HP ENVY Notebook can't reinstall windows

[fw190]

Hi, I have a, quite old HP ENVY Notebook - 15-ah150na and win 10 went belly-up recently and I have lost the recovery USB that I had so downloaded win 10 64 bit and tried installing it but when it gets to a restart it just keeps crashing and tying to restart which is similar behaviour to the original problem so wondering  if it might be a hardware problem but I can get into the BIOS and no sign of any problem there so any suggestions would be welcome, is it time for the bin.

One thing that seemed odd, the HP support section does not recognise it's serial number.

[Kuroi_Kenshi]

Hi @fw190,

Welcome to the HP Support Community!

Thanks for reaching out!

We're thrilled to have the opportunity to assist you and provide a solution.

I understand your HP ENVY 15‑ah150na is failing to reinstall Windows 10 — the installation crashes at restart, and the BIOS shows no errors. Let’s go through some troubleshooting steps to check what could be causing this.

Check the installation media

Make sure the Windows 10 USB drive you created is healthy and not corrupted.

Use the official Microsoft Media Creation Tool to make a fresh bootable USB.

Avoid USB 3.0 ports — use a USB 2.0 port if possible during installation.

Reset BIOS settings

Enter BIOS → choose Restore Defaults or Load Setup Defaults, then save and exit.

Ensure Secure Boot is disabled temporarily and Legacy Boot enabled if Windows refuses to install.

Check the hard drive / SSD

Boot into BIOS → check if the drive is detected correctly.

If possible, run HP Diagnostics from BIOS (F2/ESC at startup) → run Hard Drive Self-Test.

Installation crashes at restart can indicate a failing drive.

Remove extra devices

Disconnect all USB drives, SD cards, and peripherals.

Only keep the USB installer plugged in during installation.

Try a clean install with disk wipe

During Windows setup, choose Custom Install → Delete all partitions → Create new partition on the main drive.

This ensures corrupted partitions from the old Windows don’t cause boot loops.

Check RAM

Faulty RAM can cause crashes during Windows installation.

Run the built-in HP Memory Test (from BIOS/Diagnostics) or MemTest86 via USB.

I hope this helps.

I'm glad I could help! 😊 If this resolved your issue, please mark it as "Accepted Solution" and click "Yes" on "Was this reply helpful?" Your feedback not only keeps us going but also helps others find the solution faster! 👍✨

Take care and have an amazing day ahead! 🚀

Best regards,

[fedupwithenteri]

Thanks for all the info, it appears to be the hard drive. I have got various diagnostic software and everything tests OK but the disk test tool gives a fail and identifies it as IDE but all other info says it is SATA though it appears to be OK in win file explorer , so will have to open it up to check interface before I order another drive..

[fw190]

Got a new drive and installed win OK, bit disappointing, got an SSD but it seems slower than before, also having a problem with finding drivers, HP say there is non available for it.

[Kuroi_Kenshi]

Hi @fw190,

Thank you for the update. Since Windows is now installed successfully on the new SSD, the remaining issues are slow performance and driver availability on this older HP ENVY 15-ah150na. Please follow the steps below in order to stabilize performance and ensure all required drivers are installed.

Confirm the SSD is running in the correct mode
Enter BIOS and check that the storage controller is set to AHCI, not IDE or Legacy.
IDE mode will significantly reduce SSD performance even if Windows loads normally.

Check SSD alignment and TRIM support
Open Windows and confirm TRIM is enabled (this is automatic in Windows 10 on SSDs).
Improper alignment or disabled TRIM can cause SSDs to feel slower than HDDs.

Install HP chipset drivers manually
HP no longer lists drivers for this model, but chipset drivers are still required.
Download Intel chipset drivers directly from Intel’s website for the platform used in this notebook.

Install graphics drivers directly from the manufacturer
Identify whether the system uses Intel HD Graphics or AMD graphics.
Download the Windows 10 driver directly from Intel or AMD instead of HP.

Use Windows Update for remaining drivers
Run Windows Update repeatedly until no further updates are offered.
Windows Update provides compatible drivers for older HP systems when HP no longer hosts them.

Check Device Manager for missing drivers
Open Device Manager and look for yellow warning icons.
For each unknown device, update the driver automatically or identify the hardware ID and install the correct vendor driver.

