I'm trying to help a friend with his HP Envy laptop that's stuck on 'preparing auto repair' and won't get to the recovery screen. I've been thinking about using a USB to load Windows, but I ran into an issue: when I boot from the USB, the mouse doesn't work at all. I can press Enter to reach the recovery screen in the setup, but this doesn't seem to help since it's not using the main system. If anyone has ideas on how to fix this or get past the mouse issue, that'd be great!
2 Answers
If you have another USB port, try using an external mouse instead. I've found that touchpads often have issues during Windows setup. Otherwise, you could just use the Tab key to navigate the menus.
First, make sure that your BIOS is set to allow booting from USB. Once you've done that, you should be able to boot off the USB stick and try reinstalling Windows.
I mentioned that I've already tried this, but the installation wouldn't start because the mouse doesn't show up. I can get to the recovery menu with Enter and the arrow keys, but I can't move past that.
I did try an external mouse and the Tab method. It worked for navigation, but then I hit a snag with the disk not being formatted right. I tried following a couple of tutorials, but now both USB drives are dead.