new laptop - first time use stalls

[Pukeko]

I have recently purchased a new HP Probook 6540b laptop. It came out of a sealed HP box so is brand new. It is a model WH432PA#ABG with an Intel i7 620M cpu and 4GB RAM.

It came with Windows 7 Professional pre-installed.

However, it fails to complete its "first use" phase.

On boot it displays [FONT=&quot]"Setup is preparing your computer for first use" on a black background. It then proceeds to a "Set Up Windows" window on a blue background (looks like normal wallpaper background). The window includes the text "Windows 7 Professional", "My language is English" and a "Next" button.

At this point it stalls. The Next button does not work. I don't believe it is completely hung as I can move the mouse and the disk light flashes about once per second. However, it just sits there for at least 2 and a half hours. (I have also left it overnight on a couple of occasions but the power saving options do kick in and shut it down. The 2.5 hours requires me to sit there and keep moving the mouse.) Ctrl-Alt-Del does not work at this point and the only way out is to remove the power and battery.

I would appreciate some guidance on how to overcome this problem. Note that this is not directly an installation issue. The OS is pre-installed (along with HP goodies).

The only thing I did after opening the box was to charge the battery and set the time zone and date.

Since then I have tried disabling various devices and reinstalling the OS from a DVD. Everything stalls at the same point. I have also successfully upgraded the BIOS from F.04 to F.09 (the latest). The release notes suggested that this version now supported the cpu so it seemed like a worthwhile thing to do and it appears to have been successful (though was not easy on a non-functional computer -- but that is another story).

I've read several guides on this site and elsewhere and none seem relevant. The store from which I purchased has not responded.

I'm stumped. Hoping someone here has seen this before and knows what the problem is and how to resolve it.

Thanks



[/FONT]

 

[The Howling Wolves]

Take it back to the store as it is still under warranty!

 

[NoN]

I have recently purchased a new HP Probook 6540b laptop. It came out of a sealed HP box so is brand new. It is a model WH432PA#ABG with an Intel i7 620M cpu and 4GB RAM.

It came with Windows 7 Professional pre-installed.

However, it fails to complete its "first use" phase.

On boot it displays [FONT=&quot]"Setup is preparing your computer for first use" on a black background. It then proceeds to a "Set Up Windows" window on a blue background (looks like normal wallpaper background). The window includes the text "Windows 7 Professional", "My language is English" and a "Next" button.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]At this point it stalls. The Next button does not work. I don't believe it is completely hung as I can move the mouse and the disk light flashes about once per second. However, it just sits there for at least 2 and a half hours. (I have also left it overnight on a couple of occasions but the power saving options do kick in and shut it down. The 2.5 hours requires me to sit there and keep moving the mouse.) Ctrl-Alt-Del does not work at this point and the only way out is to remove the power and battery.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]I would appreciate some guidance on how to overcome this problem. Note that this is not directly an installation issue. The OS is pre-installed (along with HP goodies).[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]The only thing I did after opening the box was to charge the battery and set the time zone and date.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Since then I have tried disabling various devices and reinstalling the OS from a DVD. Everything stalls at the same point. I have also successfully upgraded the BIOS from F.04 to F.09 (the latest). The release notes suggested that this version now supported the cpu so it seemed like a worthwhile thing to do and it appears to have been successful (though was not easy on a non-functional computer -- but that is another story).[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]I've read several guides on this site and elsewhere and none seem relevant. The store from which I purchased has not responded.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]I'm stumped. Hoping someone here has seen this before and knows what the problem is and how to resolve it.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Thanks[/FONT]

Very bad story to hear! Can't you access to the Recovery console repair at F8 Key on boot?

And do a Scan/Check for Start Up Problems:

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/681-startup-repair.html

 

[Pukeko]

Thanks for the suggestion. However, F8 just gives me safe mode and some other options. Safe mode doesn't work (as the first use has not been completed) and the other options, boot logging was one, don't help either. There is no recovery console or repair option.

I have been able to use Startup Repair by booting from the Windows installation DVD but no problems were found. Nor did a hardware test reveal any issues.

 

[theog]

Take a look page 147 in the HP Probook 6540b manual.

http://bizsupport2.austin.hp.com/bc/docs/support/SupportManual/c01989679/c01989679.pdf

 

[Pukeko]

Thanks for the manual link but I didn't find this page very helpful or relevant.

I have circumvented my problem by managing to reinstall Windows 7. This was not a good solution as many drivers were missing and I had to get them, and some HP auxiliary items, from the HP Support web site.

Although I will never know now for sure, I suspect that my problem was simply due to not highlighting the language before clicking "Next". There was no indication that this was necessary, or even appropriate, and a decent installation script would have selected the top one by default. The languages below English were in unintelligible script and I actually assumed they were saying "English". After all, the language had already been selected during install. I had run my mouse over them and noticed nothing.

During reinstall, the fonts and screen resolution were different and the box more pronounced, making it more likely to me that it was for input, and the Next button seemed more greyed out prior to selection. I'd also grown a lot older and maybe a little wiser. :sarc:

 

[whs]

Try to reinstall win7 from the recovery partition. After power-on, keep tapping F11. Then follow the prompts.