Question HP Laptop "Hard Drive/SSD SMART Check : SOFTWARE ERROR

[Daubers]

My HP Laptop was updating on reboot and froze. Then entered a boot loop to the HP logo screen. I have gone thru all the recovery options and none of them work. When I go thru diagnostics it says "Hard Drive/SSD SMART Check : SOFTWARE ERROR. Do I have any options? Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[Lutfij]

HP Laptop
Can you pass on the model of the laptop? Is this an HDD or an SSD? How old is the laptop's drive at this point of time?

 

[Daubers]

HP Laptop
Can you pass on the model of the laptop? Is this an HDD or an SSD? How old is the laptop's drive at this point of time?

Model 15-CW1 The laptop is about 2 years old. SSD Drive.

 

[Lutfij]

Has warranty on the laptop expired? If so, the drives in them tend to fail around the time that the warranty is expiring(when subjected to taxation due to tasks).

 

[Daubers]

Has warranty on the laptop expired? If so, the drives in them tend to fail around the time that the warranty is expiring(when subjected to taxation due to tasks).

Yes the warranty has expired. You don't think it has something to do with not completing the system updates?

 

[Daubers]

I find it interesting that it says software error and not hardware error

 

[SkyNetRising]

I find it interesting that it says software error and not hardware error

Probably bad drive.
Diagnose it, then replace.

 

[Daubers]

Probably bad drive.
Diagnose it, then replace.

Diagnostics only say " Software Error"

 

[Daubers]

How do I get the windows product key if I can't access the Bios and there is no sticker?

 

[USAFRet]

How do I get the windows product key if I can't access the Bios and there is no sticker?

This laptop was previously running and fully activated with Win 10?

If so, you do not need the license key.

Install.
When it asks for the license key, skip that part.
When the system goes online later, it should activate itself.

How To - Windows 10 clean install tutorial

If you are looking for the Windows 11 Clean install tutorial, you can find that here: Windows 11 Clean install tutorial (Click here) Otherwise, welcome to the Windows 10 Clean install tutorial This tutorial is intended to help you, step by step, to perform a clean install of Windows...

forums.tomshardware.com

 

[Daubers]

So I got the new hard drive, installed it, and tried to boot from the windows 11 iso file on a usb and cannot get it to. I went in the bios and made sure it was enabled and changed the usb boot to the top but my boot menu only shows EFI File and no option for USB.

 

[USAFRet]

So I got the new hard drive, installed it, and tried to boot from the windows 11 iso file on a usb and cannot get it to. I went in the bios and made sure it was enabled and changed the usb boot to the top but my boot menu only shows EFI File and no option for USB.

1. I thought this was for WIndows 10.
2. You can't boot directly from the ISO file. Did you read the Win 10 tutorial above?

 

[Daubers]

1. I thought this was for WIndows 10.
2. You can't boot directly from the ISO file. Did you read the Win 10 tutorial above?

Sorry, Yes the machine was running Windows 11

 

[USAFRet]

Sorry, Yes the machine was running Windows 11

OK, so the steps for WIn 11 are basically the same as for 10.

Read through that tutorial.
MediaCreation tool for WIn 11 here:
https://www.microsoft.com/software-download/windows11

 

[Daubers]

Thanks for your help guys. Up and running