Windows don't boot up on Pavilion x360 - HD seems fine

[SidneiPaixao]

Hi there,

I'm having a really annoying problem on a Pavilion notebook.

Windows locks (freezes) in the loading stage - the loading icon keeps rotating eternally, and I can't reach the desktop.

I tried several times the automatic repair, but it seems to do nothing - the problem persists, even if I tried to recover three times in a row.

I already ran the system Quick test and the Extensive test, both encounters no errors in any device (it shows PASSED in every test).

I tried to reconnect the hard drive, no success again.

Tried to reinstall Windows from a bootable USB drive, installation freezes before starting file copy.

I removed the HDD from the notebbok, install it to a desktop computer, and run the Windows installer (same USB stick, same HDD drive, and it worked like a charm).

AFTER I had installed Windows (with no problem at all), I put the HDD back in the notebook.

Then it shows HP logo, the loading icon... then HP logo vanished (and I was very hopefull at that point)... and the loading icon continues rotating for about 15 minutes, until I gave up and shutdown the notebook.

Long story short: there seems to be not a faulty HDD, I just booted up Windows from the very same disc on my desktop. Nothing shows on screen to indicate an error or any kind of problem. It keep "loading" Windows indefinetely, and I can't reach desktop, neither login or welcome screen. As I said before, I reformatted and reinstalled Windows fresh - so no, there's no update or any application installed recently causing this behaviour.

In setup logs, there are some warnings about fan cooling malfunction, but I'm pretty sure that this doesn't prevent the system to boot up... Am I right?

Any of you have ever seen this kind of problem?

I'm very worried because this machine is from a third person.

Thank you in advance for any tips!

Sidnei

[SidneiPaixao]

Trying one more thing:

I relocate the drive to my desktop (again), Windows boot up normally (as expected!), then I go under System Properties > Advanced Settings > Startup and Recovery, change "time to display operating systems" / "recovery options" from 3 to 30 seconds, uncheck Automatic Restart.

Then I opened the MSCONFIG app, changed BOOT OPTIONS to SAFE BOOT / MINIMAL and restarted.

As expected, the desktop once again was loaded, this time in safe mode (some parts of the desktop was out of the screen, but I'm no worried about that).

I moved this HDD into the notebook again and...

As you can imagine, I'm stuck on the loading screen once again.

Not a clue of what's happening here!

[SidneiPaixao]

UPDATE:

I'm managed to get to Windows Desktop, unchecking the GUI option under "Safe Boot" on MSCONFIG.

So I've copied the HP recover files (SP74123 and SP74707), decompress the files, but it seems not to work under Safe Boot environment. As Edge doesn't run, too, I copied these files via USB stick.

Restarted machine, OK to that point, I've seeing safe mode desktop again.

Ran MSCONFIG, uncheck SAFE BOOT option, restarted the notebook.

Now it get stucked on the WELCOME SCREEN, the mouse pointer suddenly disappear (it appears between the loading boot process and the welcome screen, and its possible to move it) and it keeps running the loading icon (near the word welcome) forever, and didn't log on to Windows.

I'm running out of options here...

[SidneiPaixao]

Another piece of information:

I managed to run RECOVERY in this HDD.

But I'm trying to understand a particular behaviour:

- running recovery tool in notebook, took almost 40 minutes to get to the option where it asks for "delete files" or "fully clean drive"; after selecting "delete files", took about 15 minutes and then a message appears, saying "a problem ocurred", and the only option was to cancel the operation

- running same recovery tool in same HDD, but this time on the desktop computer, I reached the same screen in less than 5 minutes, and it took less than 20 to start copying files in a fresh install.

So, my question is: WHAT CAN CAUSE AN EXTREMELY LOW RATE WHILE READING/WRITING TO A DISK?

Honestly, I don't think people will read these amount of text, so I'll open a new issue, because apparently this is my real problem...

[Lil_Boy_Blue]

Hi

Take Microsoft out of the equation.

 Under NO circumstances have FAST STARTUP enabled.

Make a DVD/USB with Lubuntu on it.  You can try it with the HDD removed, it don't need it.

ESC and F9

Boot to a desktop, gauge the time, EG 4 minutes.

Shut it down, refit the HDD and repeat.

Since you have run all the F2 diagnostics, I would consider that you may have a Root Kit, causing the slow down,  the problem may be a driver/firmware issue on the Main Board?

If in doubt please ask.

[SidneiPaixao]

Hi, Blue Boy!

🙂

I gave it a try, I've seen this before in some place (I don't remember where) but, since I managed to recover the HDD data and even with a fresh clean the notebook doesn't start, I haven't gone further in this direction.

