windows won't boot up after full system recovery with new HDD

[HPASK]

While the recovery is still going on, I would like to write how my process is step by step.

I have tried to take the DVD disk out at 100% progress "Copying Files requiered to restore the hard drive",

but the DVD-rom Drive button is disable.

So I took paperclip fast to open the DVD-rom manually but the screen already jump on the "Restoring files to the hard drive". I will keep on going with this and see what the result is.

If this isn't working I will try another Recovery again with this time and open the DVD-Rom manually at 100% progress of "Copying Files requiered to restore the hard drive".

More update is coming...

Regards,
John

[HPASK]

Hi Erico,

After the first attempt recovering without succes, I've tried again a second time and this time taking the disk out right at that 100% progress as you said but after 2 times restarts it also failed.

Screenshots what I have taken is where the screen is before it keeps restarting.

On the first picture after Installing drivers, both bars on the screen was filled.

Than the computer restarted and we're on the screen as stated on the second picture.

It was loading untill the restart came and that's the third picture.

And than it's keeps restarting on the black screen with white/grey windows logo.

Is there another way how we can fix this issue?

[erico]

At that point it should have worked.  I will have to ask an HP Employee who is a laptop master, what his thoughts are on this. 

I posted the query in an internal thread.

Please be patient,  it may take a few days to get a response.

[HPASK]

Thank You very much Erico for all your help here.

I will wait for your good news after the HP Employee replied.

Regards,
John

[erico]

HP stated that the drive you have installed may be of a capacity that is too low. The original HDD was 1TB and your replacement is 320GB. 

HP also states that you should just let the recovery run on its own and walk away from it  for a few hours while it is in the process of completion. 

[HPASK]

Hi erico,

First of all I would like to know if you have received my private message here?

Because I have tried out a standalone install of Win 8.1 and that went succesfull.

Also I have make a picture how HP recovery partitioned the drive which failed.

And based on about HP states, it is not possible to use HP recovery on a different size HDD lower than the original?

This is the first time I have met such a problem on this first HP computer of mine.

I have a Acer, Asus and Toshiba laptop also which would accept all different Size HDD for recovering.

And I did let the Recovery run on it's own the very first 3-4 times and let it run for a whole night, so this is not the problem either.

It's more likely about the size of the HDD.

If you have time, I would like to discuss this in more advance with you in Private.

Thank you very much again for your knowledge and help.

Regards,

John

[APG73 · Accepted solution]

OK, I've read through the thread and this is my take on this based on how the recovery process works particularly with User Created Recovery Media (UCRDs) which the user stated they used. 

If you just want to skip to the conclusion at the bottom, you can see my opinion. If you want to know the “why” please read the whole post.

Model #: m7-j010dx

Product #: E0K83UA#ABA

Shipped OS: Windows 8 (64-bit)

HP Recovery Kit Part #: 730336-002 (3 DVDs + Supplement)

User changed the HDD from a 1TB 5400RPM hard drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection to a new hard drive which is a Seagate Momentus 7200.4 ST9320423AS 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 2.5" Internal Notebook Hard Drive.

Using UCRDs versus Support Sent Recovery Media (SSRDs):  

When UCRDs are created, only the drivers for the functioning HW (this is a critical point I will address later) are burned to the User Created Recovery Media.  Think of this as a snapshot of the current HW, base drivers and software applications.   If you were to change the HW on a Notebook or Desktop where the added device needs a different driver for full functionality, a few issues could occur - Recovery process could stop because it cannot find the correct driver, a Blue Screen, a No Boot or other system instability.  

A few years ago I had a PC that would not recover because the Blu-ray Optical Disc Drive (ODD) did not function.  I replaced the Blu-ray ODD with a generic DVD/CD burner until the new Blu-ray part showed up.   I recovered the PC using SSRDs thinking I would save some time and just install the Blu-ray after the PC was recovered.   The PC recovered and when the new Blu-ray showed up I installed the device and guess what?  All the PC showed in Device Manager and applications was a generic ODD - No Blu-ray capability and no capability to play Blu-ray content in the default HP provided multi-media applications shipped with the PC.  The apps were there but no Blu-ray capability.  

Huh?  Looks like I did not save any time at all. 

I inserted the new Blu-ray ODD and started the recovery again with the HP SSRDs. 

After the recovery, I had all the Blu-ray drivers and the apps supported Blu-ray. 

The difference between UCRDs and SSRDs: 

UCRDs are a snapshot of what is installed and functional at the time the discs are created.

Reader’s Digest version on what happens using SSRDs to recover a PC (prior to Windows 10):

SSRDs have all the drivers for all the HW and SW qualified for the unit.  There may be multiple drivers for HDDs, ODDs, different screen types/resolutions, etc.  Based on the features of the specific Notebook/Desktop a process is run called "Do / Don't ".   After inserting the SSRD recovery media, the Notebook boots to Recovery Manager.  The first step is a raw copy of all disc content to a temporary partition.  Next the Do/Don't process looks at the features for that specific unit and deletes all the other drivers and apps not used by this unit.  The only drivers/applications retained are the supported features.   Then the new OS and recovery partition are created.   The PC finishes the cleanup recovery processes and restarts the Notebook/Desktop. And, yes, you guessed it, if you create User Created Recovery Media, you only have the drivers for the HW devices and HP applications on the PC at the time.

So, that being said, what could be the issue/solution?

The HDDs can be different enough that a different driver (not on the UCRDs) is needed for the newly installed HW.

Do the SSRDs support the new HDD installed?

I do not know, I am a Desktop guy and I have not tried this on this Notebook model.  

If you have/acquire SSRDs, I would recover the Notebook with the new HDD installed and see if it works.  It may or it may not.  I do not know what HDDs were qualified for this Notebook.

If it does not work, the last option is cloning via a USB connection (old HDD in the PC, new HDD connected to a USB 3 port via the SATA to USB adapter (dongle), install or download the cloning software and cloning the old HDD to the new.   I just did this on two older Windows 7 Notebooks using a SanDisk Ultra kit.  It worked on both units.  

Conclusion:

I do not think the issue is caused by going from a 1TB HDD to a 320GB HDD since it meets the minimum specifications for a full install.  I believe the issue is related to using UCRDs to recover and the UCRDs lack the correct HDD driver/firmware/application. 

But then again, what do I know.  

I am an HP employee….  

[HPASK]

Hello APG73,

very well said and good explaination of the whole situation step by step.

Erico did a good job too assisting me until he was out of clue but I really should thank you both.

It was educational for me too, when I was experimenting using an different HDD with the UCRDs and it failed, which have let me came across with your explanation.

Since it did work with a fresh install of windows 8.1 and automatically activated windows when get connected to the internet, I wasn't bother anymore with the UCRDs.

So I will only use the UCRDs for the HDD that came with the laptop or if I can order a same HDD.

And if I want to install a SSD, than I will do a standalone install of windows 8.1

Many thanks for the help erico & APG73!

[HPASK]

Hi guys,

It's been a while that I haven't pay attention to my problem since it wasn't solved but after I have read another post in HP forums resolving a similar problem it came up for me giving it another try again.

I think it's a software bug from HP, after changing the date in the bios to 1-2-2014 and starting the recovery disk on another smaller Hard drive ( tested on a 320 GB and 500GB), the recovery restored with successfully on both drives.

I am updating this post for other users that are still having this problem. Hope this can help.

Regards,

HPasK