No icons and screen keeps flickering

[gerrogia]

My pavilion 15 takes forever to turn on and when it does turn on there are no icons on the desktop. I have no ability to open the start menu or right click for a menu. The screen also keeps flickering (refreshing?) to the windows blue colour - not the blue screen of death. The task manager is not refreshing when open but the screen is still in the background. I have taken the battery out, restarted etc. and am unable to go into safe mode. If any one has any advice that would be amazing! I can open "run" by holding the windows button and R, but because the screen keeps refreshing I can't open anything using the run function. 

[IT_WinSec]

Hi @gerrogia 

Welcome to the HP Support Community.

It looks like a software issue with Windows. This may be happening due to simple Windows hung, hardware problem (e.g. your HDD or storage) or it may be caused by faulty Windows Update, some other faulty update/driver, corrupted bootloader / Boot Configuration Data in Windows, malware etc....

1. Try hard restart/hard reset.

Press the power on-button on your PC and hold it for about 5-10 seconds until your computer powers off completely.

Remove and unplug any external peripherals and accessories.

Press once the power-on button to turn on the PC and wait if it will start now. Wait...

If it still fails to load properly, go ahead with the next steps

2. Perform some basic hardware checks to rule out a potential hardware problem

- Please, shutdown the computer using the power button (pressed and hold for a few seconds until PC powers off)

- Power the computer back on.

As soon as you press the power-on button, immediately begin hitting the Esc button (like tap-tap-tap) before any logo appears. This should open a HP Startup Menu

- Choose F2 to open System Diagnostics. Follow the on-screen instructions to perform System Test >> Quick test.

This will check major hardware components for issue (do it just in case) . Here is more info >> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JXUp43ahHA

If there are no system checks/no quick tests, perform HDD (hard disk drive) and RAM check (memory check).

Let me know the test results. If the tests pass without issues, continue. If not, please, let me know

3. Repeat steps 1-2 above but when HP Startup menu opens, please choose F11 for System Recovery options.

The computer should boot from it's recovery partition to open you various recovery options. Note, that F11 option will only work if the recovery partition is there (not deleted) and intact. From there, you have plenty of options to choose from. Every HP computer comes with recovery partition present to assist in tough moments.

Please, perform "System Restore" first in an attempt to fix the issue. Hopefully it is active for you. Please, restore back to previous days (restore point) where the issue was not present. Here is more info:

>> http://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c03327545#AbT5

>> https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/4588-system-restore-windows-10-a.html

Hope this helps. Let me know how it goes. Provide your feedback/reply.

[gerrogia]

Thanks so much! 

I did the quick test and it failed the Hard Drive Short DST Check, but passed everything else. What should I do next?

[IT_WinSec]

Thank you for your update.

• The root cause of all this entire issue seems to be a hardware part - the HDD has failed.  Since this is faulty HDD/hardware component, you will probably not be able to recovery your files. If you want to attempt data recovery, please let me know and I may post additional instructions.

  Here are your options on fixing the problem:

  1) If your computer is still under warranty, please contact HP Support and inform them. They will work with you about the way to replace the faulty component.  Contact HP:

  >> http://www8.hp.com/us/en/contact-hp/ww-phone-assist.html

  >> http://support.hp.com/us-en/contact-hp

  2) If your computer is with warranty period expired, you will need to replace the faulty HDD - buy new one on your own. There are variety of options - vendors you can choose from. You can get it online or from PC retail store, or from HP parts store http://partsurfer.hp.com/

You need HDD with the very same size as the current one or bigger (small will not work) - e.g. if your current HDD is with 500 GB capacity, your new HDD/SDD must also be 500 GB or with bigger capacity.  I recommend you consider HDDs with RPM 7200 as they as slightly faster, 5400 RPM is slower >> https://www.computerhope.com/jargon/r/rpm.htm

*** How to replace the faulty HDD with new HDD:  please, find info and instruction in your computer's manual or watch YouTube videos examples for your HP model. 

• Check the TKB article about such issues and for details >> https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebooks-Knowledge-Base/Storage-Hard-Disk-Drive-corruption-and-replac...

You can buy HDD or SSD from online or local tech stores, and replace it on your own or contact HP Authorized Service center for assistance. Refer to the product model service manual >> http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c04823617

Last part - once you replace the faulty HDD component - you will need to reinstall back your operating system

Let me know how it goes. Provide an update or feedback.