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Missing Bios application or curropt?


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#1 jeff matthews

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Posted 03 August 2012 - 11:08 AM

So i have been having an issue with my new laptop, shutting down suddenly after every night of putting into sleep mode. When i wake up in the morning the laptop is completely shut down. This has only been happening for the last week or so, before that, the laptop was working fine and ive had it for bout 3 months now. At first i got a few shut downs, when i logged back in, it said your windows had an improper shut down. Bout the 3rd shut down, i got a BSOD screen with an error message stating that physical memory was dumping. Finally on the most current shut down, i got an error message stating that The HP BIOS application selected is corrupt or missing. Please install the application and try again. BIOS Application Error (501) Enter - Continue That sort of scared me. Could this possibly be that the entire bios system is missing from the system due to corrupt drivers? Do you have any idea how to fix this issue? I don't want to try and attempt to flash the bios, because i do not know what the results would be. Some times it causes internal damage to the machine if you don't know what your doing. In any case, i guess i prepare for the worst, ill start backing up my data just incase something unexpected happens. If you can let me know what i can try to fix this issue. The laptop is still under warranty, so i really have nothing to fear, it has a 2 year extended warranty that i payed extra for. I can just replace it, but i really want to know why this certain laptop broke down this fast after only having it for several months. I have never ran into error stating that my bios is missing. Come to think of it, when i reboot my pc and hit the delete, it does not boot to a bios screen which is strange. This happened shortly after windows did its most current updates. Looking around online it seems its a common issue with a UEFI interface, what ever that means. I have a HP laptop A6 Visions CPU.

Edited by jeff matthews, 03 August 2012 - 11:28 AM.

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#2 Doug

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Posted 03 August 2012 - 08:15 PM

Jeff Matthews, Slow down and take a breath. You are jumping to conclusions.
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#3 Doug

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Posted 03 August 2012 - 08:28 PM

In the past you have demonstrated an ability to research and learn.
I find it hard to believe that you have not googled to discover the meaning of the UEFI acronym.

Unified Extensible Firmware Interface

In addition to better interoperability, UEFI firmware provides several technical advantages:
Compatibility with operating systems that support only BIOS
Ability to boot from large disks
CPU-independent architecture
CPU-independent drivers
Flexible pre-OS environment
Modular design

Two of the most notable Windows features for UEFI systems are the following:
Multicast deployment, which enables large scale network-based image deployment in manufacturing and enterprise settings.
Fast boot and resume from hibernation, which improves user experience.
The rich UEFI interface provides ample room for innovation in the development of operating system features. Along with the other members of the Unified EFI Forum, Microsoft is investigating the following:
Rootkit prevention
Network authentication

-Microsoft Corporation


So now, with that out of the way...

You have told us very little about your machine.
You have told us nothing about software that you may already have installed.
Other than "coming out of "Sleep Mode" you have provided no information about what has occurred.
Or perhaps more correctly, moving from Sleep Mode to full shut down (which could be just an ordinary Power Setting selection which you may have intentionally or accidentally selected)
For instance, the "exact" and "entire" Error Code warning could provide some helpful information.
And if not information from Error Code appearing at time of failure as a BSOD, then you certainly can discover Errors that have been occuring by visiting Event Viewer.

And if the machine has Blue Screened, then there are mini-dump files that can be investigated.

But for the moment, let's just allow for the possibility that "nothing" extraordinary has occurred, yet the machine still shows signs of failing...

OK. It happens occasionally.
That's what warranties are for.

Either provide information along the lines of investigation suggested above....
.... or seriously consider taking the machine back for warranty replacement.

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#4 jeff matthews

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Posted 03 August 2012 - 10:33 PM

Yeah, i was kind of tired last night and was not really into posting a very detailed comment. But yes i have researched the UEFI and i know that it is a replacement interface for the bios and provides extra boot features, and driver loading module, etc.

I did provide the error code. It was

The HP BIOS application selected is corrupt or missing. Please install the application and try again.

BIOS Application Error (501)

Enter - Continue

This is what was exactly displayed on screen the moment i press the power button in the morning. Next time it happens, ill write down the detailed report. I am sure it will happen again tommorow, so far its happened every night for the last week. As soon as i go to sleep and i close my laptop, in the morning i find out its shut down. I have to actually power the laptop on which was not the case.

