HP laptops provide various boot options, allowing you to boot your computer from a USB, DVD, or external hard drive. But your laptop will occasionally fail to boot from any source other than its internal hard drive. This can be a problem if you want to upgrade the laptop’s hardware.
When your HP laptop won’t boot from external sources or after an upgrade, use a recovery disc to get it back up and running. If your computer lacks a CD drive, change your BIOS settings to support multiple boot options. You can also clone your system as a workaround.
This article will go over the reasons why your HP laptop won’t boot from other devices. We’ll also explain how to troubleshoot this and get your laptop to boot from a DVD, USB, or SSD.
HP Laptop Won’t Boot Past HP Screen
If your HP laptop doesn’t boot past the HP logo, a virus could be to blame. Use a rescue disc or boot your computer into safe mode to remove the virus.
Insert a recovery CD into your laptop if you have one. To boot the computer from the disc, follow these steps:
- Turn on your laptop.
- At the start-up screen, press F9.
- Select the option that enables you to boot your laptop from the CD drive.
Following that, simply follow the prompts, and the disc will remove the malicious files and restore your computer.
You can also boot your laptop in safe mode to remove programs that are preventing it from loading. If you installed software recently before your computer began to malfunction, consider deleting it along with other suspicious programs. After deleting the file, restart your computer to see if the problem has been resolved.
If neither of these troubleshooting methods works, you’ll need to restore your laptop to its factory default settings. However, this will delete the files on your HDD or SSD, but your computer will boot past the HP screen once the process is complete.
How To Reset Your Laptop to Its Factory Settings
You don’t need to log into your laptop to reset it. Use the following keyboard shortcut to restore your computer to factory settings:
- Switch off your computer.
- Wait for your laptop to respond by pressing the power button.
- Repeatedly press the F11 key until you see the recovery options.
Follow the on-screen instructions until the program asks you to reset the device. Unless your recovery partition is corrupt, this should work for the majority of people. You’ll see a blue screen with an error message in this case.
You may have to resort to other device restoration methods if you have a faulty partition, such as a clean install of your operating system.
How To Perform a Clean Install on Your Operating System
A clean install establishes a new operating system on your laptop, which usually works perfectly if your device has no hardware problems. You’ll need a USB drive that can support the new OS to complete this installation.
Size recommendations for Windows and Linux are as follows:
- Windows 10 and later require a flash drive with at least 16GB of storage space. You’ll also need an activation key for your system once it’s installed.
- A pen drive with at least 4GB of space is required for a Linux system.
Once you’ve obtained an appropriate USB, use another computer to download the operating system’s ISO file to the drive.
Then, when your HP laptop restarts, boot from the USB flash drive. The installation manager will walk you through the installation process.
Copyright protected content owner: ReadyToDIY.com and was initially posted on April 23, 2021.
HP Laptop Won’t Boot From DVD
If you have secure boot enabled, your laptop won’t boot from a DVD. The DVD will load if you disable this setting and enable legacy mode instead. To disable secure boot from your BIOS menu, perform the following steps:
- Turn on your computer.
- Press the Esc key several times. The screen will display a start-up menu.
- To access the BIOS settings, press F10.
- Choose “System Configuration.”
- Select “Boot Options.”
- Navigate to “Legacy Support” and turn it on.
- Highlight “Secure Boot” and press Enter to deactivate it.
- To save the changes, press F10.
- Turn off the computer.
- Wait one minute. Turn your computer on.
- Immediately press the Esc key.
- To access the boot options, press F9.
- Select a DVD drive as your boot device.
HP Laptop Won’t Boot From USB
If your laptop doesn’t boot from your USB drive, you may have formatted the drive incorrectly. To solve this, you must first determine whether your laptop is UEFI or BIOS-based. You can learn more about your laptop’s mode in the BIOS menu.
With this knowledge, you can format your pen drive correctly. Use a FAT32 drive format for UEFI laptops. An MBR drive is required for BIOS systems.
HP Laptop Won’t Boot From SSD
If your HP laptop doesn’t boot from an external SSD, the partitions may not be configured appropriately. When you download an operating system to your SSD, you’ll have the option of adjusting the space allocated for various boot partitions. If the space you choose is insufficient, your laptops will be unable to boot from it.
Cloning another disc drive is a great way to avoid this and adequately set up your SSD. Connect the SSD to another computer using an enclosure to accomplish this.
You’ll also need to select cloning software, like AEOMI Backupper, a free program that allows you to move your operating system from one external hardware to another.
After that, follow these steps to copy the files on your drive:
- Make a backup of your data. To avoid permanently deleting your old files during this project, consider saving them to another hard drive first.
- Connect your SSD to a SATA/USB adapter.
- Connect the adapter to a separate laptop running your preferred operating system.
- Look up “Disk Management.” A window with an unallocated drive space will appear.
- Right-click the empty drive and select “New Volume.”
- Follow the setup wizard’s instructions to create a volume that takes up the entire drive.
- Launch AOMEI Backupper.
- Click the “Clone” button.
- Choose “Disk Clone.”
- Make the source disk the primary computer drive.
- As the destination disk, select your SSD.
- Next, press the “Next” button.
Once the software is on the SSD, try booting your HP laptop again. Ensure that the SSD is the first boot option in your BIOS settings.
HP Laptop Won’t Boot After RAM Upgrade
If your HP laptop doesn’t boot after upgrading the RAM cards, you may be using an incompatible card. If you’re experiencing this problem, swapping out the RAM card for a different brand may help your computer load.
Most users agree that you should be cautious when choosing RAM and stick to the brand that came with your laptop. If that isn’t possible, make sure your options don’t exceed 1333 MHZ and are PC-10600. These specifications differ between models, but they’re the bare minimum.
Or, you can contact an HP customer service representative to get advice on the best RAM size, model, and brand for your computer.
HP Laptop Won’t Boot After BIOS Update
If your laptop doesn’t boot after a BIOS update, the file was most likely corrupted, and you’ll need to restore the BIOS to a working version.
Normally, your HP laptop will attempt to recover the BIOS on its own. If this doesn’t occur when you restart your computer, restore the BIOS using the steps below:
- Start your computer again.
- Hold down the B and Windows keys simultaneously.
- Turn on the computer by pressing the power button. Hold it in place for three seconds.
- Press the Windows and B keys repeatedly until you hear your laptop beep.
Following that, a BIOS recovery wizard will assist you in repairing your BIOS. Your HP system will boot if the repair is successful.
Final Thoughts
It’ll take some trial and error to get your laptop to boot. However, with a bit of effort, your computer will be able to load without an issue.
Copyright article owner is ReadyToDiy.com for this article. This post was first published on April 23, 2021.
During troubleshooting, you may have to delete files on your HP laptop. This is why it’s critical to back up your data. However, when your computer refuses to boot, it’s challenging to obtain files.
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ReadyToDIY is the owner of this article. This post was published on April 23, 2021.