Boot device not found, critical process died, 3F0

[mmorr1]

I bought my laptop new in September 2018. In the recent months, I have been experiencing during startup a black screen with the error 

Boot device not found

Please install an operating system on your hard disk

Hard Disk - (3F0)

F2  System Diagnostics

I only get this black error screen sometimes (about 50% of the time), and I'm usually able to temporarily solve it by shutting down the laptop and waiting a few minutes and then the computer will start up normally. I have tried restoring BIOS to default settings multiple times.  

When I click F2 in the error screen and get to "HP PC Hardware Diagnostics UEFI", I try to run a test on the hard drive, but I always get the message 

"No hard drive installed. Please check that the power and data cables are connected properly."

I will note, however, that when I run the "Disk Read Verify" test in "HP PC Hardware Diagnostics Windows", it passes every time (I don't know if this is relevant). It also seems that a hard drive is installed according to the screenshots I attached below under "Other things to note that may be important".

In addition to the black error screen on startup, in the past two weeks, I have also begun encountering a blue screen while using the laptop. The first time this happened, I received the error "Unexpected Store Exception".  In the most recent case, I received the stop code "critical_process_died".  Usually, the blue screen disappears too fast for me to read the stop code, so I'm unsure what other errors I may have received.

I have scanned the computer for viruses and no viruses have been detected. I have also scanned for corrupt files and no corrupt files have been found. 

Apart from this problem, my computer works perfectly and I have not encountered any other issues.

The only major change I made prior to this problem is that I began using McAfee Antivirus to protect my PC.  However, I didn't start encountering this problem until at least a  month after I had begun using McAfee. By recommendation, after reading that other people who use this software have also experienced this problem, I uninstalled the software and then reinstalled it, but this did not resolve the problem. 

Other things to note that may be important:

• When I run "Operating System Check" in the HP Support Assistant, no issues are found, and 1 hard drive is detected. The hard drive has 4 partitions:

           

           

• In the storage window of my device in HP Support Assistant, I see the following

           

I would be happy to know what the source of the problem is and how to fix it.

Thank you

[Riddle_Decipher]

@mmorr1 Please follow the below steps to identify and resolve this concern:

Step 1: Perform a hard reset

HP Notebook PCs - Performing a Hard Reset or Forced Reset

Step 2: Restore BIOS default settings

Step 3: Test the hard drive using HP PC Hardware Diagnostics UEFI (In your case, Skip to Step 4)

Step 4: Re-seat the hard drive (here's a generic video that shows how to re-seat the drive: Click here) > 3F0 error represent a hardware malfunction, a reseat should help, if it doesn't or you aren't comfortable, please Contact HP as the next step will not help.

Step 5: Perform an HP System Recovery

If none of the above actions resolved the error condition, back up your personal data and then perform an HP System Recovery on the notebook. See one of the following documents for instructions:

Click here for instructions.

FOR DETAILS & FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS, USE THIS LINK: CLICK HERE

(By the end of this article all the issues should be resolved)

P.S: Welcome to HP Community 😉

Keep me posted, as I (Or a trusted colleague) shall follow-up on this case to ensure the concern has been addressed, 

And your device is up and running again, only in case you don't get back to us, first! 

That said, If the information I've provided was helpful, give us some reinforcement by clicking the solution and kudos buttons, 

That'll help us, and others see that we've got the answers!

Good Luck.