Yes i have checked the power settings and that is the first thing i would check of course. Its not set to power down or shut down, its only set to go into sleep mode after a certain amount of hrs. Which means when i close the lid on the laptop, it enters sleep mode, the fans turn off, the power turns off, so it can't heat up. It isn't on. The only thing that is running in during sleep mode is the memory. Of course you know what sleep mode is so i should not have to explain that.


Yes i'll give some more detailed reports regarding the specs of my machine and the software.

The computer is an HP laptop Model 169b It has an AMD chipset, not an intell.
The CPU is a AMD A6-3420M
The memory is a DDR3 - 8 GB of Ram
The graphics chip is a AMD Radion HD 6520


This is all factory default hardware. I did not change anything.

I did how ever format the laptop once, due to an extremely sever curroptionin windows, the computer would not even boot to windows at all and would freeze in safe mode. I had no choice but to re install windows. I did not wipe the partition, just re installed. So all of my old files were stored in "windows old" directory"

I then installed all of my default drivers for unknown devices etc by going to the directory

C:\Windows\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository

Did the same with favorites listings etc.

C:\Users\user\AppData\Local\Google\Chrome\User Data


The point in which my laptop ran into a fatal corruption was due to the fact of downloading a third party software that i use quite frequently for the past years, but i guess the person that updated the patch on it, caused major issues to my laptop. I am not sure if that was the cause, but after i downloaded that, it completely crippled my laptop to the point of no recovery. Not even a system restore fixed the problem. I had scrambled website pages, i had full window locks where i could not even access the start menu. The same thing in safe mode. So it was obvous at this point that it was some form of corruption and not some virus or anything. So that is when i decided to re install windows and all of the drivers.

Regarding applications, all of the software that i had previously on my laptop is all the same stuff. Nothing is new. Their are a few applications that i installed when i first got the laptop after getting rid of most the bloatware. I installed a licensed version of Avast as my firewall, a CCC codec pack for video codecs, and some other dvd encoding freeware, but thats bout it. I have used these applications for many years though aside from the new avast firewall.


Honestly this is really irritating, this is the 2nd laptop i have had in the past several months that has caused problems. The laptop i had was an Asus, i think it was just a factory defect cause the screen was showing scrambling and distorted lines on the display. But this is something different.

Here is some information regarding a similar problem to mine.

http://h30499.www3.h...ht/true#M151800

Based on all the information that i have researched. My problem is most likely that the HP_TOOLS EFI is missing form the system during the point in which i re installed windows. So maybe if i re installed that application. It might fix the issue. I am not sure yet.

Either way, if its a problem that resurfaces multiple times on my laptop, obviously my best solution is to just take it back and get the same laptop again or a new one. But i honestly think this is just a minor issue and not a critical one.

Edited by jeff matthews, 03 August 2012 - 10:42 PM.


#5 jeff matthews

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Posted 04 August 2012 - 12:50 PM

Ok this is really starting to freak me out. You remember that topic i was mentioned about a user taking control over my pc and compromised which caused me alot of hassle, i had to redo all my credit information, get a new account, etc.

Thread here: http://forums.whatth...howtopic=123871

Well once again the pc was shut down, i made absolutely sure the power settings were correct. Their is absolutely no need for the laptop to shut down. When i logged back on i found out that some of my passwords and ID information for some of my accounts like my amazon no longer work any more. I had reset to my pass word. Also when this person called today, they wanted to talk to my father, how in the hell can this person have access to my father's personal information. Its only a completely different computer, on the same network but on a different computer. I feel as though my entire network has been compromised and maybe, just maybe some of the problems i am facing is due to some one accessing my account and changing things. Of course then again i could just be jumping to conclusions lke you always say. But this is a serous matter, i need to find out what in hell is happening here on my network. Just today when i booted up my laptop, it froze again, just like the previous time that i re installed everything due to the hijacker.

Is it possible to compromise your entire network. I did a research on a UDP fingerprint, which is something he did on my desktop and found that its some form of scan to scan a network and gathering information on certain IP protocols, its used mostly for people to assist you with working on a computer or a network malfunction, but i think he used it to gain access to my network with out my knowledge.

http://nmap.org/book...ct-methods.html


Well i don't know what to do in this case. Is their any possibly scans, diagnostics you can use to determine if their is anyone hyjacker my network or computer devices beacuse it sure seems like it. Or perhaps find out why i am having so much issues with my laptop and my desktop at the same time, right after i reformatted both.

In any case we are upgraded to a new router soon, which will give us tottaly differnet IP settings, so if this hijacker is somehow still attached to our nework, that should eliminate him from connecting to anything.