So, the steps I've made:

1. try to keep Windows loading, all night long, on the notebook; I woke up in the morning with the loading screen still running;

2. I read your answer here;  🙂

3. I removed the HDD from the notebook, installed in the desktop, Windows boot up in less than 2 minutes (no other HDD / CD installed on this desktop);

4. So I went to CONTROL PANEL > SYSTEM AND SECURITY > POWER OPTIONS > SYSTEM SETTINGS, and as you said UNCHECK the box "TURN ON FAST STARTUP" (it was previously checked);

5. To give it a try, I shut down the computer, and powered on it again: same behaviour, Windows was loaded in less than 2 minutes, all seems right. I checked the configuration again, only to be in the safer place, it still have "Fast startup" option unchecked (as expected), then turn it off one more time;

6. Remove the HDD and put into the notebook again, power on the notebook.

Result> it took 12 (yes, twelve) minutes to show the welcome screen, passed the welcome screen and a black screen (mouse pointer enabled, functional) persisted for about ten minutes - way beyond I was stuck before, but don't load desktop anyway.

While this black screen was shown, ho HDD activity was indicated at all.

Retry booting, this time the black screen showed up BEFORE the welcome screen, about 5 minutes before I powered on, no sign of HDD activity seconds after this black screen appears.

This is blowing my mind... I've never seen nothing like that before.

In time: the desktop and notebook are both HP machines, an Elite desktop (4GB) and a Pavilion notebook (also 4GB).

If I mark SAFE MODE in BOOT OPTIONS (cause I can access Windows normally using the desktop with this disk), then the notebook LOADS Windows, but I do not navigate the Internet or execute many Windows programs, they say "program can't run under Administrador account" and stops loading.

This might indicate some problem with driver loading, correctly?

BUT... I just reinstall Windows with the recovery partition, found in the HDD; that step doesn't reinstall ALL needed drivers to the machine? It's possible that a native driver is faulty? And if it's possible, how to figure out which is?

Anyway, thank you for your support. If you have any other idea, tip, feel free to answer... I'll keep trying until I reach a solution...

Not a clue what my next steps are...

[SidneiPaixao]

I've tried several combinations in config to boot Windows.

None of them seems to work effectively - when I manage to start the Windows desktop, most of the programs (or even hardware) doesn't work properly. I'm getting hopeless here...

Using MSCONFIG, I've tried these combinations:

NORMAL STARTUP -> the disc stops reading after five to ten minutes, loading or a black screen is showing on notebook;

SELECTIVE STARTUP -> even if I check only LOAD SYSTEM SERVICES or both options (LOAD STARTUP ITEMS), the boot sequence freezes after five to ten minutes (same as above)

DIAGNOSTIC STARTUP -> this is the only option that partially worked: system booted up, but I can't get access to network (the network icon doesn't even show on taskbar!) or execute any program, turning the notebook unusable anyway.

SAFE MODE worked too, but I can't run many Windows programs under safe mode - a message saying "this program can't run under Administrador privileges" block almost all applications I've tried to run.

Any thoughts?

[SidneiPaixao]

And, just for the sake of information....

I get another issue on this notebook: when I choose to turn off the machine, it shows the welcome screen, the loading icon and doesn't turn off (I've wait up to 20 minutes).

This behaviour is achieved using DIAGNOSTIC STARTUP.

Safe mode boots really quickly and turn off normally.

[SidneiPaixao · Accepted solution]

FINALLY!

I finally manage to get this computer booting again.

After several failed attempts, I use a third party software that allows me to install some of the drivers that I needed.

I'll try to describe how I address to correct this issue. First of all, I've tried many combinations on MSCONFIG, and always get no success - notebook doesn't start, start but doesn't run any program, run some programs but don't identify hardware.

So I run into these steps:

- Configure Windows to boot in SAFE MODE;

- Into SAFE MODE, Windows boots OK. Opened device manager, and DISABLE ALL hardware devices (all listed under unrecognized or not functional), one by one;

- Restarted notebook, startup was less than one minute;

- Run into MSCONFIG again, and disabled SAFE MODE. Restarted notebook;

- This time, system took up to five minutes, but finally LOAD;

- Since I have no devices enabled, I have no internet connection. So I've downloaded the AUDIO and NETWORK drivers from HP support site, tried to install them, and get error ("Invalid data") in both installations;

- Restarted notebook, tried installation again, same error. I've searched for this error message, some people pointed out that it was related to some registry misconfiguration, and after some research, I've pointed to one specific registry key;

- I should be able to modify permission on this key, but I wont. Some more research, and I pointed to this site: https://www.tweaking.com/content/page/windows_repair_all_in_one.html;

- I've downloaded the application, put it on a USB stick, ran into the notebook, they took about 15 minutes running, than ask to reboot the notebook. As soon I reboot the computer, it recognize every piece of hardware, immediately!

So, shame on this piece of crap of hardware, and this frankenstein-style system. I strongly NOT recommend any person to buy a notebook of this manufacturer, it was really a pain in the *** to simply install the system, and the drivers downloaded directly from the HP support site simply doesn't function, they don't install before I ran a third party software. W10 is not exactly a state of the art software (is quite opposite, in fact), and the fact that I can't get access to drivers directly, only faulty installers from the HP site, is the reason that I blame against this company.

I've ran the recovery from the HDD, four times! Made a clean install, lost all files and programs... That is no reasonable explanation of WHY drivers was not loaded correctly.

Thanks for all you that had patience to try to help.

Sidnei