Pavilion x2 10 -n200na - Boot Device Not Found - Unable to boot to USB or CD

[daryljwilliams]

It appears that the recovery partitions have been deleted from my device. When booting up I get the error 'Boot Device Not Found'I've tried booting to both USB and USB CD but neither devices appear to be available.

I only have the option to enable secure boot in the bios and do not have any options for legacy.

I thought that the BIOS may be in a mess so tried to run the HP Bios update with USB and Windows+B but again it will not boot into USB.

I also don't have any recovery media. Can anybody help?

[WAWood]

@daryljwilliams

Hello;

Allow me to welcome you to the HP forums!

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but according to HP, that error message means that your primary storage drive (i.e., hard drive) has failed.
 
So, there are four issues to address here:
1) Data Recovery
2) Drive replacement
3) Recovery Media
4) System restoration
 
---------- Data Recovery ----------
 
Your best bet for recovering data now is to do the following:
1) Remove the hard drive from the PC
2) Purchase a USB-to-Hard Driver adapter kit
3) Download and install this utility on a working PC: http://www.majorgeeks.com/news/story/recover_data_in_3_steps_with_minitool_power_data_recovery_free_...
4) Connect the old drive to the working PC
5) Run the data recovery utility to see what can be retrieved from the old drive.
 
If that tools does not find what you need, an alternative is Recuva: http://www.piriform.com/recuva
 
And, if that does not work well, the best tool out there is this one, but only the trial version is free:  http://www.file-recovery.com/

---------- Drive Replacement ----------
The drive will need to be replaced. When you remove it, you will see that it is a 2 1/5 inch laptop SATA drive.  
 
You can replace this with any similar laptop drive of the same capacity or larger.
 
If the PC is still under the original one-year HP warranty, or if you have purchased an Extended Warranty and that coverage is still in place, you should be able to get the drive replaced by HP at no charge.  To explore that option, you would have to contact HP Customer Support.
 
If you live in the US or Canada, contact information is on this page: http://www8.hp.com/us/en/contact-hp/phone-assist.html#section1
 
If you live elsewhere, contact information is on this page: http://www8.hp.com/us/en/contact-hp/ww-contact-us.html
 
NOTE: After you get through, stay on the line until you are finally able to talk to some one -- it can take a while!
 
If you have trouble finding a phone number, then try: 1 (800) 474-6836
---------------------------------------

However, HP Customer Support is generally not available on the weekends, so you might have to wait until Monday to contact them.

 ---------- Recovery Media ----------
 
Once you have the replacement drive, you will need to use something known as HP Recovery Media to restore your PC to working condition. This is a set of DVDs and a CD, or USB stick, that will erase the hard drive (removing all data, settings, and applications, reinstall the original OS, drivers, and some HP Utilities. In some cases, you may be able to order a USB stick instead of disks.  You have to order these from HP; they can not be downloaded.
 
You can look online for Recovery Media starting with the linked paged: http://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers
 
Once there, input your Product name or number. On your Software and Drivers Download page, select your Operating System and and Version. Click "Update".  If HP Recovery Media is available for your machine, down near the bottom of the page, you will see an entry for Order Recovery Media-CD/DVD/USB. Click the "+" symbol to expand that entry and click on Order Media for details.
 
Or, if you prefer, you can do the same by contacting HP Customer Service (see contact info above)
 
If HP no longer provides Recovery Media for your model, a couple of other sites you can check are: http://www.computersurgeons.com/ and http://www.restoredisks.com/

---------- System Restoration ----------
 
While you are waiting for the media to arrive, read through this: http://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c00006110
 
Good Luck

[daryljwilliams]

I don't see why a failed hard drive would prevent me from booting via USB or  Live CD. Surely it would just not present the damaged drive? I can't boot from a USB to flash the BIOS. This doesn't require a hard drive.

[daryljwilliams · Accepted solution]

I've managed to resolve this. As I thought there was nothing wrong with the hard drive. The problem was with not being able to boot via an external device in order to allow me to install a new OS.

The way to get around it was to install via a USB-C type card reader with a installer for the OS on a bootable SD card. Whether this is by design that the standard USB cannot be used I don't know but it was available and transferring data correctly once the OS was installed.