Maybe i am just being paranoid, i don't know, but i find it outrageous that he was able to gather information on my dad's security which is a completely different computer. I was not even using that pc when my desktop was being remote controlled.

In any case, this morning, when i woke up, the pc was shut down again, but this time their was no error message bout a missing bios file, It just loaded windows, but then froze and i had to initiate a hard shut down.

If this is something that you guys can not determine or resolve, then can you please direct me to some sort of steps i should take. I am almost thinking bout calling Microsoft and reporting it to them, that this user claiming to be Microsoft is a group of people that are hackers, trying to gain access to people's computer's so they can steal money. I may even report this to the police, but until then. I am not sure if the damage of what he caused on my desktop could have any thing to do with what im experiencing on my laptop. But it sure seems like its connected, how would he be able to get personal identity info from some one on my network, and what exactly is the purpose of my account information being changed.

Edited by jeff matthews, 04 August 2012 - 01:03 PM.


#6 Doug

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Posted 04 August 2012 - 09:09 PM

Hi JeffMatthews,

My own search found the same and additional threads over int the HP help forums.

Because you indicate that you reformatted and reinstalled Windows, I would most suspect that you now have "no efi-partition (HP_Tools) installed"

You can get past this message by disabling HP Quicklook 2 in your BIOS.

1. Open up your BIOS (by pressing F10 while your machine is booting up)
2. Go to System Configuration / Device Configurations
3. Look for an option called "HP Quicklook" or "HP Quicklook 2"
4. Set it to "Disabled"
6. Save the changes (hit F10)
7. Restart your machine.


Do you have both the "Info" button and the "Power" button?
Are you using a docking station?
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#7 jeff matthews

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Posted 05 August 2012 - 02:55 AM

OK i did that, I disabled it. i also noticed that their is a "recovery option" to actually format the drive (F11) and recover everything back to its original state with the original software, drivers and windows home premium that was installed on the laptop. I never knew that tool was available. That might definitively fix all the issues i have, and i also noticed their is a way to back up your entire system with 5 disks, which i did not do. So i think a plan of action may be to do a full recovery to its default system, and then do a back of the partition and save it on like 5 disks. So when i ever run into issues like this again, i can just restore the back up. Apparently these tools i deleted by accident when i bought the laptop. , But i found out that i can download them again so thats what i did. Anyways i have another issue also, my avast full version is not working correctly. Its apparently out of date and says that it is "Setup GUI did not launch correctly", i guess i will have to call Avast bout that, because so far that has been one great antivirus, though maybe it does slow my pc down a little, but it keeps the maleware and viruses out. I have never had much luck with MSI. I usually always get infections with that software. But so far that is what i have installed right now. What do you mean by the last comment, whats a docking station?

Edited by jeff matthews, 05 August 2012 - 02:57 AM.


#8 Doug

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Posted 05 August 2012 - 08:59 AM

i also noticed that their is a "recovery option" to actually format the drive (F11) and recover everything back to its original state with the original software, drivers and windows home premium that was installed on the laptop. I never knew that tool was available. That might definitively fix all the issues i have, and i also noticed their is a way to back up your entire system with 5 disks, which i did not do. So i think a plan of action may be to do a full recovery to its default system, and then do a back of the partition and save it on like 5 disks.


:thumbup:

my avast full version is not working correctly. Its apparently out of date and says that it is "Setup GUI did not launch correctly"


First restore your system to factory original, and make the backup DVD's.
Then with this "new" system, install your AVAST! or whatever anti-virus real-time solution of your preference.

What do you mean by the last comment, whats a docking station?

Again, your preferred search-engine will be your friend in discovering about this extra hardware feature that some people but not all find useful.
I haven't ever and don't plan to use a docking station, but some folks do.
I inquired about docking station in my prior reply because some of the folks participating in the HP Thread had experienced additional difficulty when using docking station.

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#9 jeff matthews

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Posted 05 August 2012 - 02:32 PM

Well dang, after restoring my pc to its default setting, that surely fixed everything. Before the laptop was not even shutting down properly, now i don't have any problems, so obviously its fixed and it runs alot faster now.

How ever my avast is still not working correctly, i even tried downloading the free version from the website

http://www.avast.com...ivirus-download

I even have a serial code that i can use, for my full security version. It won't even allow me to get to that point though, the moment i launch the application, it fails. It tries to load but that comes up with the same message and you know whats weird is the same avast works on my other desktop computer just fine. But it does not work on my laptop. It just will not launch. Although i was trying to launch when windows was updating. I'll try installing it again after i reboot my machine.

