HP Pavilion x2 - install Windows 10 on the hard drive

[jvtech]

Hi,

The main issue really is the paltry amount of space available to start with - 29Gb is available on the SSD and that's BEFORE you install windows!

Microsoft would have you run disk cleanup using their 'extensive' instructions: -

Disk cleanup in Windows 10

However, there are more informative details from the good guys over at 10forums: -

How to Open and Use Disk Cleanup in Windows 10

I am in the process of selling my Pavilion X2 as it is next to useless, even though it has a 500Gb hard drive in addition to the 32Gb SSD.

Cheers

[furnep]

Thanks for the response, I've run this and unfortunately not made a huge difference, as you note the 32GB is miserly and really disapointed that HP sells the tablet with such a small memory which cannot manage with just the pre-installed software. 

Thanks again

Pete

[jvtech]

Don't be too harsh on HP as they are not the only company that sells this type of device - Asus, Lenovo, Acer all have produced x2 type tablets.

To my mind the problem is that, to make them look attractive price wise compared to Android devices, they have to cut costs some where and the minimal sized SSD is sufficiet to run Windows and 1 or 2 programs and that is all.

If you want to store photos or documents then, depending on which model you have purchased, you can add a MicroSD card or there is a standard hard drive in the keyboard.

[Action-Jackson]

Hi there,

I have the same machine and same problem.  

When my machine was still under warranty, I contacted HP support for help. The nice tech tried to help, but concluded our unsuccessful 1.5 hour session by sharing that this was a very big problem and referered me to Microsoft who refered me back to HP after noting that the problem was not with the software, rather the capacity of the hardware.  The nice tech must have corrupted my ISO file, so when I gave up and attempted to reset to factory, I bricked the computer.

Now out of warranty.  Apparently, the windows license that came with the device is no replicable and a USB stick with windows has to be ordered for $85.   That's harsh!

Anyone have a USB stick I might buy for something more reasonable?  Anyone want a fully functional but useless Pavillion x2?

[jvtech]

Hi AJ,

If you follow my earlier instructions you should be able to perform a clean install of Windows 10.

Basically, download the Media Creation Tool and create the bootable Windows 10 USB stick.

Boot from the USB, delete ALL partitions on the SSD and install Windows 10.

The install should automatically detect the licence from the BIOS - no additional code is neccessary and you should not need to incur any costs.

[Action-Jackson]

Hi there JV tech,

Thank you for your advice.  'Still plugging-away.  'Still having grief.  Have not been able to get the HP Pavilion x2 - 10-n110ca to boot.

- bought a 16GB USB key
- downloaded and ran Microsoft media creation tool for Windows 10.  https://www.microsoft.com/en-ca/software-download/windows10

- rebooted Pavilion X2 with USB inserted.   The machine did not boot from the USB

I could not find reference to a particular key or key sequence that instructs the HP Pavilion X2 to boot from USB.  

- 'Tried <del/suppr> : no luck

- 'Tried <esc>: no luck

- 'Tried <F2> and it brought up the HP PC Hardware Diagnostics UEFI (v 5.8.2.0).  All tests ran successfully.  Upon exit, I get the HP logo and a circle of dots for a few seconds, then the void

Is there a particular key sequence  I should use to boot from USB key?

Many thanks for your ongoing help!  

[Action-Jackson]

By turning on the computer while pressing <esc> many times, I was able to get to the startup menu.  I then pressed <F10> to get to the InsydeH20 Setup utility.

- toggled to system configuration

- arrow down to Boot options
- arrow down to UEFI Boot order and selected USB Diskette on Key/USB Hard Disk

- <enter> to select, <F10> to save and exit
- <yes> to save changes

HP logo comes up with circle.  Screen goes blank:  the void.

I get the impression it is not booting from the USB stick.  Thoughts?

[jvtech]

It's a while back since I did the reinstall of Windows 10 and I have since traded my x2 in for a different laptop.

I seem to recall though that I pressed either F9, F11 or F12 on startup to select the boot device.

Can't hurt to try?

[Action-Jackson]

F9 - boot Option menu

         --> OS Boot manager (UEFI) - Windows boot manager  <enter>, which leads to HP logo and the black screen of death)
         --> Boot from EFI file  <enter> which leads to  SYSTEM, [PciRoot(0x0)/Pci(0x10.0x0)/Ctrl(0x0)/HD(1.GPT.BD3C0BDD-4AAF-4FF1-9C26- 130DD97A9D9A) 

<enter> which gives a menu <EFI> and <System Volume Information>.  I selected EFI which flashed a few screens and went to a blue screen

Recovery.  It looks like Windows didn't load correctly.  If you'd like to restart and try again, choose "Restart" otherwise choose"see advanced repair options.  If you don't know which option is right for you, contact someone you trust to help with this.  (this is where I come to the end of the road as, since I am out of warranty, the nice folks at the HP tech support call center in India tell me to take a hike as my computer is a few weeks out of warranty!

F10 - HP "Choose an Option" menu...

 - Continue
 - Use a device

      * Internal hard disk or Solid state disk

      * EFI USB device   --->  the selected boot device failed.  press "enter" to continue

         --> OS Boot manager (UEFI) - Windows boot manager  (enter, which leads to HP logo and the black screen of death)
         --> Boot from EFI file  

 - Troubleshoot

 - Turn off

[Action-Jackson]

Oh... If I try to reset the PC...

I get an HP logo on a black screen where the message "Resetting this PC" and a percentage that starts at 1% and increments to 54% over 10 minutes, at which point it stalls for about 30 minutes, then craps-out with the following message:  "There was a problem resetting your PC"

Not sure where to go from here?  

I am not convinced I have been able to boot from the USB?  I know the USB port works because before the computer stopped allowing me to use Windows, I used the USB port to operate a mouse.  As noted, I bought a brand new Kingston 16GB USB 3.1, 3.0, 2.0 especially for this purpose.

I know the USB stick works because I was able to load the code from my desktop into it.

Thoughts?