What did my mom do to her desktop?

[crashhat]

My mom told me her desktop froze so she turned it off, when she turned it on the boot screen popped up? I'm not sure what this screen is, I'm just gonna guess and say it's it's some type of boot screen. heres a picture I took of the computer screen

What do I do to fix this? do i turn off the computer?

 

[gregrocker]

It is skipping the hard drive and attempting to boot into network boot further down the boot list.

If this is the HP then reboot And tap ESC key to try running Diagnostics to test hardware. But if hard drive is unavailable it will not run since the files are on bootable HP Utility partition.

Boot into BIOS Setup to see if hard drive is detected under Storage Listings. It should have a name or serial to google. If detected make sure its set first to boot under Boot Order.

If not detected check connection, replace cable to see if it can be detected. If not replace it and do Reinstall from tutorial under picture below which provides everything to get the best install one can have.

 

[crashhat]

What would happen if I put In her system recovery disks? I turned off her desktop, turned it on and the same thing popped up. I turned it off then on and started pressing F11 and it never went to the recovery screen

 

[crashhat]

It is skipping the hard drive and attempting to boot into network boot further down the boot list.

If this is the HP then reboot And tap ESC key to try running Diagnostics to test hardware. But if hard drive is unavailable it will not run since the files are on bootable HP Utility partition.

Boot into BIOS Setup to see if hard drive is detected under Storage Listings. It should have a name or serial to google. If detected make sure its set first to boot under Boot Order.

If not detected check connection, replace cable to see if it can be detected. If not replace it and do Reinstall from tutorial under picture below which provides everything to get the best install one can have.

"select boot device"
Hitachi HDS721050CLA362
HPCDDVDW TS-H653T
NVIDIA BOOT AGENT 249.0543

 

[gregrocker]

Hitachi is the hard drive. What happens when it is selected first to boot?

Is there a Diagnostics choice on ESC Boot Menu? Was its partition previously deleted?

 

[crashhat]

Hitachi is the hard drive. What happens when it is selected first to boot?

It booted up but it took awhile to do so

 

[gregrocker]

I asked you twice about running HP built-in bootable HD diagnostics via F12. You replied instead asking about F11 and Recovery disks which would have wiped out the install, but never replied to the actual question about F12 Diagnostics so you can know the condition of your hard drive and other hardware. Would you please reply to the question?

If HP Diagnostics or Utility partition will not run I would test it now with Hitachi Drive Fitness Test CD - download

There are complaints about this test, so if it won't run try Seagate Seatools ISO
burned to CD with Windows Image Burner.

If the hard drive passes the diagnostics, run a Disk Check, the other hardware tests and then work through the Troubleshooting Steps for Windows 7.

 

[crashhat]

I asked you twice about running HP built-in bootable HD diagnostics via F12. You replied instead asking about F11 and Recovery disks which would have wiped out the install, but never replied to the actual question about F12 Diagnostics so you can know the condition of your hard drive and other hardware. Would you please reply to the question?

If HP Diagnostics or Utility partition will not run I would test it now with Hitachi Drive Fitness Test CD - download

There are complaints about this test, so if it won't run try Seagate Seatools

If the hard drive passes the diagnostics, run a Disk Check, the other hardware tests and then work through the Troubleshooting Steps for Windows 7.

Sorry about that. I'll do the diagnostics via F12 and tell you what happens.

 

[crashhat]

I did a diagnostics (which is F11 on her desktop) and everything said passed. F12 is boot from lan or something like that.

 

[gregrocker]

So will it reboot normally now? Did you confirm the hard drive is set to boot first in BIOS setup?

If the problem is slow performance this may be due to the factory install or other corruption. The surest cure for this is to do a perfect Clean Reinstall Windows 7.

Short of that you can Clean Up Factory Bloatware which will mitigate the bloatware's ruin of the OS somewhat and optimize for best performance. I'd at least establish a Clean Boot (except for lightweight AV like MSE or Panda Cloud) and reboot to see how that lightens the load. You can wait to uninstall the programs not used as long as they're not all starting with Windows, since none of them need to.

 

[crashhat]

I'll most likely do a factory restore or something. I think she did something to her desktop to make this problem happen in the first place.

 

[crashhat]

Well, she said her desktop was acting up again so she turned it off, when I turned it on I got a message saying that the hard disk failed and that I need to replace it or something like that. She's been wanting to get a laptop so this is a good a time as any to get one lol.

 

[RolandJS]

If/when a major problematic shutdown happened on my laptop from time to time, then I too got the above message. I would place my Windows 7 Pro [nonOEM], boot it, run the Startup Repair option. It would reWrite the boot sector/MBR [my educated guess] -- then, hard-drive boots up as normal. Crashhat, I do not know if OEM Windows has this option or not. Which do you have?

 

[gregrocker]

If only the hard drive failed then you can replace it and Clean Reinstall Windows 7.

It's fairly easy to access via a bay underneath, remove and replace. The best upgrade one can get is an SSD which is lightning fast.

Sometimes you can reseat the HD in its bay to see if it registers in BIOS. If so then you can Troubleshoot Windows 7 Failure to Start


http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/219487-clean-reinstall-factory-oem-windows-7-a.html#post1839164

 

[crashhat]

If only the hard drive failed then you can replace it and Clean Reinstall Windows 7.

It's fairly easy to access via a bay underneath, remove and replace. The best upgrade one can get is an SSD which is lightning fast.

Sometimes you can reseat the HD in its bay to see if it registers in BIOS. If so then you can Troubleshoot Windows 7 Failure to Start

How much do hard drives usually cost? how do I know which one to get?

 

[gregrocker]

The best upgrade a PC can have is an SSD which prices are coming down fast: http://www.sevenforums.com/pc-custom-builds-overclocking/75383-best-deals-day.html

You can pick one up at a computer superstore, Best Buy, or search the web for laptop HD in the size you want.

 

[crashhat]

The best upgrade a PC can have is an SSD which prices are coming down fast: http://www.sevenforums.com/pc-custom-builds-overclocking/75383-best-deals-day.html

You can pick one up at a computer superstore, Best Buy, or search the web for laptop HD in the size you want.

So will this fit in her hp desktop?

Amazon.com: WD Blue 250 GB Desktop Hard Drive: 3.5 Inch, 7200 RPM, SATA III, 16 MB Cache - WD2500AAKX: Electronics

 

[whs]

Greg has asked me to continue the conversation because he has to catch a plane.

This Sata III disk will do. If you have a Sata III port (which is unlikely if that is an older system), put it on that. But it will also work on a Sata II port. You probably would not even notice the difference.

Sata III can transport data at up to 6Gb/sec and Sata II at 3Gb/sec. But most disks cannot deliver or receive data at any speed even close to 3Gb/sec. They are more in the range of 1 to 1.5Gb/sec.

 

[crashhat]

Greg has asked me to continue the conversation because he has to catch a plane.

This Sata III disk will do. If you have a Sata III port (which is unlikely if that is an older system), put it on that. But it will also work on a Sata II port. You probably would not even notice the difference.

Sata III can transport data at up to 6Gb/sec and Sata II at 3Gb/sec. But most disks cannot deliver or receive data at any speed even close to 3Gb/sec. They are more in the range of 1 to 1.5Gb/sec.

Well, the desktop she has is the HP Pavilion Slimline s5713w

 

[whs]

As I saiod, it does not really make any difference to which port you attach the HDD. Port 0 is always the best for OS disks.

Did you study the port situation in the User manual.