Just so you know i am not running two anti viruses, either, i uninstalled MSI and im trying to install avast.

Oh yeah a docking station, that sounds convenient. I just looked it up.


EDIT: I figured it out, when i download the set up installing its stating that "avast_internet_security_setup.exeCannot save due to insufficient permissions. Please save to another location."

So obviously windows 7 is blocking it some how and i called avast and thier is nothing can do besides charge for technical service. So do you happen to know what i can do to give my computer administrator rights to run this software. I tried right clicking the software and "run as administrator" but its still not working and avast confirmed thats the reason the set up GUI is not successively initialization because of "insufficient permissions" He stated that it has nothing to do with their software, but windows 7 is blocking it some how.

Maybe i have to wait till the windows 7 updates finish because they are running in the background still.

Edited by jeff matthews, 05 August 2012 - 03:31 PM.


#10 Doug

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Posted 05 August 2012 - 03:04 PM

Others have had similar problems with installing AVAST and then having Windows 7 freeze upon reboot.

One poster found that installing the latest version of C++ from Microsoft Downloads fixed the problem.

Here's the link in which it is being discussed.

http://forum.avast.c...?topic=101177.0
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#11 jeff matthews

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Posted 05 August 2012 - 05:21 PM

Hmm, yeah i tried that, its still not working. I guess i will have to use another firewall, until hits problem gets resolved maybe with a new update or something they may include some files to install. My desktop and my laptop are both 64 bit systems though and it works fine on my desktop. So i really don't get it. Avast told me they would be able to fix the issue for me, but it cost me money and require me to do a system recovery again. So i said no. I am not paying for that service when i already have a bought licensed version that should work for a whole year. I will try to google and do some more research on it and see if i can find a solution, but until them ill just use MSI for now i guess.

Edited by jeff matthews, 05 August 2012 - 05:22 PM.


#12 Doug

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Posted 05 August 2012 - 05:56 PM

There are two possible options off the top of my head.

Internet Explorer - (Run as Administrator)

For your Download, consider using Internet explorer - (Run as Administrator)

When browsing with Internet Explorer in (Run as Administrator) mode, only go to the necessary AVAST site, and do not do any general browsing.
Close that instance of IE as soon as you are finished with your download.
____________________________-

If that doesn't help, then try the elevated Administrator Account in your Windows 7
(Again, restrict yourself to only the specific necessary task. Then Reboot your machine to log in with your ordinary username Account)

A hidden administrator account on every Windows 7 PC has privileges that supersede any other user's--and disables all User Account Controls by default. To see it, you must first log in to your Windows 7 PC with an account that has administrator access. From there, right-click the Command Prompt application in your Applications folder and select Run As Administrator. Once the command prompt is open, type net user administrator /active:yes and press Enter. If the command executes successfully, you should be able to exit the Command Prompt, log out of your Windows account, and see the now-visible Administrator account. To cloak it again, follow the same process, changing the Command Prompt entry to read net user administrator /active:no.
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#13 jeff matthews

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Posted 05 August 2012 - 09:12 PM

Well i tried all of that and it still does not work, but i have another problem and this is been going since i first tried to install it, so it has nothing to do with the information you gave me in the last post. Apparently the software is still some how running in the background. Because every 5 min or so, it comes up with that error message "set up GUI is not successively initialization" i have to press ok, to close the box, but then it pops up again, after bout 5 or 10 min.

Guess i can try going to regeedit and delete all remnants of the previous avast components and value's. Then try it again. Other then that i just don't know what to do or why its sudenly not working after i did a system recovery.

How ever when i downloaded the software using the method you suggest in the previous post, i didn't get the message that i have insufficient privileges.

EDIT: Well this is the only register entry that i found in the Rege edit. Its an extension to avast products.

http://extension.nirsoft.net/avastlic

Edited by jeff matthews, 05 August 2012 - 09:23 PM.


#14 Doug

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Posted 05 August 2012 - 09:46 PM

Therefore you have possibly not correctly entered you licensing code. Suggest remove AVAST via ADD/Remove. Then attempt to reinstall, running the install.exe as (Run as administrator)
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#15 Tomk

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Posted 05 August 2012 - 10:18 PM

If you have trouble uninstalling using add/remove... Avast offers and uninstall tool: http://www.avast.com/uninstall-utility
Tomk
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