides the fact it will save you $30+ bucks), is there is a repair option which you can try before you decide you have to reinstall W7.

Recovery disks won't have that option.

This site claims to have genuine, unadulterated W7 ISO files for download...

https://www.heidoc.net/joomla/technology-science/microsoft/67-microsoft-windows-iso-download-tool

Click on the link labeled Windows ISO Downloader.exe

You can use either the:

 Win 7 Home SP1 or the (Retail version, but the  OEM key on your PC's case will work with it)

 Win 7 Home SP1 COEM (This version would be for what HP would have used--System Builder)

N is for European Union (EU) countries.

K is for South Korean markets.

Then you can use this tool to transfer the file to a 4 GB USB flash drive or a DVD.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/windows-usb-dvd-download-tool

[Rich421]

Thanks for the quick, informative reply. Should I have any concerns about downloading from the heidoc.net site?

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

I haven't read of any negative reports regarding those files on this forum.

I checked the file size myself, and it matches what you used to be able to download directly from Microsoft before they closed their Digital River site to the public.

[Rich421]

I've gotten a bit closer to trying this possible solution, but think the person I got to help me missed a step. I was able to get someone to download the Windows 7 file you mentioned, but when he noticed he could actually copy it right to a flash drive, he didn't bother with the second step using the Microsoft tool. If I understand properly, you need to download that tool to your computer, and use it to create a bootable disc or flash drive with the Windows software. Just copying the Windows files won't give you an executable file that will be recognized at startup. Is that correct?

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi:

Yes, you are correct.

You can't just copy and paste that file to a DVD or flash drive.  It will not boot that way.

You have to use that tool to make the file bootable, or burn it to a DVD using the burn ISO file option in the DVD burning program, so that the file is bootable.