Unable to Boot or Recover System From BAD_SYSTEM_CONFIG_INFO BSOD

[Blue0013]

Greetings,

My laptop had ben operating without any issues and then suddenly I received the subject BSOD when I started it up. I was eventually able to get to the HP System Diagnostics by pressing ‘esc’ during boot up where the ‘Memory Extensive Test’ failed:

I bought new memory, swapped it out and now my laptop passes all of the System Diagnostics tests without issue. BTW…while the laptop was disassembled, I removed Bitlocker encryption from the SSD using my desktop.

Unfortunately, I’m still getting the same BSOD. The Automatic Repair function doesn’t help and I’ve gone through all of the Advanced Startup Options (Startup Repair, Uninstall Updates, System Restore) and I’ve tried resetting the PC.

I’ve also ran the utilities listed below:

bootrec /scanos

bootrec /fixmbr

bootrec /fixboot

bootrec /rebuildbcd

Maybe I’m wrong but I’ve pretty much resigned myself to a fresh install of Windows. I used the files at https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows11 to attempt a fresh install but that wouldn’t work either. (Perhaps I did something wrong?) I did notice in the BIOS Boot Options there is an exclamation point in front of “USB Network Adapter”.

Where do I go from here?

Thanks for reading,

Jeff

[Paul_Tikkanen · Accepted solution]

Hi, Jeff:

Yes, sometimes when a memory chip fails, you have to reinstall Windows because the OS may have gotten very corrupted.

I have had to do that myself when a memory chip went bad once or twice.

What I recommend you do is to get a 32 GB USB flash drive and make a bootable USB recovery drive with the HP cloud recovery tool.

Here's an info link for how to use the utility.

HP Consumer PCs - Using the HP Cloud Recovery Tool in Windows 11 and 10 | HP® Support

You can download the software from the Microsoft Store:

HP Cloud Recovery Tool - Free download and install on Windows | Microsoft Store

Since you have to use the utility on another Windows PC, you will need to enter your notebook's product number in the tool's search window in order to proceed to make the recovery media.

Your PC's product number is 8R077UA#ABA

To boot from the USB flash drive, have it plugged into your notebook's USB port.

Turn on or restart the PC.

Immediately tap the ESC key to get the menu of options.

Select the F9 boot options menu and from that, select the USB Flash drive/USB hard drive and press the Enter key.

The PC should boot from the recovery media and begin to load the files for the restoration process.

[Blue0013]

Thanks Paul. Will the Windows product key be required? I don't have any record of it abd nothing is attached to the laptop. I read a post that said the key is internal now?

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome. 

Windows product keys have been encrypted into the BIOS of any PC that came with Windows 8 or newer. 

You won't need to use the product key as it will automatically be picked up during the installation. 

[Blue0013]

Thanks so much for your help, Paul. My laptop is up and running like a champ!!!

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Anytime.

Glad to have been of assistance.

Cheers,

Paul