HP Recovery Media - Will it work for me?

[nikothenomad]

Here's the situation.... HP Stream will not repair itself. Have received a variety of messages after each attempt and during some attempts it will simply shut itself down. I have managed after many hours of trying each time to reach the blue help screen sequences and tried a number of things refresh, reset, etc. Yesterday I went to the cmd prompt and identified the following after listing the volumes... diskpart list vol vol 0, C, -- , RAW , Partition, 21GB Healthy, -- vol 1, --, -- , FAT32, Partition, 260 mb Healthy, Hidden vol 2, D, Images, NTFS, Partition, 7792mb Healthy, Hidden There is no boot drive identified. I assume C: which is now labeled RAW was the boot drive. Since none of the usual recovery tricks I have used successfully in the past are working on this computer... My questions are as follows: 1) Would the recover media that hp is offering to me for $40 allow me to actually USE this computer again? I am NOT I NEED OF DATA RECOVERY. I want a functioning computer for two simple things surfing the web and checking email. 2) Does that recovery media come on a USB stick? I do not have a CD drive. 3) Will the computer boot from that stick or do I somehow have to get into the BIOS which I have not yet been able to do to get it to boot from the USB? 4) On the volume list above is the 😧 Image drive the recovery drive? Could I try to somehow access that through the cmd screen by unhiding it? 5) Is there anything else I can try? Thank you!

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi:

The product specs for your notebook indicate that it came with the regular edition of W8.1.

https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c04508466

Have you tried clean installing W8.1?

You can download the ISO file from the link below.   Select the plain W8.1 x64 edition.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows8ISO

When you get to the part that asks 'Where do you want to install Windows, delete every partition on the drive, leaving just one partition of unallocated space.  Click Next, and W8.1 should install.

Use the Microsoft tool that I zipped up and attached below to transfer the ISO file to a DVD or USB flash drive so that it is bootable, or you can use a free utility such as Rufus.

https://rufus.ie/

After W8.1 has completed installing, you can install the drivers and available software from your notebook's support page.

https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/selfservice/HP-Stream-13-Notebook-PC/7372147/model/7539085

[nikothenomad]

Thank you for your quick reply!  I appreciate that you are saying that I do not need the recovery media - however I do not have a windows key.  Wouldn't I need one?

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

If HP is right about your notebook coming with the regular edition of W8.1, you will not need to enter a product key, because the key is in the BIOS.

If you are asked to enter a product key, then most likely your notebook came with W8.1 with Bing, and you would either have to try to make the W8.1 w/Bing installation media by reading the info at the link below toward the bottom of the page, or order the recovery media from HP.

https://www.pcsteps.com/210-download-windows-8-1/

[nikothenomad]

I appreciate your help.  So, the drive C: that is now listed as RAW is that the one I will be using?  

[nikothenomad]

How would I know if it isn't the regular version of 8.1?  Reason I ask is that the recovery media section lists everything as 8.1 but what would I look for to know that it was not the 'regular'?

I am working from PA on my mom's computer in FL having to walk her through everything on the phone so I've got to get this nailed down before I start.

Thanks, again!

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi:

As I wrote earlier, if the notebook has the regular W8.1 version, it won't ask for a product key to be entered when you first go to install Windows.

If it is the W8.1 with Bing version, the first thing the installation script will ask for is to enter a product key, because it will detect the key for a different version of Windows than what you are trying to install.

[nikothenomad]

OK  So, I won't know until I try.  Here are my other questions:   #1   The drive C: that is now listed as RAW is that the one I will be using?    #2  The drive that is current displayed as IMAGES and Hidden - is that the recovery drive...  Could I unhide it and gain the recovery information I need right there on the harddrive? 

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi:

Unfortunately, that I wouldn't know.

Delete every partition on the hard drive and clean install W8.1 is all I can advise you to do.

[nikothenomad]

OK I'll let you know how it goes if we try it.