This budget series laptop will NOT clean install Windows 10

[Thinkster]

A friend got this cheap laptop that came with a restricted version of Windows 10 and he couldn't install any of the applications he needed.  I found that HP had installed some budget version of Win 10 called "S-mode".   No problem I thought, I have two licences for Windows 10 Pro.   I found the BIOS on this laptop to be very limited and crippled,  not the worst BIOS I have seen, but a very poor attempt at creating a configurable BIOS.  This laptop has a very small Lite-on brand SSD which is not a brand I would use for this type of product as this is not Lite-on's specialty.  Anyways,  While booting from USB and getting to the part where you prep the drive for Windows install (Delete partition, create partition, format),  It will not allow Windows to be installed to the drive!

The following message appears:  "Windows cannot be installed to this disk. This computer's hardware may not support booting to this disk. Ensure the disk's controller is enabled in the computer's BIOS menu."

I've never encountered this message before in 100's of PC's I've installed Windows on, so that tells me something is wrong with the hardware, the design of the computer or the crippled BIOS.   I tried all the logical bios settings, but nothing worked.  I feel like the BIOS is not complete on this model as you can't even change the mode like RAID or AHCI.

Any ideas on solving this or should I just have him return the laptop and get a different brand that I know for sure supports installing Windows?

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi:

There is a way to get out of 'S' mode without having to clean install W10.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4456067/windows-10-switch-out-of-s-mode

Regarding the error, I found this Microsoft forum post...

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/windows-cannot-be-installed-to-this-disk-this/...

If you can't get it to work, see if creating the bootable USB recovery drive with the HP cloud recovery tool allows you to reinstall W10 in S mode.

Here is an information link for how to use that utility...

https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c06162205

Then go back and try the instructions to switch out of S mode without having to clean install W10.

[Thinkster]

Thanks for the reply,  but at this point it is too late to try to switch out of S-mode.   Not even sure why they even have a version of Windows 10 called S-Mode except that it must be dirt cheap for HP to get a license of that version.

As for HP Cloud recovery boot USB, this model of course is NOT supported by that.  Why would it if it's an entry level model right?

In the Microsoft post, it said, "It turned out that there was a issue with the drives Internal Controller that was not allowing it to be recognized as a Boot Device... Even when properly selected.. Replacing the drive with a different brand resolved the problem immediately.."  

I'm guessing this might be the case as HP is using a Lite-on branded SSD,  NOT a reputable brand in the SSD market!  But I guess if your building a cheap computer, you want to use the cheapest components you can get your hands on...

[Oakwinlinz]

I heard somewhere a long time ago that you can upgrade from s mode for free with a Microsoft Account, so if S mode is still enabled after the reset try asking the owner for their MS account or using your Ms account.

[Paul_Tikkanen · Accepted solution]

You're very welcome.

I had suggested the cloud recovery tool, because I entered the notebook's product number in the window, and it would have let me create a bootable recovery drive.

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Were you able to create the media, or did it fail when you tried to use it?

That tool is unforgiving when you enter the product number.

You must press the Enter key immediately after entering the product number.

If you click off the window, you will get the 'Product ID not valid' message.

[Thinkster]

Thanks, I put the number you provided (Thanks for looking up ProdID) and hit Enter as you said and it worked!  I created the recovery USB Drive and got the laptop working again.

I've done recovery images with other brands before and never had to go through as many hoops as HP has you do, not to mention the requirements for the recovery app and it won't let you do anything till you plug in the laptop you are using to create the recovery media.

Well, now that I know how these newer HP's are, I'll be sure to stay away from working on them in the future.\

But Thank you Paul for your help & suggestions!

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Anytime.

Glad to have been of assistance.