"Boot Device Not Found" after attempting to do factory reset 3 days in a row

[l-l-c]

Hello,

I attempted to do a factory reset on my HP Notebook 14-an013nr (Energy Star) laptop three days ago. The progress went up to 51% for a full factory reset, and then would stop and bring me to a screen, stating that the reset could not be completed. I attempted to reset my laptop 8 more times over the past three days and it kept on stopping at 51% with the same error message against a blue screen. I've been attempting to solve the issue for 3-4 hours now and have been set back. I followed numerous HP tutorials to no avail and then found myself on a neosmart tutorial, which stated to be approved/backed by HP. I followed this diskpart guide to a T, and am now receiving "Boot Device Not Found" error messages. I ran through the test options given to me: memory test and hard drive check. My laptop passed for both. This is extremely strange as my laptop was working perfectly fine four days ago until I decided to clean the entire thing as I was nearing a full drive and wanted to get rid of all of my memory quickly.

I appreciate any and all help,

Thank you in adv.

[IT_WinSec]

Hi @l-l-c

Welcome to the HP Support Community.

The built-in recovery partition is corrupted. This happens occasionally mostly due to some Windows updates. May also be caused by other reasons, though. If the recovery does not work, your best step now is to perform clean "vanilla" Windows 10 installation. And it's great that the hardware tests passed - this confirms the root cause of the problem.

Here are instructions how to clean install/reinstall Windows 10:

* Video reference >> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAvFm52IjI4

Windows reinstallation / clean installation :

- You can directly download Windows 10 ISO from MS site or download >> Media creation tool from Microsoft site, create installation DVD or installation USB  and  proceed with clean installation/reinstallation.

Download:

>> https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10ISO

Make sure you select the proper version (64 bit / Home or Pro) if asked.

Media Creation tool will always provide you with the latest Windows version/build - now 1809.

- When download completes, you will need to write  the ISO image and boot from a bootable media. You will need a blank USB pendrive (min 8 GB capacity). Use the Media Creation tool.

When ready with the USB drive or with the DVD:

Please, shutdown the computer using the power button.

Insert the Windows USB thumdrive prepared previously

Power on the PC.

As soon as you press the power-on button, start hitting the Esc button repeatedly (like tap-tap-tap).

This should open a HP Startup Menu

Choose F9 to open Boot options. Select the USB thumb drive as a boot option.

- Follow the on-screen instructions to install Windows 10. Perform clean installation/custom installation (not repair).

Delete all existing partitions and install Windows on Disc 0 Unallocated space

- After successful Windows installation, install drivers taken from HP web site or via Windows Update/Device Manager >> http://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c03330139

- Make sure Windows is Activated by going to Start > Settings > Update & Security > Windows Activation

- You might want to stop some of the Windows Telemetry by using free tools such as Spybot AntiBeacon or DWS Lite

Hope this helps. Let me know how it goes