Help me - pc won't load after bios download

mr_accountant

[Deleted User] said:

mr_accountant said:

[Deleted User] said:

mr_accountant said:

Thanks for your suggestions I don't think the bios flash will work the keyboard is not responding at all. HP states to press Windows and b to load the bios

Looks like a new motherboard new SSD, reload everything again, transfer old files from ssd download all programs again, etc etc

Takes a couple of minutes and costs £0 to try out the BIOS recovery, personally I wouldn't dismiss it just because the crap BIOS refuses to recognise the keyboard - BIOS recovery is designed to recover from corrupt and unloadable BIOS and potentially monitors those key presses before the service BIOS being loaded.

What I'm saying is that it may well intercept those key presses before your crap BIOS takes a hold of things - it might work and costs nothing so what have you got to lose?

There was also some suggestions on the page above that about resetting the CMOS that are equally worth trying.

Up to you what you do, but I always attempt the quick and free fixes recommended by the manufacturer before getting my wallet out.

I don't have another pc only smartphone so I would have to buy a otg cable and connect to a flash drive, I'm not great with computers but looking at the instructions it sounds doable.

If I had another pc I would try to load it onto a cdr and try it that way because as per my original post when powering up it's asking to put in a CD, if a had another pc I could download the latest version of the bios v5.31 to the cd and try it that way.

Re the cmos and bios I tried both but still the same, 'clearing the bios settings"

https://support.hp.com/gb-en/document/c01386897

On the link I provided there was 2 options for BIOS recovery, one involved a USB, the other didn't.

Did you try the non-USB recovery option? Please note steps 1-3 in the image below in particular step 3 where it talks about 40 seconds.

By attempting this you will discover one of three things that make the next step easier to take:

1. It works and you've saved yourself a few quid MSE style.

2. The computer responds to the BIOS recovery keystrokes and does something different but fails to find the backup BIOS on your hard disk. This is a good result because it shows it is worth doing the USB method because you now know the recovery console is responding and will likely work with a USB BIOS.

or

3. It doesn't respond to the BIOS recovery procedure at all and then you know you have not missed the opportunity to save the price of a new motherboard by jumping ahead too quickly.

The thing about the unresponsive keyboard and asking for a CD etc is not relevant to what I'm describing here because BIOS recovery should execute before your incorrect service BIOS gets its knickers in a twist so anything you are experiencing from the wrong BIOS really isn't relevant.

Note this from the link and in the image below ... very important words....
This emergency recovery feature is separate from the BIOS and is designed to work in the event of a catastrophic BIOS failure.

I'm not just guessing and providing random links from the internet, I have recovered bricked BIOS several times in the past, it requires a little patience and attention to detail and instructions but is very rewarding when it works.

Yes I tried the key press method, both the 40 seconds and the release power and pres  windows and immediately, nothing different happening to what I described in my original post

googler

If the work on the current drive is valuable, and you have no backup, then I would suggest taking the drive out of the PC, then put it in a USB caddy.

Buy a separate portable drive, of the same capacity or greater, and find someone with a working PC with USB ports. 

Connect both drives, and copy your files from old to new. Do not Move them. Copy them, so you have two copies.

I would be tempted to leave the original HDD out of the PC until you get the BIOS working. When you get to the "No boot device found" or similar message, that's the time to put it back

[Deleted User]

mr_accountant said:

[Deleted User] said:

mr_accountant said:

[Deleted User] said:

mr_accountant said:

Thanks for your suggestions I don't think the bios flash will work the keyboard is not responding at all. HP states to press Windows and b to load the bios

Looks like a new motherboard new SSD, reload everything again, transfer old files from ssd download all programs again, etc etc

Takes a couple of minutes and costs £0 to try out the BIOS recovery, personally I wouldn't dismiss it just because the crap BIOS refuses to recognise the keyboard - BIOS recovery is designed to recover from corrupt and unloadable BIOS and potentially monitors those key presses before the service BIOS being loaded.

What I'm saying is that it may well intercept those key presses before your crap BIOS takes a hold of things - it might work and costs nothing so what have you got to lose?

There was also some suggestions on the page above that about resetting the CMOS that are equally worth trying.

Up to you what you do, but I always attempt the quick and free fixes recommended by the manufacturer before getting my wallet out.

I don't have another pc only smartphone so I would have to buy a otg cable and connect to a flash drive, I'm not great with computers but looking at the instructions it sounds doable.

If I had another pc I would try to load it onto a cdr and try it that way because as per my original post when powering up it's asking to put in a CD, if a had another pc I could download the latest version of the bios v5.31 to the cd and try it that way.

Re the cmos and bios I tried both but still the same, 'clearing the bios settings"

https://support.hp.com/gb-en/document/c01386897

On the link I provided there was 2 options for BIOS recovery, one involved a USB, the other didn't.

