Problem with resetting

[luigi-ish]

Hello,

My little sister has a HP Stream 13 (c102nd) and has issues booting the computer. When it's booted, it continuously only shows the HP logo and it disappears again for a few seconds. That's what keeps happening. So we decided to reset the whole thing.

She already tried resetting it by following these steps and watching numerous YouTube videos. I just tried the same, selecting 'remove everything' + 'fully clean the drive', but it says "There's a problem resetting this computer" and all you can do is 'cancel'. There is no error code, nothing's written and there's no other option to select. And when you cancel, it goes back to the initial Windows Recovery Environment. I've tried multiple options (keeping the files/remove everything, just remove my files/fully clean the drive) but it keeps coming back the same way.

[IT_WinSec · Accepted solution]

Hi,

I have used similar device and they are light, mobile, portable, they are great. The only big cons is the disk space (it's small, especially for Windows 10).

The recovery process may fail because of hardware problem (like corrupted storage device) - this is less likely.

OR it can be caused by no disk space, corrupted recovery partitions, etc.

The permanent (or long lasting) solution is to reinstall Windows and to perform clean Windows installation.

Currently, your PC has a recovery partition which can be used to reinstall Windows or for recovery purposes but it takes a lot of time. By reinstalling Windows 10, you can delete this and even gain some 8-10 GB space extra on top of what you have now.

This is the fastest, cheapest (free) and easiest solution - not difficult - here are instructions >> 

Windows reinstallation / clean installation :

- You can directly download Windows 10 ISO from MS site or download >> Media creation tool from Microsoft site, create installation DVD or installation USB  and  proceed with clean installation/reinstallation.

Download:

>> https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10ISO

Make sure you select the proper version (64 bit / Home) 

Media Creation tool will always provide you with the latest Windows version/build - now 1803 Spring Creators Update.

- When download completes, you will need to write  the ISO image and boot from a bootable media. You will need a blank USB pendrive (min 4 GB capacity). Use the media creation tool

When ready with the USB drive:

Please, shutdown the computer using the power button.

Insert the Windows USB thumdrive prepared previously

Power on the PC.

As soon as you press the power-on button, start hitting the Esc button repeatedly (like tap-tap-tap).

This should open a HP Startup Menu

Choose F9 to open Boot options. Select the USB thumb drive as a boot option.

- Follow the on-screen instructions to install Windows 10. Perform clean installation/custom installation (not repair).

Delete all existing partitions and install Windows on Disc 0 Unallocated space

- After successful Windows installation, connect to a wi-fi network and update Windows immediately - this will update Windows but it will also install drivers for this device to enable/active the hardware

- Make sure Windows is Activated by going to Start > Settings > Update & Security > Windows Activation

- You may wish to stop some of the Windows Telemetry by using free tools such as Spybot AntiBeacon or DWS Lite

Hope this works for you. Let me know how it goes and if this helped.

[luigi-ish]

Hi,

Thanks for the solution provided! I found out the laptop is still within the guarantee period, so I sent it back for them to look at it. Yeah, they're great but the disk space is a big issue indeed. Even when using online clouds. The updates themselves cause the disk space to disappear quickly. I'd rather have a different one! 

[IT_WinSec]

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@luigi-ish wrote:

Hi,

Thanks for the solution provided! I found out the laptop is still within the guarantee period, so I sent it back for them to look at it. Yeah, they're great but the disk space is a big issue indeed. Even when using online clouds. The updates themselves cause the disk space to disappear quickly. I'd rather have a different one! 

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In order to enjoy your PC at its max, after they return the computer back to you, I strongly recommend you spend 2-3 hours and perform the steps written above to perform clean installation and free up ~8 GB disk space or you will eventually end up with the same issue.

HP service center will return your PC with a recovery partition but in my opinion you don't need it as you can always reinstall Windows (clean install).

[luigi-ish]

Thank you! Will do!