I Need A Computer Guru's Help!

[LockMD]

Hey Lock, I worked for a computer services shop for about 10 months, and although that job ended a year ago, I would be willing to see what I can remember and do to help! Thank you, much appreciated!

How did you acquire the restore disk? Were you ever able to boot it up after installing the restore disk? My son got a bootleg copy off the net

You mention "... when you fire up the computer or re-boot instead of booting normally it goes to the HP screen and bottom left corner says ESC for Startup menu, press ESC, then says ESC...PAUSE startup." Do you mean that this weirdness happens every time you start the computer, without fail? Yes

As I continue through your description, what things did you search online, that led you to it possibly being a registry problem? It could be a registry problem, I'm curious what led you to that conclusion. I just typed HP G62 ESC for start menu in the search bar

Are you able to ever get it to boot up completely? Yes, I press esc then it changes to ESC...pause start then I hit esc and pause simultaneously and wait 10+ minutes and it goes to a menu of which ENTER to continue to windows (something like that) then it boots normally. Does that make sense, some of this is hard to explain especially now at work trying to remember what it said exactly. Maybe I'll take some pics and post them so you guys can see the actual display

 

[bowers baldwin]

So, my wife's laptop was acting up (HP G62) running windows 7 ultimate. I installed a restore disk, wiped it clean and renamed previous install win.old.* that I have since deleted that folder. BUT the annoying problem is.......when you fire up the computer or re-boot instead of booting normally it goes to the HP screen and bottom left corner says ESC for Startup menu, press ESC, then says ESC...PAUSE startup.

I have to hit ESC and Pause buttons at exact timing and wait for 10+ minutes to see if it worked, after 15 minutes I try hitting the 2 buttons again with exact timing and wait.........

When it does come up, I get a screen that shows F9 for.....F10 for BIOS....Enter to continue booting

I've done a little research on-line, seems to be a problem with the registry? I've tried running tune-up utilities registry clean up but doesn't work?

Any help would be appreciated.....put it in idiot form if you can, I'm not as savvy as I think I am LOL

If you did a restore, I don't think it's a registry issue, I hate to say it but it might be a bad hard drive issue..

 

[LockMD]

If you did a restore, I don't think it's a registry issue, I hate to say it but it might be a bad hard drive issue..

I've read that too but when I run diag it doesn't come up with any errors?

 

[Jeff Porter]

Hey Lock, I worked for a computer services shop for about 10 months, and although that job ended a year ago, I would be willing to see what I can remember and do to help! Thank you, much appreciated!

How did you acquire the restore disk? Were you ever able to boot it up after installing the restore disk? My son got a bootleg copy off the net

You mention "... when you fire up the computer or re-boot instead of booting normally it goes to the HP screen and bottom left corner says ESC for Startup menu, press ESC, then says ESC...PAUSE startup." Do you mean that this weirdness happens every time you start the computer, without fail? Yes

As I continue through your description, what things did you search online, that led you to it possibly being a registry problem? It could be a registry problem, I'm curious what led you to that conclusion. I just typed HP G62 ESC for start menu in the search bar

Are you able to ever get it to boot up completely? Yes, I press esc then it changes to ESC...pause start then I hit esc and pause simultaneously and wait 10+ minutes and it goes to a menu of which ENTER to continue to windows (something like that) then it boots normally. Does that make sense, some of this is hard to explain especially now at work trying to remember what it said exactly. Maybe I'll take some pics and post them so you guys can see the actual display

Thanks for the in-line answers, very helpful. Will look forward to the pics.

It's possible that the bootleg copy of the restore disk is not perfect. One idea is to try the restore disk again, I assume you are using it to reinstall Win 7 Ultimate, yes?

I'll wait for the pics before I do further research, I may go down paths that don't apply to your sitch. :-)

 

[bowers baldwin]

I've read that too but when I run diag it doesn't come up with any errors?

I've seen many hard drives that pass on-board diags but were still bad. I don't want to be all "gloom and doom" but keep it in mind.. Hard drives are pretty cheap at places like Micro center or Ebay.

 

[LockMD]

Thanks for the in-line answers, very helpful. Will look forward to the pics.

It's possible that the bootleg copy of the restore disk is not perfect. One idea is to try the restore disk again, I assume you are using it to reinstall Win 7 Ultimate, yes?

I'll wait for the pics before I do further research, I may go down paths that don't apply to your sitch.

Yes Win 7 Ultimate........my son was thinking maybe we should try win 8 but I'm not sure if the laptop will handle it (its older) Okay will post pics tonight. thanks.

Hey if it does turn out to be a bad hard drive, how hard is it to replace on a laptop (I've never taken one apart) replaced plenty in towers but that's easy or is it best just to replace the laptop?

 

[LockMD]

I've seen many hard drives that pass on-board diags but were still bad. I don't want to be all "gloom and doom" but keep it in mind.. Hard drives are pretty cheap at places like Micro center or Ebay.

Okay thank you for chiming in........are they easy to replace in a laptop?

 

[Jeff Porter]

Yes Win 7 Ultimate........my son was thinking maybe we should try win 8 but I'm not sure if the laptop will handle it (its older) Okay will post pics tonight. thanks.

Hey if it does turn out to be a bad hard drive, how hard is it to replace on a laptop (I've never taken one apart) replaced plenty in towers but that's easy or is it best just to replace the laptop?

Now THAT I do remember like it was an hour ago. You can google on your make and model of laptop followed by "replace hard drive", and hopefully someone has posted a video on youtube on how to do it.

To answer your question, it depends on the laptop. Some laptops are BRUTAL to replace the hard drive, and some it only takes removal of two screws and out slides the hard drive.

If it's very difficult to replace the hard drive, it's best to just replace the laptop. If plugs need to be pulled out, keyboard taken out, fan removed, blah blah blah, it can be really tough to get it all back together and all working again. If you enjoy doing that sort of thing and/or have some patience, any hard drive can be replaced. It's just what your time and patience are worth to you. :-)

 

[LockMD]

Okay thanks Jeff


Edit: SWEET 2 screws for cover and 3 screws for the drive, I think I can handle that. But first I'd like to see if we (you guys) can't fix it first.

 

[LockMD]

Okay so here it is FINALLY......got it to boot up and have pics to share since I have a problem explaining myself. Pics aren't great but hope you get the gist and its almost my bedtime so I may not see responses until tomorrow........pics to follow.........