HELP! My refurbished HP Elitebook 840 G1 laptop cannot run Windows 10. Inaccessible Boot Device error.

Turritopsis Dohrnii Teo En Ming 26 Reputation points
2021-01-04T15:27:35.907+00:00

Good day from Singapore,

I have just bought a refurbished HP Elitebook 840 G1 laptop on 30 Dec 2020. The seller had installed a fresh new copy of Windows 10 Pro version 1803 for me. When I went home, I formatted the laptop and installed Windows 10 Pro version 20H2.

Within a few minutes, my laptop will freeze. I always get BSOD with Inaccessible Boot Device error whenever I tried to reboot my laptop.

I think the problem is documented. Please refer to the following discussion thread.

Topic: Inaccessible Boot Device Windows 10
Link: https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Desktop-Operating-Systems-and-Recovery/Inaccessible-Boot-Device-Windows-10/td-p/6512871

I have yet to read the above discussion thread carefully.

After hitting the wall with Windows 10 Pro version 20H2, I formatted my laptop again. This time I installed Windows 10 Pro version 1809 instead. The same thing happened again. My laptop would freeze after some Windows Updates. Then I would get BSOD with Inaccessible Boot Device error whenever I tried to restart my laptop.

It seems that the problem has nothing to do with my harddisk at all. I realize that I will get the problem after some Windows Update, which causes the BSOD with Inaccessible Boot Device error.

Recognising that my refurbished laptop could not run Windows 10 at all, I downloaded and installed Fedora Workstation 33 Linux.

For the past few days, my refurbished laptop with Fedora Workstation 33 Linux has been working well without any problems. This confirmed that my harddisk does not have any issues because harddisk tests (SMART and Short Drive Self Test) confirmed that my harddisk is in working condition.

I still need Windows 10 because some applications, like video editing software, require it.

Could you help me to get Windows 10 to run on my refurbished HP Elitebook 840 G1 laptop?

Thank you very much.

Mr. Turritopsis Dohrnii Teo En Ming
Singapore

Windows 10
Windows 10
A Microsoft operating system that runs on personal computers and tablets.
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  1. Dave Patrick 426K Reputation points MVP
    2021-01-04T15:53:21.807+00:00

    It seems that the problem has nothing to do with my harddisk at all

    That's correct. 0x7b is related to the disk controller / driver. I'd check the firmware is flashed up to date. After installing windows install the chipset. The chipset allows the operating system to find and use devices integrated into the mother board. Then also make sure the correct storage driver is installed.
    https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/selfservice/hp-elitebook-840-g1-notebook-pc/5405360

    --please don't forget to Accept as answer if the reply is helpful--

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  2. Dale Kudusi 3,206 Reputation points
    2021-01-07T09:09:01.91+00:00

    Hi,
    The Inaccessible Boot Device error refers to a BSOD error message that occurs when the Windows 10 operating system fails to access the system partition while trying to start up.
    Have you tried updating the firmware as DSPatrick suggested? Any update?
    Also, some user reported that switching the AHCI mode to “Enabled” in the BIOS solved this issue, might check related settings in Bios.

    If you have any issue or concern, please reply to us directly.

    Best regards.

    **
    If the Answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and upvote it.
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  3. Turritopsis Dohrnii Teo En Ming 26 Reputation points
    2021-01-23T15:26:17.71+00:00

    Subject: I have finally managed to get Windows 10 version 20H2 to work on my refurbished HP Elitebook 840 G1 laptop on 23 Jan 2021 Sat

    Good day from Singapore,

    On 30 Dec 2020 Wed, I bought a refurbished/used/second hand HP Elitebook 840 G1 laptop for SGD$250 in Singapore.

    Blog Post: I have just bought a refurbished HP EliteBook 840 G1 laptop for SGD$250 on 30 Dec 2020 Wed
    Link 1: http://tdtemcerts.blogspot.com/2021/01/i-have-just-bought-refurbished-hp.html
    Link 2: https://tdtemcerts.wordpress.com/2021/01/01/i-have-just-bought-a-refurbished-hp-elitebook-840-g1-laptop-for-sgd250-on-30-dec-2020-wed/

    After the purchase and upon reaching home, I formatted my laptop and freshly installed Windows 10 version 20H2 and version 1809 respectively. However, within a few minutes I would get the following message:

    "System Settings Change

    Your hardware settings have changed. Please reboot your computer for these changes to take effect."

    After getting the above message, Windows 10 will then freeze/lock up immediately. I have no choice but to reboot. Every time I reboot, I would get Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) with the Inaccessible Boot Device error.

