# HP 15 r063tu Notebook stuck on F11-Recovery mode



## rameshiyer (Aug 28, 2012)

I have been using an HP 15 r063tu Notebook PC for 3 years. Two days back, for no reason it has got into this "F11...Recovery" mode while booting up. Have tried all options as per another thread in this & other forums on this HP Recovery Manager issue. Checked for h/w issues thru HP Diagnostics, which has cleared all components as "passed". Have even done Factory Reset thru HP Recovery Manager which ran for over 3 hours, including the Software Installation from my recovery media, only to throw up an error n get stuck again with the "F11..Recovery" mode during bootup. Will be grateful if I get more options to fix this. Thanks 

Update -
Okay, I managed to backup data and reinstall everything afresh, thru Factory Reset using my Recovery Media. Even though it seems to have removed all previous partitions and created a brand new C: drive and a Recovery Partition of about 22Gb, the issue remains. I still get the "F11...Recovery..." displayed while booting the laptop, so have to use F9 key and manually choose the local hard drive (though my OS Boot Manager in BIOS too is the primary boot option and is set to my HDD), only then it skips the "F11....Recovery" which is very annoying. Can someone please help fix this ? There isn't any option within the BIOS of my HP 15 r063tu Notebook PC where I can disable F11 Recovery, as was mentioned in some posts on other threads on similar issue on this Forum.

Would be thankful to get some responses, with workable solutions !!


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## Stancestans (Apr 26, 2009)

It could be an easily overlooked case of a stuck or sticky F11 key or a failing keyboard that's registering a press of the F11 key when it shouldn't. If it's a stuck key, you could press it a few times to loosen it. If the keyboard is failing, you could detach it and connect an external one for testing.


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## rameshiyer (Aug 28, 2012)

Stancestans said:


> It could be an easily overlooked case of a stuck or sticky F11 key or a failing keyboard that's registering a press of the F11 key when it shouldn't. If it's a stuck key, you could press it a few times to loosen it. If the keyboard is failing, you could detach it and connect an external one for testing.



Well, my notebook is 3.3 years old, and sometimes some key does act up, but no key is stuck as such. Even the F11 key isn't stuck, as I am able to bypass the "F11...Recovery mode" issue by pressing F9 key at boot time and choosing "OS Windows Boot Manager" to boot from my HDD, which is what is the setting in the BIOS Boot Options as well. I did try to disconnect the notebook keyboard and connect an external USB keyboard, but in that case the notebook doesn't boot at all, and gives some beeps, indicating that the keyboard &/ mouse aren't connected.
I wouldn't mind trying to use my notebook at home with just the external keyboard connected (and the internal one disconnected) as I don't travel with this notebook anymore. It's pretty much a "Desktop PC" for me.


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## Stancestans (Apr 26, 2009)

rameshiyer said:


> Well, my notebook is 3.3 years old, and sometimes some key does act up, but no key is stuck as such. Even the F11 key isn't stuck, as I am able to bypass the "F11...Recovery mode" issue by pressing F9 key at boot time and choosing "OS Windows Boot Manager" to boot from my HDD, which is what is the setting in the BIOS Boot Options as well. I did try to disconnect the notebook keyboard and connect an external USB keyboard, but in that case the notebook doesn't boot at all, and gives some beeps, indicating that the keyboard &/ mouse aren't connected.
> I wouldn't mind trying to use my notebook at home with just the external keyboard connected (and the internal one disconnected) as I don't travel with this notebook anymore. It's pretty much a "Desktop PC" for me.


Being able to cancel the F11 key press by fast pressing F9 does not mean F11 isn't stuck (internal contact) or the keyboard isn't malfunctioning. The key cap doesn't have to be physically stuck in the pressed position. Some bios have an option for disabling the recovery mode as well as disabling the F11 prompt during POST. I find it odd that it won't boot with the keyboard detached.


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## rameshiyer (Aug 28, 2012)

Stancestans said:


> Being able to cancel the F11 key press by fast pressing F9 does not mean F11 isn't stuck (internal contact) or the keyboard isn't malfunctioning. The key cap doesn't have to be physically stuck in the pressed position. Some bios have an option for disabling the recovery mode as well as disabling the F11 prompt during POST. I find it odd that it won't boot with the keyboard detached.



Well, I am not sure how I can figure out if F11 key is indeed 'fixed' or 'pressed' while booting up, as when it does boot into Win'8.1 (after I press F9 key n select HDD boot option) no key seems to malfunction in Windows environment. Also, checked for option in BIOS to disable F11 key / Function Keys but there's none, nor is there any option to bypass / ignore keyboard errors, which used to be there in older systems / BIOS. Hence, can't detach internal keyboard n use my external USB keyboard to isolate the internal keyboard issue.


