ProBook 450 G2 does not boot to Windows, unless in Safe mode

[SirRamirez]

Hi,

I have an HP ProBook 450 G2 that is having issues booting to Windows 10. When I power it on, the HP icon shows up and shows the loading graphic. Once that finishes the screen goes black, it does not turn off it just shows a black screen. When I hooked it up to an external monitor, nothing comes up.  I have replaced the hard drive and RAM. I even used a hard drive from a working laptop of the same model, but it still shows the same behavior. It is not until I boot to Safe Mode that the laptop boots to Windows 10. I attempted to update the BIOS, but it did not fix it.  I compared the BIOS settings to the same model that is also running Windows 10, but there was no difference in settings. 

I ran out of ideas to test and did not find a solution on this forums site. Any advice to fix the laptop or an explanation would be greatly appreciated. 

[IT_WinSec]

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@SirRamirez wrote:

Hi,

(...) It is not until I boot to Safe Mode that the laptop boots to Windows 10.

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Hello @SirRamirez

Welcome to the HP Support forum. Thank you for posting.

It seems you have found the culprit of your problems. If you can start the PC in Safe Mode, this means there is an operating system problem on this PC / on this HDD and you need to reinstall Windows (or perform HP Recovery to restore the computer to factory default condition). Safe Mode is a special mode in Windows where only basic things and most essential components are loaded, therefore something that starts up in Normal mode prevents Windows from loading.

* If you did not recently upgrade Windows from one build-version to a newer one

and

If the issue started recently, you could probably use "System Restore" option to restore back your PC to a previous known-good condition where it worked fine. Please, read more and how to here :

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

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

you may first attempt using System Restore

* If System Restore did not help, you will need to reinstall Windows or perform HP Recovery. Depending on how Windows was installing installed I may provide you with specific steps how to accomplish that.  Let me know. 🙂

Is this your own PC or company owned asset ? Did Windows came preinstalled on the PC or you used your own media/version ?

Provide your feedback/reply/update.

Cheers!

[SirRamirez]

@IT_WinSec,

Thank you for your response. 

However, the OS on the hard drive is not the issue because I used the same hard drive on a different machine, same model, and it boots up without issues. As for System Restore and HP Recovery, they will not work since the hard drive was reimaged over the network, which excludes HP Recovery and system restore options.

I am going to attempt installing windows from scratch later on today. Do you have any other suggestions or an explanation? Perhaps a hardware issue?

[IT_WinSec]

Hi @SirRamirez

I believe you and I understand what you are saying but what you describe sound strange to me.

Please, try reinstalling the entire OS again and let me know if any progress.

[SirRamirez]

@IT_WinSec

I installed Windows 10 from scratch. The initial boot up was successful, but after restart, it stopped booting up. It still had the same issue getting stuck at the black screen after the HP loading logo goes away.  On the rarest of occassion it will boot successfully after numerous restarts, but that is not sufficient. 

I ran a full system diagnostic.  Everything passed, so I don't know what else I can do. I think it's best to just assume it is a faulty motherboard. 

Any possible explanations?

[IT_WinSec]

Have you used another operating system before on this very same PC (same specs) ?

E.g. Windows 7 or 8.1 ?

What edition of Windows 10 you used ? Where did you download it from ? Is this pure Microsoft/Windows installation or some company image ?

Do you install some sort of drivers eventually ? Any 3rd party software you install after Windows installation ?

I don't think this is motherboard issue, more of driver problem. You did scan the PC for hardware issues + motherboard issues have different symptops - I don't think you would be able to install the OS, run it fine one and upon reboot it fails to load (this is not a motherboard problem).

[SirRamirez]

@IT_WinSec,

Yes I have tried installing Windows 8.1 on the same PC but the installation does not install successfully. However, 8.1 does install properly on the other ones of the same model (same specs). 

As for Windows 10, I tried to install Windows 10 Enterprise and Windows 10 Education without any improvement. Both of them pure Microsoft/Windows discs. I have also tried multiple hard drives with clean images without improvement. 

I do not install additional drivers, only what comes with the Windows 10 installation.  Normally software that is downloaded are only basics: Chrome, Firefox, Office, Adobe Flash, Adobe Reader etc., but with this machine I do am not downloading anything until I can make a garuntee it will reboot without issues. That said it is not a software issue. 

Assuming it is not a motherboard issue and if the problem points to driver conflict, then what are the most common drivers that would prevent a machine from booting up? 

[IT_WinSec]

Hi,

Thank you for your update.

Make sure you update the BIOS of this PC model. Here are instructions >> https://support.hp.com/rs-en/document/c00042629

BIOS update can be downloaded from >> https://support.hp.com/rs-en/drivers

If you still face difficulties and if you use pure vanilla (clean) Windows 10 images, I recommend you reach to HP Support for Business or to Microsoft Business support .

Let me know how it goes.

[SirRamirez]

@IT_WinSec,

I already attempted the BIOS update, that did not fix it either.

I did not use Pure Vanilla windows 10 images.

I am not sure if I will have the time to call HP support any time soon. Those guys aren't helpful anyways. Maybe this laptop is a total loss. If I ever find a resolution, I will update this forum. Thank you for all your help.

[SirRamirez · Accepted solution]

I've attempted several things and I found the workaround for my issue  :robothappy:

FIXED: I booted to safe mode. Then went to Device Manager and disabled Intel(R) HD Graphics Family. Restart. 

My machine was able to boot up successfully. I rebooted muliple times without any issues :robotvery-happy: