HP Stream 13 Recovery (w purchased recovery media)

[DG10101010]

Greetings, I am attempting to recover my child's discarded school pc. We've had it for years and the only problem it ever had was the pagefile would get bloated and make the notebook slow down. It was easy to fix.  Flash forward, years later, sure enough the pc is again running really slow but before I could go in and work my usual magic with the pagefile I happened across some steps online about the right way to  maintain the HP Stream. I kid you not, one of the steps was to delete/reinstall the video driver. I did and have not been able to fully boot the pc since. I feel like a tool; I would have a fast and functioning pc if I'd followed my instincts and ignored the helpful article. Anyway, I purchased the recovery usb stick. I can't get it to work. I am sure this pc is very close to being fixed since the only one thing was wrong with it.....but, here we are. Any thoughts on how to undo what I did? Thank you for your assistance.

[Lil_Boy_Blue]

Hi

Try...

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows8iso

Make a simple basic USB stick, using RUFUS or AnyBurn...

The W8 screen is much like the W10 screen.

OR

https://linuxmint.com/edition.php?id=274

Make a basic simple USB stick with ANYBURN or Rufus.

PLEASE POST ANY RESULTS.
First:- Turn off the computer, press and hold the PWR button for 4 seconds.

Then - Leave only keyboard and mouse connected, disconnect all externally connected
devices such as Docking Station, USB storage devices, displays, and printers.
Unplug the AC adapter from the computer.

Next - Press and Hold the Power button for 15 seconds to Hard Reset.
Rinse and Repeat; Re-Connect the AC adapter.

NOW begin checking/testing/proving the Hardware is fit for purpose.
Power on your PC, press ESC (repeatedly), then F2 at the prompt.
Choose System Tests (Fast Test does a 4 minute hardware check).

If in doubt please ask.

[DG10101010]

Thank you for your suggestion to make my own recovery disc at the link you provided. I actually already own a newly purchased Recovery USB Drive from HP. I have done a ton of tips; hard power down, change boot order so it sees the usb recovery stick, both long and short diagnostic cycles (multiple times) and about a half a million times in different order over the course of weeks. Still no progress beyond the opening music and the appearance and fading of the HP logo to a black screen. The mouse cursor appears when I use the track pad and disappears when I quit touching it. Any help in getting past this point will be appreciated. I do have the Xtra-PC usb disc sitting here as a last resort that I will employ in a few weeks when I grow tired of trying to figure this out. I am curious why my official HP Recovery USB does not work. Aside from my recent changes that resulted in this problem, this PC is as close to actual purchase condition as possible. 

[DG10101010]

Also - I have tried several combinations of Legacy support is enabled/disabled and secure boot disabled/enabled.  Boot order in UEFI or Legacy.

[ieee488]

No need to purchase recovery media.

Windows 8.1 is free to download from Microsoft.

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

Use Rufus to create bootable USB.

[DG10101010]

Wow. What a bummer that I am talking to a bot. I will report this.

[Lil_Boy_Blue]

Hi

So how far did LinuxMint get in the process of booting?

This will not work for everyone, but you may be lucky?

https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c03518165
and/or
https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c01997899

If the above are not relevant, then maybe this will help...
HP Notebooks and Mobile Workstations -
No Power, No Boot, No Display When Power Button Is Pressed
NOTE: Be sure the battery is installed in the computer and it has sufficient power before continuing. Due to the design of the Embedded Controller/Keyboard Controller, the power supply must be disconnected and the computer must be powered with battery power to reset the Embedded Controller/Keyboard Controller.
Unplug the AC power from the computer.
Press and hold the power button for more than 12 seconds.
Release the power button (after at least 12 seconds).
The computer will power on and should boot normally after releasing the power button.
Re-connect the AC power to the computer.

NOTE: In case the battery is not charging after performing the steps to reset the Embedded Controller, unplug and re-plug in the AC power again.