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## Stancestans (Apr 26, 2009)

rameshiyer said:


> Well, I am not sure how I can figure out if F11 key is indeed 'fixed' or 'pressed' while booting up, as when it does boot into Win'8.1 (after I press F9 key n select HDD boot option) no key seems to malfunction in Windows environment. Also, checked for option in BIOS to disable F11 key / Function Keys but there's none, nor is there any option to bypass / ignore keyboard errors, which used to be there in older systems / BIOS. Hence, can't detach internal keyboard n use my external USB keyboard to isolate the internal keyboard issue.


 If you haven't already, I would attempt to update the BIOS, although I'm highly doubtful it's gonna change anything. 



Check if there's an option in BIOS to enable/disable Fn + action keys. Many notebooks have this option, whereby one setting *requires pressing Fn + the functional keys (F1-F12)* to perform their *special actions* such as media playback controls, sound/volume, brightness etc, and the other setting reverses this requirement so that you press Fn + F1-F12 to perform the traditional functions of those keys instead. Set it so that pressing Fn is required to use F11, instead of F11 being independent. This may prevent the system from responding to the F11 key on its own, if the keyboard is indeed malfunctioning.



Alternatively, you could try out a replacement keyboard.


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## rameshiyer (Aug 28, 2012)

Stancestans said:


> If you haven't already, I would attempt to update the BIOS, although I'm highly doubtful it's gonna change anything.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Yes, after doing Factory Reset day before thru HP Recovery Manager, I did update the BIOS to the latest available on HP website for my model. Didn't change a thing. Also, there's "Action Keys" in BIOS which can be Enabled/Disabled. Didn't change a thing either ways.


As a last option, I am considering having the keyboard replaced, though getting a 'genuine' one is a challenge in my region ;-)


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## spunk.funk (May 13, 2010)

At startup press *F10 *Boot into Setup (Bios) go to the *Boot* Tab. Move the internal HDD to First Boot Device. _Save and Exit._


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## rameshiyer (Aug 28, 2012)

spunk.funk said:


> At startup press *F10 *Boot into Setup (Bios) go to the *Boot* Tab. Move the internal HDD to First Boot Device. _Save and Exit._



My internal HDD is already the default option under "OS Boot Manager" which is the first Boot Option under UEFI Boot Order. Even when I press the F9 key during boot-up, it first lists "Windows Boot Manager <HDD Srl No>" and below it some EFI file which I have no clue about. So, I simply press Enter and proceed to Windows 8.1 startup.

Would help if the initial "F11...Recovery Mode..." thing can be bypassed to directly boot to Windows !! It's so annoying having to remember to press F9 quickly after pressing Power On button on the laptop, or every time my laptop needs to be restarted within Windows environment !!

Would be happy to disable the internal keyboard and simply use my external (USB) keyboard, to rule out issue with the internal keyboard ! There's no option to do that in BIOS, and I can't disable the internal keyboard within Windows Device Manager, as it gets detected and Enabled right back (even when my ext kb is connected) !!


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## tristar (Aug 12, 2008)

I would check EFI entries and see if there is a precedence issue there.

What happens when you don't press anything when the laptop is starting up ?


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## rameshiyer (Aug 28, 2012)

tristar said:


> I would check EFI entries and see if there is a precedence issue there.
> 
> What happens when you don't press anything when the laptop is starting up ?



As stated earlier, the UEFI Boot order seems fine in BIOS. The Windows Boot Manager points to the HDD too.
If I don't press any key during laptop starting up, it shows "F11...Recovery mode..." and proceeds to the HP Recover Manager blue screen with option to 1. Exit and continue to Win'8.1
2. Trouble-shoot, i.e. Refresh or Reset PC
3. Advanced Options (doesn't help me anyway)


Strangely, when I press F9 during startup, it displays 2 boot options, the first being the Windows Boot Manager on HDD, and the second one to choose some EFI file. I just press Enter key and it proceeds to load Win'8.1 as it should normally.


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## Stancestans (Apr 26, 2009)

Try rebuilding the bcd store, it worked for the OP here Automatically boots into Recovery Manager - Computer Brands
In a nutshell, you run Command Prompt from the F11 Recovery Environment, identity the drive letter of the Windows partition (it's not always C: while in the recovery environment), export (backup) the current bcd store, rename it and rebuild it.


