Bios Update went wrong

hello there recently i was working on a computer as a favor for someone. He told me he couldn't get on the internet and had some malware so i cleaned out the malware and started to update his drivers from the Hp website by the way it is a Hp pavilion a6412p with windows 7 32 bit. While updating the drivers i noticed an update for bios i preceded to download and install it after being prompted to restart i couldn't get back onto windows ever time the loading screen comes up for windows 7 it just restarts. So i tried to load it in safe mode but the same thing happens were it just restarts and i even tried to load it in last good known configuration but that doesn't seem to work. usually i would just reformat the disk but he runs his business from this computer so that is out of the question and i forgot to make a backup since i thought this was gonna be an easy job so i messed up big time. Any help would be appreciated.

 

Well, at least you did not brick the computer because it looks like you can start loading Windows. Can you access BIOS at startup? If you can, the BIOS update probably worked.

You can download the Windows Recovery Disk and burn the iso with something like Imgburn. Boot the CD and try to do a Startup Repair.

Recovery Disk 32 bit

System Recovery Options - Option 2

Startup Repair

 

OK thanks will defiantly try this. Though doing this won't delete any of his data that he has on this computer?

 

A system restore to the day before should not delete personal data but poeple have reported that things on the desktop will be gone. So if he added something to the desktop and you did a system restore before that time, that may delete the item but a Startup Repair will not delete anything. So I would do a Startup Repair first. Then post back how that went.

If you really get into a bind and he needs data from the computer, you could download Puppy Linux and burn the iso. Then boot the CD and copy the data to an external hard drive. Just make sure you also transfer any offline emails he may have.

http://puppylinux.org/main/Download Latest Release.htm

 

Hi Kasenwill and tgell,

I've been thinking about this and am unsure how a System Restore point would help undo a change in BIOS. Seems to me that the BIOS flash went OK and there were no changes to Win7 itself, but a default setting in the new BIOS is keeping Windows from starting.

I am not great with SATA/RAID settings but I suspect them as the problem, I think it would be safe to go ahead and cycle through the three choices for SATA1 Controller Mode (IDE, RAID and ACHI) and see if a change helps Win7 load fully. You could always go back to the setting you first see when opening BIOS, leaving you where you are now, without any changes to Win7. (IDE would be my first choice as to a setting to try and see if Win7 starts. But like I said I am not good with SATA/RAID. It looks from screenshots that RAID is the default but if this PC was shipped with Vista and had a Win7 upgrade, maybe RAID wasn't setup with Win7? So ACHI or IDE would be a better choice.)

BIOS screens for your model, SATA1 Controller Mode is under Advanced menu: http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...product=3704514&tmp_track_link=ot_search#N396

Hey, tgell.
I'm just giving an idea, I hope you have a better understanding of ACHI then I do as a possible choice rather than IDE but I see no harm in trying both. (I'm going from several threads I've read on BIOS flashing and Win7, but all seem to say it is not a Win7 problem but a BIOS problem, basically boiled down to this old thread which rambles but seems to indicate it is related to the new BIOS having different default values than the previous BIOS.)

 

Hi sach2:

Thank for the input and spending the research time. I initially thought his BIOS flash went okay and the startup was related to something else but the ACHI/RAID idea is a good one. ACHI will provide a faster hard drive and because he is running Windows 7, ACHI is already supported vs XP. But yea, with that reflashed BIOS something probably changed. Great idea!! If it is a RAID problem, then that is out of my comfort zone also and hopefully somebody with that experience can jump in.

And there is another thing I forgot. :-o I did not ask the OP if he could start the computer in safe mode and advanced boot options. If so, no need for the Recovery Disk. I am getting too old.

 

thanks for the help guys i am currently trying to learn how to backup the data on the computer using puppy Linux so until i back the computer up with puppy Linux and cover myself in case i can't fix it and i have to re-format it. Though i am having trouble with puppy Linux anyone know how to back up data from the hard drive so i don't loose everything in case this goes bad?

 

tgell has more experience with Puppy then I do so he may be able to give better tips when he sees this thread.

Have you booted the computer from Puppy yet or are you having trouble getting it on CD/USB? If it is booted, I believe you should have icons for all partitions/dives in the lower left of the desktop. Should look like sda1 sda2 sdb1 etc. The main Windows partition should be sda1 but you can check by whether or not it has a Windows and Users folder. If it doesn't just go to the next icon sda2 etc.... until you find the files you need. Then with a USB flash drive or external HD attached by USB you should have an sdb1 icon/drive available--open that and drag and drop the files you want to copy to the USB drive. Or you can right-click the files/folders you want to copy and select copy and then browse to the sdb1 drive to save the file. (sda denotes the primary HD, sdb would be a secondary drive, sdc would be further devices etc. The letter after sd determines the physical device and the number determines the partition/drive)

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One note (although backing up is always good) is that changing the BIOS setting for SATA configuration won't effect your files on the drive it just changes how Windows sees the HD. If it is a BIOS configuration problem you should know in just a few minutes of switching to ACHI and then trying IDE whether that allows Win7 to boot.

I would try F10 at the HP screen to open Setup/BIOS and navigate to the Advanced Menu and see what the SATA1 configuration is set to. Let us know. You can just hit ESC key and then choose exit without saving changes if you are nervous.

 

sach2 gave a very good explanation of Puppy. Also try his suggestion regarding the SATA configuration in BIOS. Are you able to enter safe mode?

Here is a very good reference on recovering files to an external or flash drive using Puppy.

http://help.artaro.eu/index.php/win...windows-7/recover-files-from-hard-disk-7.html

When you drag a file a folder between hard drives, a box will come up asking if the operation should be a move or copy. Just make sure you select copy and not move.

 

Alright thanks for help on puppy and on the SATA ill make sure to check though it may take me a while to get back to you on it since i will be leaving town for a week so i'll be unable to get back to you quickly but i want to thank you for your help i deeply appreciate it.

 

Thanks for the help everyone. I eventually got back from vacation and created a backup using puppy linux then i did a clean install of windows 7 and now everything is fine. Thanks once again.