Windows 10 not booting - HP laptop stuck in automatic repair mode

[dr-rockit]

Hi, I’ve got HP laptop running Windows 10 that is stuck in ‘preparing automatic repair’ mode pre-boot, which then goes to black screen and refuses to boot to Win 10. How do I uninstall Win 10 entirely to prepare for completely new install? Looking at Linux distros. I don’t need to back up data as I have backups already so losing data not an issue. I’ve just never had to do this before.

Checked the System Diagnostics from HP Startup Menu and done a hard drive and memory test and everything looks okay. I just need some advice on deleting Win 10 entirely to install new OS.

[xrobwx71]

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/insider/forum/all/how-to-perform-a-clean-install-or-reinstall-of/aef0ae63-2117-41ee-a8ea-4a3181625b08

Let us know how it goes.

[veeg]

Hello

You can just leave that OS there find the Linux OS you want and it should just write over the existing OS.

[xrobwx71]

Looking at Linux distros.

Sorry, I missed this.

https://linuxmint-installation-guide.readthedocs.io/en/latest/install.html

[dr-rockit]

Thanks. How do I remove Win 10 entirely?

[xrobwx71]

You follow the directions in the above link (if you want Linux) It will remove Win 10 entirely.

[dr-rockit]

Oh, so booting from a USB drive will install Linux on my HD and remove Win 10?

I’ve seen posts on other forums that suggest the way Windows is set up is to primarily boot from Windows, and that I might need to remove that boot file to change the boot order.

[dr-rockit]

Are there any problems with just overwriting using a Linux distro - are there likely to be any hangovers from Win 10?

I won’t be going back to Windows after this and I want to make sure any install I do is clean without any Windows-related issues due to legacy files

[xrobwx71]

Oh, so booting from a USB drive will install Linux on my HD and remove Win 10?

I’ve seen posts on other forums that suggest the way Windows is set up is to primarily boot from Windows, and that I might need to remove that boot file to change the boot order.

I’ve changed the link to installing since you missed it on the left side of the page at the original link.

are there likely to be any hangovers from Win 10?

No

[dr-rockit]

Cheers, will try it out

[xrobwx71]

Let us know how it goes!

[Bruce]

@dr-rockit - any news?

[Bruce]

Closing – no activity.
To request a re-open, go to Members > Staff Members, click a Staffer then Start Conversation and quote thread name.

[Bruce]

re-opened at OP request

[dr-rockit]

Many thanks. I wondered if there is any way to find my licence key or serial number for Windows?

Quite a few posts mention the benefits of dual booting Windows and Linux, but the state my laptop is in now it won’t boot to Windows. Is there any way to find out what it is so I can at least do a reinstall of Windows and then partition the drive to install Linux.

What I’m getting when I power up is the laptop goes into repair mode, tries to recover and boot but doesn’t manage it. I either get a blank screen, or the other day the recovery screen turned a bright shade of blue and looked distorted, kind of like a compromised video signal. Can I use the BIOS or some other method to locate the key/serial?