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## tristar (Aug 12, 2008)

Something is messing with the Boot order, did you perform any troubleshooting where Windows was forced to boot to the Safe Mode or Advanced options previously ?

Try to disable Safe mode on boot and see what happens through Settings.


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## rameshiyer (Aug 28, 2012)

Stancestans said:


> Try rebuilding the bcd store, it worked for the OP here Automatically boots into Recovery Manager - Computer Brands
> In a nutshell, you run Command Prompt from the F11 Recovery Environment, identity the drive letter of the Windows partition (it's not always C: while in the recovery environment), export (backup) the current bcd store, rename it and rebuild it.



Thanks. Tried this one too, but no luck. In fact, on booting with recovery media (USB drive), and running bootrec for fixboot and fixmbr seem to complete "successfully", the bootrec /rebuildbcd doesn't find any windows installation !! Strangely, when I press F9 to manually choose Windows Boot Manager (HDD) it does boot normally into Win'8.1 so does seem something is broken, probably in UEFI settings which control Boot Order (overriding BIOS settings).


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## rameshiyer (Aug 28, 2012)

Stancestans said:


> Try rebuilding the bcd store, it worked for the OP here Automatically boots into Recovery Manager - Computer Brands
> In a nutshell, you run Command Prompt from the F11 Recovery Environment, identity the drive letter of the Windows partition (it's not always C: while in the recovery environment), export (backup) the current bcd store, rename it and rebuild it.



Thanks. Tried this one too, but no luck. In fact, on booting with recovery media (USB drive), and running bootrec for fixboot and fixmbr seem to complete "successfully", the bootrec /rebuildbcd doesn't find any windows installation !! Strangely, when I press F9 to manually choose Windows Boot Manager (HDD) it does boot normally into Win'8.1 so does seem something is broken, probably in UEFI settings which control Boot Order (overriding BIOS settings).
Attached screenshots of results of Bootrec commands and Boot Order while starting up with F9 key pressed. Hope it helps !


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## rameshiyer (Aug 28, 2012)

tristar said:


> Something is messing with the Boot order, did you perform any troubleshooting where Windows was forced to boot to the Safe Mode or Advanced options previously ?
> 
> Try to disable Safe mode on boot and see what happens through Settings.



True. Just shared feedback on Bootrec commands as per earlier post. Something is messed up with UEFI settings for sure.


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## Stancestans (Apr 26, 2009)

rameshiyer said:


> Thanks. Tried this one too, but no luck. In fact, on booting with recovery media (USB drive), and running bootrec for fixboot and fixmbr seem to complete "successfully", the bootrec /rebuildbcd doesn't find any windows installation !! Strangely, when I press F9 to manually choose Windows Boot Manager (HDD) it does boot normally into Win'8.1 so does seem something is broken, probably in UEFI settings which control Boot Order (overriding BIOS settings).


You skipped a step in rebuild bcd. You are supposed to rename (safer than delete) the existing bcd store file so that bootrec can detect that your installation is missing from the newly created bcd store. Bootrec won't detect the operating system if it already exists in the bcd store.


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## rameshiyer (Aug 28, 2012)

Stancestans said:


> You skipped a step in rebuild bcd. You are supposed to rename (safer than delete) the existing bcd store file so that bootrec can detect that your installation is missing from the newly created bcd store. Bootrec won't detect the operating system if it already exists in the bcd store.



Tried to follow steps again, but seems my Win'8.1 setup doesn't have files as per instructions in that link to MS site. Also, noticed that those steps seem to be for Windows Vista & 7 not for Win' 8 / 8.1.


Would help if someone can give correct steps / commands to execute in Win'8.1 OS. Seems something to do with UEFI settings, so is there any tool or something which can help check and edit it ?


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## Stancestans (Apr 26, 2009)

rameshiyer said:


> Tried to follow steps again, but seems my Win'8.1 setup doesn't have files as per instructions in that link to MS site. Also, noticed that those steps seem to be for Windows Vista & 7 not for Win' 8 / 8.1.
> 
> Would help if someone can give correct steps / commands to execute in Win'8.1 OS. Seems something to do with UEFI settings, so is there any tool or something which can help check and edit it ?


