computer failed to recover

[SBPresario]

Hello,

I have made several attempts to reset my computer to factory settings but all has failed.  I have also tried to do a clean install of Windows using the the latest version of windows that I downloaded to a USB which also failed.  Now the computer just keeps rebooting.   I believe the drive may be damaged.  Here are my questions:

1) Is there a place on HP where I can find the full specs on my laptop?

2) Can I replace the HD with another HD from an older computer?  And if so, will I be able to reinstall Windows on the HD without purchasing a new Windows license?

I would appreciate any direction you can provide.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi:

Below is the link to the product specs for your PC.

https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c06079144

See the discussion below, where this person had a similar issue, and the suggestions I offered resolved the problem.

https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebook-Operating-System-and-Recovery/Cannot-restore-reset-laptop/m-p...

[SBPresario]

Hello Paul,

Thank you for the quick reply.  I ran a drive check and received passing results.  I ran the recovery process and after receiving the recovery process completed screen, I received an error and it would not go any further.  I have attached screen prints of both my drive check results and the recovery error.  I booted to command prompt and was able to locate the file shown in the error so I'm not sure what to do next.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

OK, if you used the cloud recovery tool and got that error, see if the info at the link below is of help to you.

https://silicophilic.com/winload-efi-missing-in-windows-10/

You will need to boot from the plain W10 USB installer you created before using the cloud recovery tool.

When you get to the Install Now screen, on the bottom left side of the window will be a Repair your computer option.

Use the option with the command prompt, and go through each recommendation.

Hopefully, you will fix it with the first solution presented...Rebuild BCD

[SBPresario]

Hi Paul,

I may have provided incorrect information in my last post so I want to clarify.  In reviewing your previous set of instructions here  https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c06162205, the recovery made it past step 15 but  I never got to the screen print in step 16.  Does that change the course of action you provided in your most recent post?

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi:

Gotcha.

So the recovery process didn't get to step 16.

I'm thinking that you should try the cloud recovery tool again.

If it fails at step 15 again, then try the fixes I posted.

If that doesn't work, unfortunately, I don't have any other suggestions for you to try since you had already tried to clean install W10 and that didn't work.

[SBPresario]

I tried the cloud recovery tool again but this time it failed very early in the process.  I received the attached error.

I then tried going back to do a clean install but it is only showing a 4MB partition as unallocated space, so Windows will not install.  Not sure where to go from here.  You mentioned in your previous post that you don't have any other suggestions to try, but is there someone else on your team that may be able to assist?

Thank you for the assistance provided thus far.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

I would try the clean install again.

When you get to the part of the installation that asks 'Where do you want to install Windows,' delete every partition on the hard drive, leaving just one partition of unallocated space.

Click Next, and W10 should install.

[SBPresario]

Hello Paul,

The clean win install failed.  It would not let me delete the 4MB partition and there were no other partitions available.  It just seems as though the system is no longer seeing the 1TB hard drive (OPTANE). 

Would purchasing a recovery media from HP for my unit yield different results from the cloud recovery media I downloaded?  Or are both installs basically the same? 

[Paul_Tikkanen · Accepted solution]

Sorry that didn't work either.

I believe that if the cloud recovery tool is not exactly the same as the recovery media you buy from HP, it is pretty darn close to it.

Probably not worth risking $50 bucks on it.

I wonder if there is something wrong with the Optane memory module.

You could try removing it and clean installing W10 on the hard drive without the Optane memory installed.

Below is the link to the service manual where you can find the procedure to remove the Optane memory.

http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c05985643

Then if that allows you to install W10 on the hard drive--the notebook will run slower without the cache acceleration provided by the Optane memory, you could instead of buying another Optane memory chip, buy a NVMe M.2 SSD that fits in its place and install W10 on that, and use the hard drive for storage.

NVMe drives would range in capacities from 250 GB, 500 GB or 1 TB.

NVme drives are the fastest drives on the market today.