Hp Envy Hard Drive Problem

i have an HP ENVY h8 pc series
model# h8-1534

It seems to have a hard drive problem...it will not load windows 8 on startup...it will not restore off of the recovery cd I made when I bought it ...it just says it had a problem loading the operating system and gives me the other options to try ... I have tried all of them I can but it always cannot install...took it to Best Buy and they wanted to install a new hard drive and recover my files all told around 400 dollars... said probably not worth it and should just get a new computer...I paid around 1500 dollars for this and I think it should be good for a little longer than 5 years???... any way is there anything I can do myself to repair this computer ... can I replace the hard drive myself...can you help me with this ?

 

To run diagnostic tests go here if you have a UEFI Bios http://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp82001-82500/sp82165.exe or here if it's an older bios http://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp82001-82500/sp82169.exe

 

How do I go about doing this my computer does not work

 

yes good point lol. Are you able to enter safe mode with networking?

 

What have you actually tried to get it working-
Actually, you can replace the hard drive yourself-
First get a new hard drive - If you can the same size as you have in there at present.
I would do a complete copy of the hard drive,so that you have all your data saved, and copied.
Now when copying the new hard drive will have a copy of the original, and its recovery partition.... This means that the new hard drive will be capable of resetting to factory condition, if it fails to start when first used (the old hard drive may have bad sectors, and sometimes there re bits of the operating system files in those sectors- Quite often it will boot, anyway. I use mini partition wizard in these cases. The free version
http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/minitool_partition_wizard_home_edition.html
Come back and tell us what you have tried,first, and we can run through the possibilities of repairing the present system that not many pc shops will want to do, or, many just do not know.

 

If you see a refresh button in the F11 startup option, then this will refresh windows,but be careful to see if it says it will keep your files that you need. But, from what you (twinkles) have said you have tried all possibilities,and your recovery disc will not work.
A ne hard drive could well just accept your recovery discs,and then you could recover your data from the old hard drive by connecting with a hard drive enclosure and copying to the new hard drive in the computer.
A complete copy can be done with an external hard drive enclosure,and a usb lead, and another laptop (to do the copy of your hard drive), and Partition Wizard. I am assuming you need to keep your personal files. If not, it will still copy it all, including the recovery partition

 

Ok... I am interested in what your saying here...if I am understanding ...you say there may be some things I can try short of replacing my hard drive?...I took my computer to Best Buy , but they didn’t seem very interested in finding what was wrong ...just change hard drive and see if that works...but I would like to. See if there are other options before doing this...

 

I have a western digital passport drive I could copy my personal files to if need be...also I have a norton account that is supposed to do backups on my computer files I just don’t know how to get a copy if my computer not working

 

To copy the files to the spare drive you have you can use the tools as I EXPLAIN BELOW
To ensure you save your files, I would recommend buying a hard drive, and an enclosure, or, a hard drive in an enclosure --
Then you can be sure to keep your files.--If there is no option (F11 aat startup to refresh Windows,without losing your files
If there is an option to keep your files with recovery, then ,if you have not trie it, thn , it is up to you-I think it would be safer todo the clone as I said, so that your files are still there, and if it the new hard drive clone does not boot- while it is in the pc, you can try f11, and choose full recovery on the new hard drive, and then access the old hard drive with the caddy/dock method.

Examples of hard drive with enclosure- You can remove and place your present hard drive in there, and connect the new hard drive into your pc-
https://www.amazon.co.uk/WD-Element...=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B06XDKWLJH

https://www.amazon.com/Seagate-STEA...d=1516996421&sr=8-6&keywords=1.5tb+hard+drive
otherwise, Buy an enclosure, and a hard drive separately - remove your old hard drive, and put the new one in, then use your recovery dvd's in, and see if they will work.
If your recovery image fails, then.....
You need another pc, or, laptop, and then you could buy two enclosures,
https://www.amazon.co.uk/CiT-3-5-in...=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B00647A4KY

or, a hard drive docking station (copying dock)
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dual-Bay-E...1-19&keywords=sata+hard+drive+docking+station
Also, if you connect to another pc, and try Partition Wizard with an enclosure with your hard drive in it, and use disk checking programs from there, too, on that old drive- but get your data first.
I have to go, now, but I will look back again tomorrow- watching football.

If using a ddocking station, I find Partition Wizard better than the softaware that comes with the tool.