Operating system not booting

[440fuller]

I'm relatively inexperienced with computers and this is my 1st time seeking help, so go easy on me... I have what I believe is a 15-f271wm (?) With a 64 bit Windows 10 operating system. Last weekend I was on a site trying to learn how to make my laptop run more efficiently and I suspect that I disabled at least one necessary startup process. Now when I power on, I'm asked to choose my keyboard layout. After selecting, my next two options are troubleshoot and turn off. I've backed up all my important files in Recovery Manager. Most notably in Recovery Manager, I can't click on the Help/System Recovery tab. Also, in the Recovery Manager's Computer Checkup, I'm unable to Launch Check Disk for the Recovery Partition. This is getting long winded and I think the two characteristics are somewhat telling, but I'm not a computer guy, so what do I know? 

[WAWood]

@440fuller 

You've most likely disabled so key startup task -- and that will take some work to repair your PC as a result.

You do NOT want to mess around with the Recovery partition, including running CHKDSK on it, at that risks corrupting it.

I would NOT use the Recovery Manager to save files because it is does not do a proper recovery, you will not get them back.

Ordinarily, what MIGHT work is something known as a repair-install. This is the least destructive of all the Windows recovery functions and rewrites the Windows system files, including the drivers, leaving your data, settings, and applications intact.

But you have to be able to boot into Window to do that -- and your thread header already says you can't do that.  So, you are NOW stuck having to do a system restore that will essentially erase everything you have done.  This is the price you pay for NOT doing an image backup before messing around with your PC.

If your PC is a 2016 model or newer, you should see if you can make a bootable USB recovery drive using the HP cloud recovery tool on a working PC.

The recovery drive can then be used to install Win10 and the HP drivers and utilities that originally came with your PC.

Here is the link: https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c06162205

[JaredXP]

**bleep**

He is still able to retrieve his files, he can uses SystemRescueCD or Linux Mint to mount his drive onto that distribution and would be able to extract any contents that might be deemed essential. Furthermore erasing a drive is not the same as overwriting one. There are easy to use tools available online which he can also use, if he doesn't do the first option, to retrieve any lost files.

[WAWood]

**bleep**

Windows 10 filesystems will NOT mount with Linux distros unless the PC user has gone to the trouble to disable FastStartup -- which keeps the filesystem mounted, even when Windows is not running.  That prevents using Linux distros to retrieve files.

Also, the user said they used HP Recover Manager to back up their files and that creates proprietary files that other apps can not read or use.  So, I advise against using it for that reason.  So, those readily available online tools you so quickly mention will be of little or no use to them.

[440fuller · Accepted solution]

Okay, after spending over half a day with with an off-duty member of IT, everything seems to be working smoothly.  She did have to re-install Windows, but I don't think she used a key code (I tried to watch as much as possible without hovering too much).  Though I did back up my files, it proved unnecessary, as everything was still on my laptop.  Thank you all for your input.  You all have much more knowledge about computers than I.

[JaredXP]

**bleep**

For data recovery for HDD  or an SSD (such as with the EaseUS Data Recovery program) , since you are adamant it won't work despite the contrary, could you go over why he would have little use for them. Those files are still store on sectors of the HDD and how SSD works (with TRIM and erasing unused data being the two caveats that could possibly make the process a bit difficult), as long as its in the drive itself and wasn't overwritten by the user. How would he be unable to retrieve them?

[WAWood]

**bleep**

To the best of my knowledge, at least as reported to me by others, as I personally do not use any built-in backup or recovery apps, the HP Recovery Manager file backup process creates files of a proprietary format.  That means instead of a bunch of folders with files in them, that any data recovery utility can see and understand, you have stuff that NONE of them can see or understand. That means that using such apps is a waste of time.