1. Boot from your Windows 8.1 installation media and press Shift + F10 to expressly launch Command Prompt.

2. Determine the drive letter of the System Partition by running the following command-lines:

```
[COLOR=Blue]DISKPART[/COLOR]
```
 press Enter, wait for the prompt (cursor) to return then run


```
[COLOR=Blue]LIST VOLUME[/COLOR]
```
 and press Enter. You should see a list of volumes numbered _Volume 0_, _Volume 1_, etc, followed by their drive letters and other information. Look out for the volume that's small in size, usually 100MB and it's of the *FAT32* filesystem (look at the _Fs_ column). That partition contains files required by UEFI firmware to boot Windows. One of those files contains the BCD store that we want to rebuild, so take note of the drive letter of this volume. It's usually assigned drive letter C:, but it's good to double-check this just to be sure. That partition is called the EFI System Partition (ESP). Type

```
[COLOR=Blue]EXIT[/COLOR]
```
 and press Enter to quit DiskPart.

3. Change to the root of the system partition (volume) identified in step 2 above:

```
[COLOR=Blue]CD /D[/COLOR] [COLOR=Red]S:[/COLOR]
```
Where S: is the actual drive letter identified above.

4. Backup (export) the current BCD store:

```
[COLOR=blue]BCDEDIT /EXPORT BCD_BACKUP[/COLOR]
```
This will create a file called BCD_BACKUP at the root of drive S. This file is the backup of the current BCD store which we are about to make unavailable so that BOOTREC can create a fresh new one. If you run DIR you will see this file listed.

5. Change into the boot directory where the current bcd store is located:

```
[COLOR=blue]CD BOOT[/COLOR]
```
 6. Run the following command-line to remove the _hidden_, _system _and _read-only_ attributes of the BCD file.

```
[COLOR=blue]ATTRIB -H -S -R [B][COLOR=Black]BCD[/COLOR][/B][/COLOR]
```
When you press Enter, it will appear as though nothing has happened, but something will have happened, unless an error occurs.

7. Rename the current BCD store file to BCD.OLD as follows:

```
[COLOR=Blue]REN [I]BCD[/I] [I]BCD.OLD[/I][/COLOR]
```
Again, it will seem as if nothing has happened, but if you run DIR, you'll see that the file has indeed been renamed to BCD.OLD. This will make it unavailable for access, without which Windows won't boot because of missing BCD data.

8. Run BOOTREC to rebuild the BCD store.

```
[COLOR=blue]BOOTREC /REBUILDBCD[/COLOR]
```
Bootrec should find your installation of Windows and ask if you want to add it to the boot list. Type Y for Yes and press Enter to complete the rebuild. The command should complete successfully and if you run DIR you should see a newly created BCD store file.


Exit Command Prompt, exit the recovery environment and let the system boot into Windows from your hard drive, then reboot or shutdown to test if it still boots to the F11 recovery automatically.


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## rameshiyer (Aug 28, 2012)

Stancestans said:


> 1. Boot from your Windows 8.1 installation media and press Shift + F10 to expressly launch Command Prompt.
> 
> 2. Determine the drive letter of the System Partition by running the following command-lines:
> 
> ...


 @Stancestans - Thanks for listing the correct sequence of steps / commands to execute to rebuild the BCD Store on my laptop afresh. 

But, on following your steps, I found that the LIST VOLUME doesn't assign any drive letter to the 260Mb FAT32 partition / Volume-5, but does for the much larger one below it as F:. 

So, I proceeded with the remaining steps but again got stuck at the BOOTREC /REBUILDBCD step, where it doesn't find any Windows installation (just as I had shared in a previous screenshot).
Hence, have had to rename BCD.OLD to BCD and change its attributes back to Hidden, System, and Read-Only, to ensure my laptop atleast boots on pressing F9 key on startup.
Something is seriously wrong with my laptop's Recovery Partition and UEFI settings, so hope I can fix it without having to once again do a full Recovery through the HP DVD Media shipped with the laptop, which would completely wipe out all partitions (which is what it presumably did the last time I did a Factory Reset thru Recovery Media few days back). I also feel that with Windows Installation itself not being detected in the BOOTREC / REBUILDBCD command, it's probably not related to F11 key being stuck, as was assumed earlier !
I am amazed that the laptop does manage to boot up to Win'8.1 on pressing F9 and choosing the HDD (only valid option available). Guess I will have to work this way for now !


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## Stancestans (Apr 26, 2009)

rameshiyer said:


> @Stancestans... on following your steps, I found that the LIST VOLUME doesn't assign any drive letter to the 260Mb FAT32 partition / Volume-5, but does for the much larger one below it as F:.
> 
> So, I proceeded with the remaining steps but again got stuck at the BOOTREC /REBUILDBCD step, where it doesn't find any Windows installation (just as I had shared in a previous screenshot).
> Hence, have had to rename BCD.OLD to BCD and change its attributes back to Hidden, System, and Read-Only, to ensure my laptop atleast boots on pressing F9 key on startup.
> ...


