HP Envy notebook not booting: BIOS settings cannot be saved & USB Boot is impossible

[slowcamel123]

The laptop is refusing to boot into Windows from the HD or from any USB bootable stick. This situation arose after I attempted to do a factory reset on the laptop.

I have done the detailed memory and hard disk diagnostics from the BIOS. All of these were clear without any issues reported.

I have tried to use a bootable windows installation/recovery USB, but I cannot do this since any changes to BIOS settings (except date/time changes) don't get saved. I need to change the boot sequence to USB first to do this, but as I have implied earlier, this does not get saved.

I also built a BIOS update USB stick and tried to update the BIOS using the Windows key + "B" combo method. I hear the laptop fan start running, the screen switches on but remains black, and after a few seconds the caps lock key blinks twice followed by a long break, and this blinking pattern continues.

The laptop is out of warranty but I would really like to get it running again and am willing to explore adventurous (but reasonably priced, preferably free) solutions.

[iomare]

Hi,

When you turn on the PC and keep pressing ESC, the startup menu appears, next press F9 for boot menu, do you see the USB drive? (if not, try turning off secure boot in BIOS)

If you remove the drive and boot without drive, what happens?

Let me know,

David

[slowcamel123]

Hi David,

Many thanks for getting back to me so quickly. I unfortunately didn't have a working PC over the weekend and discovered that I couldn't respond in the Community forum using my smartphone.

When I press F9 at startup, USB does not appear as a selection:

I tried changing various setting in the BIOS, including turning off secure boot, but except for time and date, BIOS doesn't save any changes. I used the F10 'save and exit' option every time. This is what happens if I let it boot:

If I physically remove the hard disk and try to boot, then this happens, which is the same as when I try to boot and don't press Esc at startup:

I hope this helps.

Cheers

[Madrigal]

Hi, did you sort out what the problems was with your Bios not saving changes? I have the same problem with my hp ProBook 4530. Thanks

[slowcamel123]

Hi Madrigal,

I am still trying different things but haven't had any luck yet. If I make any progress I will share it here. Likewise, if you learn about something that works, please do share.

Cheers.

[slowcamel123]

I have made the following progress:

1. I formatted my USB stick as FAT32 using RUFUS (I noticed that previously it was formatted as NTFS) and then used Windows Media creator to make a Windows 10 installation USB. I was then able to boot from this USB stick by pressing F9 at startup and selecting the USB option. I am then able to install Windows normally, however when the installation restarts the computer, the 'Selected Boot Device Error' reappears. Very frustrating.

2. I created an HP UEFI Diagnostics Tools USB stick. Again formatted using RUFUS. With this USB stick plugged in, upon startup I pressed F2 and conducted ALL the diagnostic tests which were PASSED.

3. I created a USB Stick to update the BIOS and used the Windows+B at startup method. This time the laptop recognized the USB stick and went through the process of updating the BIOS. However, ultimately the BIOS update failed at the very end of the process.

The difference from before is that because the Laptop is now booting the Windows Installation USB key, i now have use of the Windows Pre-installlation environment. I would really like to get the Windows 10 up and running again on this machine. Any help will be greatly appreciated!!!