Probook 450 G4 will not reboot

[Peterk111]

HP Probook 450 G4, Win10 Pro64

will not reboot - freezes at HP logo

laptop, 14 mth old, became unstable - very slow, hanging, crashing etc

tried to reset to factory settings - froze half way through

now will not boot

followed HP Virtual Agent carefully / repeatedly to create OS & BIOS recovery USB - didn't help

tried numerous solutions on the web for similar problems / same model - didn't help

suspect the SSD disk has failed

think I've exhausted all reasonable advice

Can HP help fix SSD, restore OS and restore Office Pro ?

[itsmyname]

@Peterk111 --   suspect the SSD disk has failed.  Can HP help fix SSD, restore OS and restore Office Pro ?

I also think that the SSD has failed. 

Did the HP Warranty expire after 12 months? Did you purchase the HP "Carepack" to add more years of warranty?

> create OS & BIOS recovery USB - didn't help

Replace the SSD, and use that USB to reload Windows.

Note that when you "activated" Microsoft Office, the product-key was sent to Microsoft.

When you reinstall Office, it will "call home" to retrieve the product-key, and will activate the product.

[Peterk111]

Hi

Thanks for your reply.

On fitting new ssd and using recovery USB - that makes sense - I'll give it go.

On warranty - it was strictly 12 months - I've had several HPs before without any problems so extending the warranty didn't seem necessary - c'est la vie !

On Office Pro - this is my son's laptop to I'm not certain whether office was pre-installed or added later. If I install office afresh from Microsoft.com on the new ssd, will the laptop ip address be recognised and office be activated? It's possible we have no other proof of purchase.

Thanks again for your help - much appreciated.

[itsmyname]

@Peterk111 -- I'm not certain whether office was pre-installed or added later. I

I think that it would be rare to purchase a PC with a fully-activated copy of Microsoft Office.

It is more likely that it was a "30-day-free-trial", and that it needed to be purchased, after the 30 days.

If it was purchased, it would need to be activated, and the activation process would have "called home" to register the product key to his (your?) Microsoft account.  If so, login to his/your Microsoft account, and you should be able to view the product-key.

Microsoft does have a web-site where you enter your product-key, and you get to download the version of Office that works with that product-key.

Or, note that there is a "Office 365 Family Edition" that is a one-year subscription for up to 5 computers. Cost is around $100. Good value, if you have multiple computers, and want the most-current version of Office.

Also, Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel can run "inside" the Microsoft Edge web-browser, after you logon with your Microsoft account, for "free" -- no subscription to Office is required. 

> f I install office afresh from Microsoft.com on the new ssd, will the laptop ip address be recognised

Probably NOT the IP-address. My Internet Service Provider has changed my IP-address a countless number of times, as they make "network changes" (such as "splitting" an over-loaded neighbourhood segment into two segments).

[Peterk111 · Accepted solution]

Apologies for my delay in replying. I've been away and did not want to respond until I'd followed your advice.

Spoiler alert - it worked

I replaced the failed SSD with a new one- very simple - just three screws

The recovery USB I'd made via HP Virtual Agent - some time ago - did not work for some reason

So I made a new Win10 install USB at microsoft.com

This worked and installed Windows in minutes.

I was expecting hours of windows updates - but it took no more that 30 minutes

The win10 install gives access to Office online - but need to log in each time with my MS account details  - I need to investigate more.

But for now I'm very happy to have a functioning laptop

Many thanks for you advice and patience