Failed System Recovery

[Captivated1]

After a failed full system restore/recovery, our sons Pavilion Detachable will not startup into windows and will only boot to recovery mode. Each time a repair or recovery is attempted using the recovery partition they all fail. The device is now completely useless so I have created a bootable recovery USB stick with a copy of WIN 8.1 installation software which was downloaded from HP website. This works to the point where the re-installation of WIN 8.1 begins, whereby I am asked for the product activation key. As far as I am aware this should be read from the bios as the software installs? Could this have been erased somehow? How can I get a copy of the original product key which was installed on the device at manufacture? We're hoping to get this sorted as soon as possible - the device is needed for online home schooling during this lockdown period. Thank yo for any help you can offer! 

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi:

There seems to be a complete disconnect between what the HP support page indicates and the HP specs indicate regarding your notebook.

The specs indicate that it originally came with W10 Home 64 bit.

HP Pavilion x2 - 10-n200na (ENERGY STAR) Product Specifications | HP® Customer Support

The support page only offers drivers for W10 32 bit and W8.1 32 bit.

So, here is what you do for now...since you have W8.1 installation media, use this generic W8.1 standard product key so you can get W8.1 installed.

334NH-RXG76-64THK-C7CKG-D3VPT

After you get W8.1 installed, run the free utility that I zipped up and attached below that will show you the Windows product key and the version of Windows the key is good for.

The post the report results of the version of Windows that the product key is good for, and we can go from there.

Do not post the product key itself, just the version of Windows.   Here is what the version of Windows from the report looks like for mine...

OEM Description: Win 10 RTM Professional OEM:DM

[Captivated1]

Hi Paul,

The story so far....after entering the generic product key we are now given the choice of where we would like windows to be installed. DRIVE 0 Partition 1 (System 266MB), Partition 2 (MSR reserved 128MB), Partition 3 (my USB stick 13.5GB free), Partition 4 (Recovery 699MB).

Windows Setup is throwing back an error saying that Windows cannot be installed on this hard disk space because the partition is an EFI system partition (ESP) and not NTFS. It does this on every partition apart from my own USB stick which contains the WIN8.1 installation software.

I've selected partition 1 (system) and clicked FORMAT thinking it would give me options to select NTFS for the format, but it didn't - it just deleted everything within the partition, so I'm assuming that there's nothing left of the original Windows installation within that partition now?

There's a 'NEW' option which I assume is to create a new partition on the internal HDD but this is greyed out and can't be selected.

Any further help you can offer would be greatly appreciated!

Many thanks

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

Watch this video for how to clean the disk on the notebook during the W8.1 installation...works for W7 - W10.

You will lose all files by doing this but since the recovery partition isn't working, it really doesn't matter.

Use of Diskpart to Format (Clean) or Wipe (Clean All) Partitions a Drive Before Windows Installation...

[Captivated1]

Many thanks for that! I've now installed WIN 8.1 from my USB stick using your generic product key and the device s now up and running to some degree (no drivers.) I'm in the process of putting SHOWKEY that you supplied onto my USB stick so I can get the original product activation key and windows version.

I'll post my findings as soon as possible.

Thank you gain

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

[Captivated1]

Hello again!

Ok, so SHOWKEY wouldn't run on the installed OS so I used a command shell to get the original product key, which I now have - SUCESS!!

The version of windows...now thats strange, when I looked at the Bios some time ago it said 8.1, BUT the label on the side of the retail packaging says Windows 10. I definitely didn't have that on it from new because the WIN10 was a free update which was what helped brick the device in the first place!

Do I download WIN10 (UK) from HP and install using the OEM key I now have? Will this also fix the drivers issue as nothing works!

Thanks for your continued support!

Best regards

[Captivated1]

....The retail packaging also states 64-Bit in the small print!

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi:

We still may have an issue because you don't know what version of Windows the key is good for.

Can you connect to the internet?

If not, post the hardware ID for the device you see labeled in the device manager as a Network Controller.

That is the wifi adapter.     Use this guide for how to find the hardware ID for a device.

How to Find Drivers for Unknown Devices in the Device Manager (howtogeek.com)

I'll give you the link to the W8.1 wifi driver you need.

Then you can click on the Blue Update Now button at the link below to upgrade back to W10.

Download Windows 10 (microsoft.com)

Hopefully, W10 will be activated and you can install the W10 32 bit drivers you need from the support page.

HP Pavilion x2 - 10-n200na (ENERGY STAR) Software and Driver Downloads | HP® Customer Support

[Captivated1]

Looking at the Device Manager list there are no Network Controllers present. There's a list of unknown devices - the wifi adaptor might be one of those?

I'm in the process of downloading the WIn10 64-Bit ISO from your link onto my bootable USB stick via my MacBook Pro, would you suggest I install this onto The Pavilion using the OEM product key that I now have?

Thanks again