Replies

Everything went fine
Create installation media for another PC.
Used an 8GB FAT32 flash drive as recommended: it took up 4.28GB.
Although it isn’t an ISO, I’m fine.

HP EliteBook 8540w laptop Windows 10 Pro (x64)

Thanks everyone. My system isn’t blue ray dual layer discs capable.

I’ll continue using USB flash drives and won’t worry about comparing each process.

HP EliteBook 8540w laptop Windows 10 Pro (x64)

anonymous wrote:

Try to not take this as an insult, but if you are not capable of backing up your data and knowing how to install Windows or restore a backup image, you might be better served with a Chromebook.  They are meant to be auto-repairing and most data is automatically saved to your account.  – Marl

“Try to not take this as an insult”
There is a positive way to promote a Chromebook.

Why do I say that? I remember my roots.
Once upon a time when I was in the working world, I had to learn using PC’s OTJ w/o any training.

@dwtjan, you’ve already mentioned,” I am a 70-year-old disabled woman who does not remember things very well anymore.
I hope you are on the road to a successful outcome.

HP EliteBook 8540w laptop Windows 10 Pro (x64)

anonymous wrote:

I was able to get back to my desktop by using system restore in the advanced section and ‘undoing’ the restore that went wrong.

I’m relieved it has reverted back to what it was but concerned as to why it happened in the first place and if there is a problem how to find out what it is so that does not happen again.

I agree with oldguy with taking smaller steps.

@dwtjan
If that, is you, it’s good to know.
It was smart to use “system restore in the advanced section and ‘undoing’ the restore that went wrong.”

HP EliteBook 8540w laptop Windows 10 Pro (x64)

“I have NO idea how to utilize or fix it when my cat steps on it”
— Don’t allow your cat to step on it even when you are not using the PC including even when the PC is shut off.

“I believe it is Windows 10 Pro”
The PC is only 1 to 1/2 years old. If it’s possible, booting up into the UEFI firmware settings might be helpful but someone else more adept than me would have to chime in on that.

“For about a week or so there were no back or forward buttons in Chrome. It was very irritating and inconvenient. No way that I could tell of to take me back to pages I’d already been on in the same tab. I don’t know if I should have uninstalled, reinstalled Chrome, but I chose to use system restore.”
— That should have been time to ask for help before deciding to uninstall, reinstall Chrome or use system restore.
“Once I did the system restore, I was taken to the Automatic Repair page.”
— That’s indicative that system restore isn’t the root cause.
“I am unable to get into safe mode.” Naturally, not good.

Instead of using restore, it would have been better to use a system image backup & have data backup also available.
— That can be discussed at an appropriate time depending on what solution applies in your case.

“I then read how to take it back to F8. I was able to do that using the command prompt. Still, nothing worked.”
Does that mean you were able to get into Advanced Startup Options? If so, how?

“I am unwilling to reinstall Windows” Please know, there are many times that is the solution especially since a PC in a serious situation is willing to be resolved.

oldguy post #2420688 “What to do if you have Windows 10? It should take you to the recovery options after three failures. You can force that by removing power but its very likely you’ll break the file system, but its failure to fix itself indicates that needs to be checked and fixed before doing much else and Windows repair will do it but it takes a long time.”

Create Bootable USB Flash Drive to Install Windows 10 on another pc that’s running well
— Once it’s created, it can also be used for troubleshooting.
https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/2376-create-bootable-usb-flash-drive-install-windows-10-a.html#option1
Use Option One
Use Media Creation Tool to create Bootable Windows 10 USB for Legacy BIOS and UEFI

On “What to do if you have Windows 10? It should take you to the recovery options after three failures.”
— Sometimes it takes 4 failures.

Visit Boot to Advanced Startup Options in Windows 10
https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/2294-boot-advanced-startup-options-windows-10-a.html#option5

In some situations, Windows RE automatically tries to repair the system. Also, these situations automatically cause a failover to Windows RE:
Two consecutive failed attempts to start Windows.
Two consecutive unexpected shutdowns that occur within two minutes of boot completion.
Consider Option 5: Boot to Advanced Startup Options from Windows 10 Installation USB

HP EliteBook 8540w laptop Windows 10 Pro (x64)

Paul T wrote:

A way to get you to use their crypto wallet?

cheers, Paul

You bring up an excellent point Paul.

Another idea I’m wondering about: it could be just a matter of time, in which it will not be offered but become part of Norton along with other antivirus applications by default and we’ll have to have a method to either block or uninstall it ourselves.

HP EliteBook 8540w laptop Windows 10 Pro (x64)

It boggles my mind as to what crypto miner is all about.

