Stuck (almost) at "Press the ESC key for Startup Menu" - hardware error!?

[matsgw]

Hello,

My daughter has a HP 625 notebook (product code WS786EA#AKS, windows 7) that is no longer starting. I have tried a lot but have now run out of ideas on how to fix it (or see what is the error)

When I do a power on, it is stuck for a long time at the HP logo screen, saying "Press the ESC key for Startup Menu". If i press esc (or any other F-key) nothing happens for a long time. After a while (like 10 minutes) one menu option is written (I think it is "Press F1 for system information"). Then after a while more (like 5 more mintues) the startup menu finally appears. Then it responds quickly (inside the menu system) and i can do some tests.

I have taken out the HDD, but the slow boot process is still there, I need to wait 10-20 minutes to go into to startup menu. 

Once there, I was able to do a memory test, but there were no errors found.

Once there I have also managed to update BIOS (through a bootable USB key) without the HDD being installed. The same behaviour is still there after upgrade (without HDD).

I have tried to look at the blinking of the "Caps lock" LED. It does not blink until after a long time. I didn't see exactly when it started (I couldn't sit there for 10 minutes waiting for a key to maybe blink), but when I started counting it blinked at least 10 times, so it does not match any of the blink codes.

(I docked the HDD into a USB dock, and run som disk checks. Some errors were corrected, but it seemed to be OK also before that. After all of the actions above, I reinstalled the HDD in the notebook, put in a Windows 7 recovery DVD, and restarted. It didn't care. It still "hangs" att boot logo).

Obviously there is some hardware error, but I wonder which part it might be that is not working, and how I find out?

Hoping for help from you experts out there...

[matsgw]

I now ran the hardware self test again.

It reported “Hard Disk Test Failed”, with failure id 9BQ3L2-56S6L7-XD6U3F-60XV03.

This is however nothing that HP’s Customer Self Repair knows anything about. (“We are sorry that you cannot proceed with customer self repair.”).

I can of course buy a new HD and try it, but first two questions:

1. The HD worked fine when I removed it and docked it in my USB dock. Also I ran chkdsk utility on all partitions. There were a few errors on the Windows partition, but it was fixed. Why does self test still protest when I insert it back into the notebook?

2. When I start the notebook without HD in, but with a bootable USB key, or a bootable CD, it still takes 5-10 minutes before the boot screen reacts to the ESC button. Shouldn't the laptop boot quickly if the faulty HD is not there?

[anthony82 · Accepted solution]

Hello matsgw,

You have gotten an error for the HDD.

The error that you are getting is to replace the HDD.

It could be a bad port on the mother board

When you boot the computer tap F11 and see if you can run a recovery back to factory settings, maybe a software error.

Let me know how everything goes.

Have a good day.

[matsgw]

Since the computer after some hour or so always started, I was able to rescue files to an external HDD.

After 20 failing attempts over a period of two weeks, to also perform a complete Windows 7 system image, the computer finally had a good day and I was also able to perform the system backup to the external HDD.

I bought a new HDD and replaced the dying one inside. The computer bios responded quickly when the new HDD was in place, which was a good sign. I performed a system restore from the backup on the external HDD, let it run by itself for an hour or two, and then everything was up and running again.

[anthony82]

matsgw,

Glad to hear that everything is working again.

If you ever have any questions don't hesitate to ask.

[lutos]

hello sir can you help me on my problem in laptop
similar problem but my laptop goes black screen but when i press esc the star menu  will appear

[RedRose0528]

Hello @Lutos,

Can you please explain your issue so I can help you the best way possible.

Please respond back at your earliest convenience.

Thanks 

[mslorriane]

Hi,
I have a HP Pavillion dm3 Notebook and it's not working now. When I turn it on, the screen displays Hp logo and "Press esc for start up" message on its lower left corner. When I press esc, it displays F1, F2, F10, F11. I tried pressing F11 but the screen goes back to hp logo. I tried performing diagnostic test in Bios Set up and it says passed.

[mdklassen]

> I tried performing diagnostic test in Bios Set up and it says passed. 

You probably should have opened your own question, rather than appending to a question "answered" in 2013.

The diagnostics will test the hardware -- compare to you walking around your vehicle, looking for flat tires, removing children's tricycles and toboggans from being near the wheels, and cleaning ice/snow from the glass.  These are "hardware" tests -- they just prove that the vehicle, or the disk-drive, responds to commands.  The tests say nothing about having a dead battery, a frozen engine-block, or losing the ignition key, or a dead fuel-injection pump, or having an empty gas tank.  Even if all these parts are "good", the vehicle may not start. To start Windows, you need a disk-drive that passes the hardware tests *AND* also that the files on the disk-drive are complete and readable, so that the "boot" into Windows will be successful.

Put differently, the hardware tests do not test the "logical-correctness" of the files & file-system on the disk-drive.

Can you remove the disk-drive, and attach it as a "secondary" disk-drive in some other computer, to see if the files on the disk-drive can be accessed?

[mslorriane]

Unfortunately, I don't have any other computers. Is there any solution I could do that does not involve removing the hard drive?