Did you try the non-USB recovery option? Please note steps 1-3 in the image below in particular step 3 where it talks about 40 seconds.

By attempting this you will discover one of three things that make the next step easier to take:

1. It works and you've saved yourself a few quid MSE style.

2. The computer responds to the BIOS recovery keystrokes and does something different but fails to find the backup BIOS on your hard disk. This is a good result because it shows it is worth doing the USB method because you now know the recovery console is responding and will likely work with a USB BIOS.

or

3. It doesn't respond to the BIOS recovery procedure at all and then you know you have not missed the opportunity to save the price of a new motherboard by jumping ahead too quickly.

The thing about the unresponsive keyboard and asking for a CD etc is not relevant to what I'm describing here because BIOS recovery should execute before your incorrect service BIOS gets its knickers in a twist so anything you are experiencing from the wrong BIOS really isn't relevant.

Note this from the link and in the image below ... very important words....
This emergency recovery feature is separate from the BIOS and is designed to work in the event of a catastrophic BIOS failure.

I'm not just guessing and providing random links from the internet, I have recovered bricked BIOS several times in the past, it requires a little patience and attention to detail and instructions but is very rewarding when it works.

Yes I tried the key press method, both the 40 seconds and the release power and pres  windows and immediately, nothing different happening to what I described in my original post

Well that isn't what the instructions said but I've tried and I'm out now.

mart44

I did BIOS update many years ago that went bad (been very cautious ever since). It is the only computer problem I wasn't able to sort out myself. Just couldn't get in to do anything about it. I took the computer to a reputable repair shop and they were able to re-flash the BIOS chip with a file that worked. I don't know if this would be possible with your own more modern computer but perhaps it's worth looking into.

OnlyTheBestWillDo

mr_accountant said:

Neil_Jones said:

You don't need a new SSD.  If you buy something with a similar/same chipset it should just boot straight up.

Is this your computer?

https://support.hp.com/gb-en/document/c01711392

Yes that's the tower, I've added a few things to keep it mildly in the modern era, notibly a 2gb graphics card, a 240gb ssd, and e8400 core2duo. It actually works very well with no lag, obviously no to modern games but I'm a bit to old for that! 

So do you think it will work just swapping the MB, I understood it won't eg the windows 10 recognises it's different and won't work and all the settings too. 

I'm buying item no. 194026853051 which is identical from ebay, i will try it without swapping the hard drive if its does not work back to original plan

There's actually a relatively easy fix for your blunder; but you need another PC in order to create the recovery media. Since you don't have one; nor seemingly any friends who will allow you to use their PC for a few minutes, then the Motherboard/PC swap is your solution.
No need for me to bother to write up a guide to the fix if you cannot execute it.

Even if you have an issue with Windows 10 activation on the new device; Microsoft will likely fix it for free. Chances are that it will be fine anyway.

mr_accountant

update (to anyone thats interested)

MB purchased and swapped, now working as previous no need to do any mods at all.

i tried to get the old MB to work by creating a boot disc and reswapped the MBs to see if the old would work, i tried to do a bios flash (v5.31) firstly using a cd and secondly with a usb flash drive but would not work, also tried the same using the windows & b button method explained in the link earlier but no luck.

OnlyTheBestWillDo

mr_accountant said:

update (to anyone thats interested)

MB purchased and swapped, now working as previous no need to do any mods at all.

i tried to get the old MB to work by creating a boot disc and reswapped the MBs to see if the old would work, i tried to do a bios flash (v5.31) firstly using a cd and secondly with a usb flash drive but would not work, also tried the same using the windows & b button method explained in the link earlier but no luck.

You needed to run a BIOS recovery; not a BIOS Flash.
Fixed anyway; so no issue.

CoastingHatbox

Neil_Jones said:

And this is why you don't update BIOS unless you really need to, and only then from official sources.

"Need to" includes BIOS firmware updates that the PC or motherboard manufacturer has marked as critical or urgent, as they usually address security vulnerabilities and major issues in the firmware.

I've done thousands of these types of BIOS firmware updates without issue. Maybe I have just been lucky.

@mr_accountant I'm glad you resolved the problem.

Neil_Jones

CoastingHatbox said:

Neil_Jones said:

And this is why you don't update BIOS unless you really need to, and only then from official sources.

"Need to" includes BIOS firmware updates that the PC or motherboard manufacturer has marked as critical or urgent, as they usually address security vulnerabilities and major issues in the firmware.

I've done thousands of these types of BIOS firmware updates without issue. Maybe I have just been lucky.

@mr_accountant I'm glad you resolved the problem.

Well it tends to help if you use an "official" BIOS for your computer from the manufacturer's website, and not some random one from the internet as happened to the OP..

If you have the right BIOS there's little to go wrong (bar power cut).  But if you flash some arbitrary random file not designed for your board... well the tale of the OP is why you don't do that   I'd consider it relatively fortunate it came back on all, albeit half dead but anyway...