What does Norton 360 & other Antivirus Software gain?

HP EliteBook 8540w laptop Windows 10 Pro (x64)

Go to Parts people: The Dell experts since 2002. Dell OEM Replacement Parts.
https://www.parts-people.com/
Enter Dell’s Service Tag and order the original CMOS battery for your Dell Precision M6500.

HP EliteBook 8540w laptop Windows 10 Pro (x64)

Rick Corbett wrote:

I’m surprised that nobody has yet asked… what is it that they want to do? Just my opinion but, for me, that’s always the starting point.

My friends want to buy a modern laptop to replace a Dell Inspiron 1545 that they purchased in Oct 2010.
It runs like molasses, and I found out they’ve been more than struggling with it for about 3 years.
Even before that they struggled with using it over the previous years but just kept on going with it.
About 3 months ago, they had Staples “fix it”. To make a long story short, that didn’t help.
A week ago, they asked me to fix it.
To repeat “To make a long story short” they need a modern laptop that suits their needs.
So, their starting point is to replace their Dell Inspiron 1545 that they purchased in Oct 2010 with a modern laptop.

They went on-line and saw some Dell Windows 11 laptop for around $300.00.
They called me up all excited about that.
I told them they are better off to buy a better than bottom line laptop unless they want to settle for equivalent terrible performance, they settled for on the Dell Inspiron 1545.

I brought up the $500.00 range as I didn’t want to disappoint them coming out of the gate. I will get to explain some of the specifications to consider, they are fine with that.
With that said though, I’ve seen some $700.00 to $800.00 units that should suffice for them who are simple users with nothing fancy that I can tell.
So, my starting point is to get them going with a laptop that meets their needs.
They will listen to what I have to say but they will make the final decision.

Another approach I use is to think this way.
If an appropriate laptop that meets their needs cost $800.00 and they get 10 good years out of it, that’s $80.00 a year. Then they opened up to me that they have a friend who recently purchased a new Windows 11 laptop for $2,800 and that’s what sent them off the rails.
Well, that’s a big plus as I answered, don’t worry about that: it isn’t necessary to even come close to that cost in your case.

I’ve seen similar situations where I volunteer quite a few times. It’s taught me how to discuss pertinent information politely & confidently.

HP EliteBook 8540w laptop Windows 10 Pro (x64)

Alex5723 wrote:

You won’t get a decent laptop on that price.
Better look for a Windows 10 ~2 years refurbished laptop.
As an alternative you can look into Chromebooks.

I believe you are correct: “You won’t get a decent laptop on that price.”

I want my friend to understand that & I’m hoping to encourage them to move up the ladder.

HP EliteBook 8540w laptop Windows 10 Pro (x64)

OscarCP post #2410365 has a good recommendation.

Go to https://support.hp.com/us-en/products and let HP identify your product.
Select the diagnostics available.

One of them should be HP Support Assistant
https://support.hp.com/us-en/help/hp-support-assistant.

Another option is at start-up, immediately press ESC, in which case you will be able to conduct a pre-boot boot diagnostic: if you miss it, start over.
However, I usually prefer the above recommendations first unless the above recommendations aren’t able to be accessed.

HP EliteBook 8540w laptop Windows 10 Pro (x64)

1 user thanked author for this post.

Paul Demmitt

Thanks Dana, I understand your explanation very well. However, as a simple PC user, I need clarifications many times & yours is well explained. I was under the impression the USB flash drive in question had a higher capacity than 32GB and I’m glad the solution has been solved.

HP EliteBook 8540w laptop Windows 10 Pro (x64)

@rush2112, what capacity is the USB flash drive in question?

It’s probably pretty obvious, but I don’t understand why NTFS was problematic but exFat wasn’t unless the capacity was a high capacity?

HP EliteBook 8540w laptop Windows 10 Pro (x64)

Thanks everyone. Mission accomplished. I took my time today and all went well.

My previous experience in https://www.askwoody.com/forums/topic/completely-black-screen/ was a disaster due to inconsistent communication.

Between the previous posts and this posts recommendations I put myself in charge in this situation & was much more beneficial.

For someone turning 80 in a month, I’m more than proud of accomplishing what I had to do: I’d say better than never.

HP EliteBook 8540w laptop Windows 10 Pro (x64)

Thanks for the information. I did get down to the motherboard area, but those clips and a few other sensitive areas held me back from going further at this time.

On the ifixit website, it mentions Standard Keyboard with 10-key and touchpad with multi-touch control.
— On Standard Keyboard with 10-key, what does 10-key mean?

HP EliteBook 8540w laptop Windows 10 Pro (x64)