In that case, you need to assign a drive letter to that volume. Volume F is labelled "RECOVERY" and it is an 8GB removable storage device (flash disk?), so that's the wrong volume. You edited the wrong file hence the reason why bootrec didn't find your Windows installation. 



Try again and at step 2, right after running LIST VOLUME run:


SELECT VOLUME #


where # is the volume number as shown on that list, then run


ASSIGN LETTER=*S*

where S is the drive letter that will be assigned to that selected volume. Choose a drive letter that isn't already assigned to another volume. If you run LIST VOLUME again, you should see the volume now has a drive letter, so you can proceed with the rest of those steps.

As long as the right BCD file is modified, I assure you that BOOTREC will be able to detect your Windows installation and rebuild the BCD store. You need to exercise patience and follow this through because it just might help someone else some day. If rebuilding the BCD had not worked for someone with the exact same problem as yours, I wouldn't be getting into all this trouble of providing better instructions. Corrupt or incorrect Boot Configuration Data (BCD) can in fact cause boot issues, and your case is no exception, so see this through so that we can rule it out once and for all.


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## DeadToad (Mar 17, 2007)

Sounds like a UEFI/BIOS problem. First and foremost, I would replace the CMOS/RTC battery on the mobo. Even if a CMOS battery that is over 2 years old holds a 3-Volt charge on a tester, under load it may be too weak to maintain BIOS settings. Plus, most PC manufactures install cheapo CMOS batteries. I always replace the CMOS battery on new machines with Energizer or DuraCell, and I replace them every 2-3 years.
Good luck.


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## rameshiyer (Aug 28, 2012)

Stancestans said:


> In that case, you need to assign a drive letter to that volume. Volume F is labelled "RECOVERY" and it is an 8GB removable storage device (flash disk?), so that's the wrong volume. You edited the wrong file hence the reason why bootrec didn't find your Windows installation.
> 
> 
> 
> ...




@Stancestans - Thanks for your patience with me ;-)


I tried the previous steps by assigning drive letter S to the 260 Mb volume, but though I managed to access it, and ran export to BCD_Backup, I couldn't run the rest of the steps successfully as there's no BCD file at all in the BOOT folder in S: drive. It only lists a BOOT.SDI file and hence the ATTRIB command fails, and the BOOTREC /REBUILDBCD too doesn't list any Windows installations even this time. Am sharing the screenshot of the commands for your ref. Does seem my UEFI settings are broken badly :-(


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## rameshiyer (Aug 28, 2012)

DeadToad said:


> Sounds like a UEFI/BIOS problem. First and foremost, I would replace the CMOS/RTC battery on the mobo. Even if a CMOS battery that is over 2 years old holds a 3-Volt charge on a tester, under load it may be too weak to maintain BIOS settings. Plus, most PC manufactures install cheapo CMOS batteries. I always replace the CMOS battery on new machines with Energizer or DuraCell, and I replace them every 2-3 years.
> Good luck.


 @DeadToad - Thanks for your suggestion. But, from my previous posts / feedback, you may note that it doesn't seem to be a BIOS battery issue. Seems more like UEFI corruption (how, I am clueless !). Strangely, even after doing a complete Factory Reset, which removed and recreated all HDD partitions, my issue remains.
BTW. I am out of town, at a remote place where I don't have access to another PC, let alone get a CMOS battery :-(
If all else fails, software wise, shall consider the option you suggested !


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## Stancestans (Apr 26, 2009)

rameshiyer said:


> @Stancestans - Thanks for your patience with me ;-)
> 
> 
> I tried the previous steps by assigning drive letter S to the 260 Mb volume, but though I managed to access it, and ran export to BCD_Backup, I couldn't run the rest of the steps successfully as there's no BCD file at all in the BOOT folder in S: drive. It only lists a BOOT.SDI file and hence the ATTRIB command fails, and the BOOTREC /REBUILDBCD too doesn't list any Windows installations even this time. Am sharing the screenshot of the commands for your ref. Does seem my UEFI settings are broken badly :-(


My bad. I have checked and confirmed the correct location of the BCD file on a GPT-UEFI Windows system. The correct path is *S:\EFI\Microsoft\Boot. *It is also not necessary to change its attributes before renaming it. Tested and confirmed on an EFI system.