Disable unnecessary startup items
Open Task Manager → Startup tab and disable non-essential programs.
Older CPUs paired with SSDs can feel slow if startup load is high.

Update BIOS only if already installed
Do not attempt to force a BIOS update unless one is already present and stable.
Older HP systems can become unstable if flashed with incorrect or cross-region BIOS files.

Confirm SSD health and firmware
Use the SSD manufacturer’s utility to check firmware and health status.
Outdated SSD firmware can affect speed and system responsiveness.

Expect performance limits due to hardware age
Even with an SSD, CPU and memory limitations on older platforms can bottleneck speed.
The SSD improves reliability and boot time, but overall responsiveness depends on the processor and RAM.

I hope this helps.

I'm glad I could help! 😊 If this resolved your issue, please mark it as "Accepted Solution" and click "Yes" on "Was this reply helpful?" Your feedback not only keeps us going but also helps others find the solution faster! 👍✨

Take care and have an amazing day ahead! 🚀

Best regards,

[fedupwithenteri]

Thanks for all that but I am struggling with a lot of it.

I Can't find anything about storage controllers in the BIOS, I have only ever looked at the BIOS in an Asus desktop before and the HP one is VERY basic in comparison, hardly any sections/options and I have not found anything much about new versions.

Was looking for drivers and found one that fitted the info I had found for Radeon 6 graphics and everything went wrong when installing it, just got a completely black screen, like it was turned off, not the sort of grey-ish one where there might be something going on in the background so left it for quite a while but no change so did a force off but still just get the same after a reboot, usual screens come up but then just black after the HP stuff but OS appears to be running, hard drive light and network light flickering.

So only thing I can think of now is another reinstall. 

[Kuroi_Kenshi]

Hi @fw190,

Thank you for the clear update, this helps a lot. You’re running into two very common limitations with older HP ENVY models, so don’t worry: nothing you described means the laptop is finished or that the SSD is faulty.

There are two separate issues here:
• HP’s BIOS on this model is extremely limited (this is normal)
• An incorrect Radeon graphics driver has caused a black-screen boot issue

On this HP ENVY 15-ah150na, AHCI is hard-coded by HP.
There is no visible storage controller menu, unlike ASUS desktops.

So:
• You are already in AHCI
• There is nothing to change
• Your SSD speed issue is not BIOS-related

The Radeon driver you installed is not compatible with HP’s switchable graphics setup.

This model uses:
• Intel HD Graphics (primary)
• AMD Radeon R6 (secondary / switchable)

Installing a standalone AMD driver breaks video output, which causes:
• Black screen after HP logo
• Windows still running in the background

This is a driver issue only, not hardware damage.

Get back into Windows (Safe Mode)

Power the laptop on.

As soon as the HP logo disappears, hold the power button to force shutdown.

Repeat this 3 times until you see Preparing Automatic Repair.

Go to:
Troubleshoot → Advanced options → Startup Settings → Restart

Press 4 for Safe Mode.

This bypasses the broken graphics driver.

Remove the broken Radeon driver

In Safe Mode, open Device Manager.

Expand Display adapters.

Right-click AMD Radeon → Uninstall device.

Check “Delete the driver software for this device”.

Restart the system normally.

The screen should now work using basic graphics.

Install the correct graphics drivers

Do not install AMD drivers directly.

Let Windows Update run fully first.
This installs the correct Intel + AMD combo drivers.

Reboot and check display stability.

If graphics are still basic:
• Install Intel HD Graphics driver first
• Then install the HP-approved AMD driver only

If HP doesn’t list drivers:
• Use Intel’s official driver for Intel HD Graphics
• Let Windows handle the Radeon automatically

Improve SSD performance 

Open Task Manager → Performance → Disk.
Confirm the disk type shows SSD.

Open Task Manager → Startup.
Disable all non-essential startup items.

Ensure Windows has fully completed background indexing (first few hours after install can feel slow).

On older CPUs, SSDs improve reliability and boot time, but overall speed is still CPU-limited.

I hope this helps.

I'm glad I could help! 😊 If this resolved your issue, please mark it as "Accepted Solution" and click "Yes" on "Was this reply helpful?" Your feedback not only keeps us going but also helps others find the solution faster! 👍✨

Take care and have an amazing day ahead! 🚀

Best regards,