HP Notebook - Windows not booting (black screen)

[Ger87]

Hi, 

After a recent Windows 10 update my notebook won't boot Windows. After switching it on it remains on the black screen and nothing happens. 

I have researched and done various things with no success:

hard reset,  

Windows recovery disk via USB, 

using F11 for system recovery 

Please help if this can be resolved I am beginning to loose faith and fearing my laptop can't be fixed. 

[WAWood]

@Ger87 

The GOOD news is that if your laptop turns on, it CAN be fixed -- without question.

The NOT SO GOOD news is two-fold: (1) what that involves, and (2) what that costs.

So, let's get to your case.

Since the various recovery functions do not work, I would suspect there is an underlying hard drive issue.

If your PC is new enough to support UEFI, you can use these steps to test the hard drive: http://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c00439024

Once you do that, report back the results and we will continue.

[Ger87]

Thanks for your response

Just a little update before I carry the hard drive test:

I have watched the 'How to fix an HP laptop with a black screen' video and recovered the BIOS stage. This stage worked and recovered/updated the BIOS but it still hasn't resolved my issue.  

I will  carry out the procedure you have suggested and get back to you with the results. 

[Ger87]

My Notebook does not support UEFI. When I press F10 it opens the BIOS. 

[Ger87]

I have done a full test on the Hard drive and it passed. 

[WAWood]

@Ger87 

Well, that's some good news -- but it introduces additional issues.

Your drive consists of several formatted blocks, one of which has some BOOT records, which initialize the PC and then hand it over to the Boot Loader which starts Windows.  If those files get damages, you will see any of several error messages, one of which is "no operating system" -- which is misleading because in that case, you DO have an OS, it's just that the boot loader does not see it.

So, either the boot loader is bad (which can be fixed) or the OS is bad (which can not).

You will need to create Boot Media using a working PC.

Macrium Reflect is a free tool that can be used to image and restore PCs, but it also has an option to create Rescue Media (in disk or USB form) that can then be used to bot and/or Repair your PC.

It is available from here: http://www.macrium.com/reflectfree.aspx

What I recommend is the following:
a) Download and install Macrium Reflect (MR)
b) Use the option to create a boot USB stick or CD
c) Boot your PC from the MR media -- it will take a while, so be patient!
d) Select Other Tasks to repair the Windows Boot

When done, remove the boot media and reboot your PC.  If it works, you're done; if not, your OS is damaged.

[Ger87]

Hi, I created the boot media on a USB stick and tried to boot my laptop with it and left it overnight but had no joy. 

It remained on a blank screen with a HP logo in the middle and was still the same after approx. 9 hours. 

Unfortunately it seems the OS is damaged beyond repair after the Windows update. 

If you have any more advice it will be much appreciated but I'm beginning to believe the laptop is dead. 

Many thanks, 

Gerz87