After renaming the BCD file, you can run BCDEDIT /V and it should output an error about missing bcd data. You can use this to check if the correct bcd file has been renamed. After bootrec has rebuilt the bcd, you can rerun BCDEDIT /V and it should output the entries of the new bcd store. Thereafter you can reboot and Windows should load just fine, with a fresh clean bcd and hopefully no boot misbehaviour.


By the way, a factory reset doesn't necessarily remove and recreate all partitions, especially since the recovery partition itself is on the same disk. See the thread I linked to earlier, of the user with the exact same problem? They had also performed a factory reset and it didn't fix it until he rebuilt the bcd.


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## rameshiyer (Aug 28, 2012)

Stancestans said:


> My bad. I have checked and confirmed the correct location of the BCD file on a GPT-UEFI Windows system. The correct path is *S:\EFI\Microsoft\Boot. *It is also not necessary to change its attributes before renaming it. Tested and confirmed on an EFI system.
> 
> 
> After renaming the BCD file, you can run BCDEDIT /V and it should output an error about missing bcd data. You can use this to check if the correct bcd file has been renamed. After bootrec has rebuilt the bcd, you can rerun BCDEDIT /V and it should output the entries of the new bcd store. Thereafter you can reboot and Windows should load just fine, with a fresh clean bcd and hopefully no boot misbehaviour.
> ...


 @Stancestans - Thanks again !


This time the steps in order as per your earlier post executed properly, and a new BCD Store (smaller file) was created too, yet my "F11...Recovery..." issue at startup remains !! Checked with full shutdown as well as restart within Windows.


Sharing three screen-shots - one which lists Windows Instn before rebuilding BCD store, one after it does it successfully, and one which lists it thru BCDEDIT /V. Hope it helps diagnose anything I missed.



BTW, am bit surprised you state that doing a Factory Reset (though it removes and recreates all partitions afresh) doesn't fix this strange issue. Wouldn't removing and re-partitioning HDD wipe out all (corrupted) UEFI data stored in earlier Recovery Partition too ? The last time I did the Factory Reset, that's what I hoped for, and it did confirm that the process would remove ALL partitions, and create them afresh. So, no point in my trying to do a Factory Reset once again to fix this annoying issue.


Wonder what else could be broken !!!


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## Stancestans (Apr 26, 2009)

Contrary to popular belief, a factory reset does not necessarily clean the disk (removes all partitions). There is no standard way of programming the recovery utility that's performing the factory reset. HP Recovery Manager will not necessarily do the same thing as Dell's recovery utility, or the Windows PC Reset functionality of the advanced startup menu. A factory reset may only delete the Windows partition or not at all. It may simply format it and reinstall Windows using the recovery image that's usually stored in a hidden OEM recovery partition. It may delete the Windows partition and any user-added partition, and not touch the other hidden partitions such as the ESP. Remember, the HP Recovery Manager is itself housed in an OEM utility partition, which is usually separate from the OEM recovery partition containing the factory image of Windows and bundled software, AND they're ALL on the same disk. Your computer, for example, has a 22GB recovery partition and other smaller recovery partitions which are not touched when performing the factory reset because these partitions are the ones facilitating the reset in the first place.


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## rameshiyer (Aug 28, 2012)

Stancestans said:


> Contrary to popular belief, a factory reset does not necessarily clean the disk (removes all partitions). There is no standard way of programming the recovery utility that's performing the factory reset. HP Recovery Manager will not necessarily do the same thing as Dell's recovery utility, or the Windows PC Reset functionality of the advanced startup menu. A factory reset may only delete the Windows partition or not at all. It may simply format it and reinstall Windows using the recovery image that's usually stored in a hidden OEM recovery partition. It may delete the Windows partition and any user-added partition, and not touch the other hidden partitions such as the ESP. Remember, the HP Recovery Manager is itself housed in an OEM utility partition, which is usually separate from the OEM recovery partition containing the factory image of Windows and bundled software, AND they're ALL on the same disk. Your computer, for example, has a 22GB recovery partition and other smaller recovery partitions which are not touched when performing the factory reset because these partitions are the ones facilitating the reset in the first place.