    Blog Post: HELP! My refurbished HP Elitebook 840 G1 laptop cannot run Windows 10. Inaccessible Boot Device error.
    Link 1: http://tdtemcerts.blogspot.com/2021/01/help-my-refurbished-hp-elitebook-840-g1.html
    Linl 2: https://tdtemcerts.wordpress.com/2021/01/08/help-my-refurbished-hp-elitebook-840-g1-laptop-cannot-run-windows-10-inaccessible-boot-device-error-2/

    At that point in time, I temporarily deferred troubleshooting and installed Fedora Workstation 33 Linux on my refurbished HP Elitebook 840 G1 laptop instead.

    Blog Post: I have installed Fedora Workstation 33 Linux on my refurbished HP Elitebook 840 G1 laptop because it cannot run Windows 10 at all
    Link 1: http://tdtemcerts.blogspot.com/2021/01/i-have-installed-fedora-workstation-33_8.html
    Link 2: https://tdtemcerts.wordpress.com/2021/01/08/i-have-installed-fedora-workstation-33-linux-on-my-refurbished-hp-elitebook-840-g1-laptop-because-it-cannot-run-windows-10-at-all/

    Today, 23 Jan 2021 Sat, I have come back to revisit the problem after a hiatus. After receiving inputs on the Microsoft forums some time ago, I decided to upgrade the BIOS/firmware of my refurbished HP Elitebook 840 G1 laptop. The existing BIOS version is 01.20 (release 28 July 2014). I am going to upgrade the BIOS to the latest version 01.49 (release 24 Feb 2020).

    Unfortunately, HP support and downloads website only offer BIOS downloads in Windows .exe executable format. I am seriously inconvenienced by this because I had already installed Fedora Workstation 33 Linux on my refurbished HP Elitebook 840 G1 laptop. There is no way I can run a Windows .exe executable on a Linux operating system. To circumvent this problem, I have downloaded Hiren's Boot CD v1.0.1 ISO file and installed WoeUSB on Fedora Workstation 33 Linux. Using WoeUSB, I have "burned" Hiren's Boot CD ISO to a USB thumb drive. Then I used this USB thumb drive to boot up Hiren's Boot CD on my refurbished laptop. Hiren's Boot CD is a Live Windows 10 Bootable CD/DVD/USB operating system. Using Hiren's Boot CD, I downloaded the latest BIOS from HP website and proceeded to flash my firmware with BIOS version 01.49 (release 24 Feb 2020). With much optimism, I went ahead to format my laptop and freshly install Windows 10 version 20H2 again. To my dismay, updating the BIOS/firmware from version 01.20 (release 28 July 2014) to version 01.49 (release 24 Feb 2020) DID NOT solve the problem. I am still getting Windows freezing/locking up and Inaccessible Boot Device BSOD error on every reboot.

    I did not give up. By a stroke of good luck, I allowed Windows to do startup repair. When Windows 10 could not start, it automatically uninstalled the update causing the problem as part of its startup repair process. The offending update was uninstalled and I could login to Windows successfully. This is the message I got after logging into Windows:

    Message: Startup Failure: “We removed some recently installed updates…”
    Link: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/startup-failure-we-removed-some-recently-installed-updates-4c2f7448-3483-8649-843c-1e80ed9f4a00

    I was given the above message but I still do not know which device driver or update had caused my Windows 10 to freeze and subsequently produce Inaccessible Boot Device BSOD error on every reboot. I may take a look at Windows Event Viewer/logs when I am free in the future because it is already 11.17 PM now at night in Singapore.

    Of course, I am very happy to have managed to get Windows 10 version 20H2 to work on my refurbished HP Elitebook 840 G1 laptop. I know Windows 10 will attempt to install the offending update again after 30 days, so I am getting myself prepared by creating system restore points after installing drivers and software.

    The following is the CORRECT order of system restore points created:

    [1] Windows Update 23/1/2021 6:01:15 pm (GMT+8)

    [2] After installing Intel VGA, Chrome, AVG and Zonealarm 24/1/2021 12:04:01 pm (GMT-8)

    [3] After installing Intel Chipset Driver 24/1/2021 12:20:07 pm (GMT-8)

    [4] After installing Intel ME Driver 23/1/2021 8:34:37 pm (GMT+8)

    [5] After installing AMD Display Driver 23/1/2021 10:12:33 pm (GMT+8)

    [6] Everything working on 23 Jan 2021 23/1/2021 10:51:04 pm (GMT+8)

    Please note that the dates and timings in the above list are not in the correct sequence because of wrong timezones being used in restore point #2 and #3. The correct time zone in Singapore should be GMT+8.

    With the above system restore points being created, I am hoping that, if the offending update is going to be installed 30 days later, causing Windows to freeze and produce Inaccessible Boot Device BSOD error again, I can easily rollback my system to a working restore point without too much of a hassle.

    Thank you.