Reinstalling Windows 7 issue

[bcrefresh]

I have an older ProBook that was previously used to store sensative information. I have wiped the hard drive via the BIOS, but now when I try to boot it from a USB to reinstall Win 7 I get errors. The screen says to install and OS which is what I am trying to do, but it won't boot properly.

When I try to press F9 or F10 to get into the BIOS options, I only get taken to a System Diagnostics screen. I have run all the diagnostics and it has passed. 

I tried to press Windows + B to do a BIOS recovery, but that only results in the fan running at full speed and the caps lock flashing. 

Any suggestions would truly be helpful!

Thanks

[TheOldMan]

Depending on the BIOS version that is installed, it could be that you need to switch out of the  UEFI  mode and into legacy.  Windows 7 does not know how to get into the UEFI  settings, as it came out before.

[bcrefresh]

How can I switch out of the UEFI mode and into Legacy if all I get is System Diagnostics?

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi:

You need to boot from the notebook's USB 2 port.

You need to tap the ESC key at the beginning of the HP welcome screen to get the various menus.

You want the F9 boot options menu, and hopefully from there, you will see the USB flash drive listed as a bootable device option.

[bcrefresh]

Hello Paul - 

The issue is that when I press ESC and I then press F9 it takes me to System Diagnostics and not the boot options screen.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

The only suggestion I can offer under those circumstances would be to try performing a hard reset of the notebook.

http://h20564.www2.hp.com/hpsc/doc/public/display?docId=emr_na-c01684768

If that doesn't work, I would have to assume the motherboard has a major issue.

Even with no hard drive in the notebook, you should be able to access the BIOS and other menus by using the ESC key.

[siepo]

Can you boot from DVD?

I remember that when, years ago, I wiped all the partitions of the HD of my ProBook 4330s, the BIOS menu was suddenly reduced to almost nothing, but I did manage to reinstall w7 from dvd (I think). Later, after a BIOS update, I had once more a full BIOS menu.