Well, I do agree that the HP Recovery Manager may work differently from say, the Dell RecoveryManager tool for their respective brands / models. But, in the HP Recovery Manager utility, which I have run only a few days back, I noticed that the "Refresh PC..." option probably does a quick repair job, which may resolve minor issues with Windows startup. It didn't work for me, and it prompted me to do a "Reset PC" instead. On doing a "Reset PC" it stated that ALL data from the Windows partition would be wiped out, which implies that it probably does a quick-format / full-format of the Windows partition alone, and doesn't touch other partitions. This didn't work for me too, so had to choose the last option - Factory Reset - which, during the process mentioned clearly that ALL partitions would be removed and new ones will be created. Indeed, after Windows was installed afresh from the Recovery Partition, noticed that my previous partition was completely removed and apart from the ESP partition of about 300Mb, and the HP Recovery Partition of about 22Gb was created and the rest was assigned to the C: drive where Windows was reinstalled. So, I understand that the Factory Reset in my case (HP Recovery Manager tool) does remove all partitions and recreates ones it requires to do the Factory Reset process (i.e. creates all partitions except the user-created ones of previous state). 

Also, in another forum, I read about creating a new "clean" installation of Windows, after downloading the Windows 8.1 ISO file from Microsoft website, and there's also a separate process to create a bootable Flash Drive under UEFI environment. But, unfortunately, it works only with "retail" version of Windows, not OEM versions, as in my case, as it prompts for the Product Key during the Windows setup.


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## Stancestans (Apr 26, 2009)

rameshiyer said:


> Well, I do agree that the HP Recovery Manager may work differently from say, the Dell RecoveryManager tool for their respective brands / models. But, in the HP Recovery Manager utility, which I have run only a few days back, I noticed that the "Refresh PC..." option probably does a quick repair job, which may resolve minor issues with Windows startup. It didn't work for me, and it prompted me to do a "Reset PC" instead. On doing a "Reset PC" it stated that ALL data from the Windows partition would be wiped out, which implies that it probably does a quick-format / full-format of the Windows partition alone, and doesn't touch other partitions. This didn't work for me too, so had to choose the last option - Factory Reset - which, during the process mentioned clearly that ALL partitions would be removed and new ones will be created. Indeed, after Windows was installed afresh from the Recovery Partition, noticed that my previous partition was completely removed and apart from the ESP partition of about 300Mb, and the HP Recovery Partition of about 22Gb was created and the rest was assigned to the C: drive where Windows was reinstalled. So, I understand that the Factory Reset in my case (HP Recovery Manager tool) does remove all partitions and recreates ones it requires to do the Factory Reset process (i.e. creates all partitions except the user-created ones of previous state).
> 
> Also, in another forum, I read about creating a new "clean" installation of Windows, after downloading the Windows 8.1 ISO file from Microsoft website, and there's also a separate process to create a bootable Flash Drive under UEFI environment. But, unfortunately, it works only with "retail" version of Windows, not OEM versions, as in my case, as it prompts for the Product Key during the Windows setup.



I can assure you that a factory reset using the OEM recovery utility (e.g HP Recovery Manager) does not delete and recreate ALL partitions on that disk. If it did that, the factory reset process wouldn't even start because the factory-deployed image of Windows and the OEM recovery utility itself (HP Recovery Manager etc) are stored on partitions *on the same disk* on which Windows is installed. If you delete those partitions, the recovery image and the utility will be gone from the system and a factory reset would no longer be possible.


However, the fact that the recovery utility states that "all partitions" will be deleted and recreated may simply be implying in lay terms that user-visible partitions will be deleted, and that's usually just drive C: where Windows is installed and the only visible one in File Explorer.


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## rameshiyer (Aug 28, 2012)

Stancestans said:


> I can assure you that a factory reset using the OEM recovery utility (e.g HP Recovery Manager) does not delete and recreate ALL partitions on that disk. If it did that, the factory reset process wouldn't even start because the factory-deployed image of Windows and the OEM recovery utility itself (HP Recovery Manager etc) are stored on partitions *on the same disk* on which Windows is installed. If you delete those partitions, the recovery image and the utility will be gone from the system and a factory reset would no longer be possible.
> 
> 
> However, the fact that the recovery utility states that "all partitions" will be deleted and recreated may simply be implying in lay terms that user-visible partitions will be deleted, and that's usually just drive C: where Windows is installed and the only visible one in File Explorer.



I am afraid, I tend to disagree. For, 2 years ago I had to have the failing internal HDD replaced with a new one, and I did manage to install the entire setup, including HP Recovery Partitions, etc. by using the Factory Reset option, by booting up with the 1st of 3 Recovery DVDs from HP. The 4th DVD contained all the Drivers & Misc Software shipped with the laptop, so the system had prompted me to insert each DVD in sequence and it setup Windows 8.1 with all the S/w shipped by HP with this laptop. It took me about 3 hours to finish the entire process. I had also created the Recovery Media on my 32Gb USB 3.0 SanDisk Flash Drive, which is what I used few days back to do a Factory Reset once again - to fix this annoying "F11..Recovery" issue. Though it took much longer this time, esp. the Software Installation process, I could see the Flash Drive being read frequently during the process. So, it was probably not referring to the Recovery Partition / Data on the HDD at all. 

