[J3onBF3]

Hey guys, first time on here so bear with me.

I've recently come across a problem where my PC will not boot up, all I see is "Starting Windows."

And all of a sudden, I get a black and white screen that says, "Windows failed to start. A recent hardware or software change might be the cause." I try to "Launch Startup Repair(Recommended)" option but next I get a blue screen that says:

"A problem has been detected and Windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer.

If this is the first time you've seen this Stop error scree, restart your computer. If this screen appears again, follow these steps:

The BIOS in this system is not fully ACPI compliant. Please contact your system vendor for an updated BIOS.

Technical Information:

*** STOP: 0x000000A5 (0x0000000000000011, 0x0000000000000003, 0x0000000000000000, 0x0000000000000000)"

I've located where the updated BIOS is for the laptop I'm currently using, but I'm not sure how to upload the BIOS Update from a flashdrive to my PC properly.

Any helpful information will be appreciated.

Regards,
Jeremiah B.

Specs:
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/d...name=c01612549

[Elvandil]

Now is not the time to be trying a BIOS update. Even under the best of circumstances, it can turn your machine into a door-stop, useless for anything else. If it ran before, it is not the BIOS that is preventing it from running now. Get it running before even considering a BIOS update.

Can you get into Safe Mode, or any of the other boot options?

[J3onBF3]

I've tried all safe mode options and nothing worked

[J3onBF3]

and the other boot options yes

[Triple6]

You need to test the RAM and hard drive in the system, some HP has diagnostics that can be launched from the BIOS. If it doesn't then you can use Memtest86+ and the utility from the hard drive manufacturer to test those two components. UBCD has all the common diagnostics utilities on it, its a good starting point for testing IF the laptop does not have its own built in diagnostics.

[J3onBF3]

I have tried it and that hard drive is the only test that did not pass.

I have a friend that told me if I can't start up with safe mode and networking, then I need to reformat my hardrive.

I've googled on ways to do it but I'm not sure which is the right way.

Where do I go on from here Triple 6?

[Triple6]

Well if the hard drive did not pass then that's big problem. If the drive is faulty then it needs to be replaced with a new one.

[J3onBF3]

is there any other way? because its telling me to update my bios, and i really need to get this computer up and running again.

please is there any other way?

[Triple6]

That's simply a generic Blue Screen message. Why would the BIOS need an update all of sudden when the laptop has been working all these years?

If the hard drive failed the diagnostics then it needs to be replace with a new hard drive, about $100. Then you need to reinstall the operating system or image the old drive to the new drive and hope that it boots or that the recovery partition can be run.