It didn't give any error during the entire 4-5 hours it took this time, but I did have to use the same process (F9 key to manually select boot option) each time the system restarted during the Win & S/w setup. But at the very end when it finished with Win & S/w + Drivers setup, on restart, it displayed an error about not being able to load Windows, with some hexadecimal error code. My bad, I didn't take a snap of it for reference.
Also, my internal DVD drive has not been functional for many months, so I can't use the HP Recovery DVDs now. I had tried using my external DVD Writer connected to one of the functional USB ports, but the BIOS / UEFI didn't detect the drive during bootup, so had no choice but to use the 32Gb SanDisk Flash Drive with HP Recovery Media. As the laptop is out of warranty, I hoped I could fix this issue myself (with help from forums like this one, of course).


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## Stancestans (Apr 26, 2009)

rameshiyer said:


> I am afraid, I tend to disagree. For, 2 years ago I had to have the failing internal HDD replaced with a new one, and I did manage to install the entire setup, including HP Recovery Partitions, etc. by using the Factory Reset option, by booting up with the 1st of 3 Recovery DVDs from HP. The 4th DVD contained all the Drivers & Misc Software shipped with the laptop, so the system had prompted me to insert each DVD in sequence and it setup Windows 8.1 with all the S/w shipped by HP with this laptop. It took me about 3 hours to finish the entire process. I had also created the Recovery Media on my 32Gb USB 3.0 SanDisk Flash Drive, which is what I used few days back to do a Factory Reset once again - to fix this annoying "F11..Recovery" issue. Though it took much longer this time, esp. the Software Installation process, I could see the Flash Drive being read frequently during the process. So, it was probably not referring to the Recovery Partition / Data on the HDD at all.
> 
> It didn't give any error during the entire 4-5 hours it took this time, but I did have to use the same process (F9 key to manually select boot option) each time the system restarted during the Win & S/w setup. But at the very end when it finished with Win & S/w + Drivers setup, on restart, it displayed an error about not being able to load Windows, with some hexadecimal error code. My bad, I didn't take a snap of it for reference.
> Also, my internal DVD drive has not been functional for many months, so I can't use the HP Recovery DVDs now. I had tried using my external DVD Writer connected to one of the functional USB ports, but the BIOS / UEFI didn't detect the drive during bootup, so had no choice but to use the 32Gb SanDisk Flash Drive with HP Recovery Media. As the laptop is out of warranty, I hoped I could fix this issue myself (with help from forums like this one, of course).



That's just it. Back in the day, OEM-built computers used to come with a set of recovery discs for restoring them to factory. You are lucky to have that set. Losing them means ordering for another set from the manufacturer at a cost! Things changed and they stopped shipping computers with a set of recovery discs. Instead, the recovery image and utility was stored on the hard disk in special recovery partitions. It was up to the user to create a set of recovery discs or flash disk, from the contents of that recovery partition, within the Windows environment using a recovery media creator program that was bundled and pre-installed with Windows.


Using external recovery media to factory reset your computer would of course work if all partitions were deleted from the internal drive. You never mentioned that you were using the DVDs and/or recovery flash disk to factory reset, so I logically assumed you were doing so from the internal recovery partitions, which of course, wouldn't delete all partitions.


Since you have external recovery media, what happens when you delete the internal recovery partition? It's absence should prevent F11 from having any effect at boot time. You can delete it using DiskPart. Run SELECT DISK 0 and then LIST PARTITION to make sure you select the correct partition to delete because there are more than one recovery partitions. Also, LIST PARTITION will only list the partitions that are present on the selected disk as opposed to LIST VOLUME which lists ALL the volumes from all the storage devices attached to the computer. The right partition to delete comes after the Windows partition, never before, and is quite big. Be aware that if the system tries to load the F11 recovery utility and finds that the recovery partition(s) are missing, It may show an error on screen or may just remain blank with nothing else happening until you (power) reset it. This is the case of one of my friend's netbook due to a faulty keyboard. It would be great if you tried replacing the inbuilt keyboard to rule it out. They should be fairly cheap. Alternatively, you could take it to a computer repair shop so that they can test with a spare keyboard to ascertain whether it is the problem or not.



I highly doubt it's the UEFI settings or your system's UEFI firmware that's responsible, but if you insist, you can reflash/update/recover the BIOS and that should clear that up once and for all.


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