I've had this issue with many computers, and often times, they just end up not being fixed. I'm fed up with this issue and I need some straight answers concerning it. Everything I read online is of absolutely no help and it has never been on this issue. This is an HP Pavilion ze5185 laptop. Probably not that old, but it hangs on the black screen with the options of ESC to change boot order, F2 to enter setup, F10 for diagnostics tools, and F12 to boot from lan. Now, it hangs on most of these options and won't get past any of them. I've managed to get into the bios and change the boot order to make it boot from a CD first, but the Windows XP disc will not boot. Also, I've downloaded a big diagnostics disk that also will not run. Nothing will run from anything. I really can't describe the problem more other than I'm unable to follow procedures to reinstall or do diagnostics to figure out of the hard drive is dead or what. I am at a loss and I'm getting sick of this issue coming up on so many computers and being unable to do anything about it. Thanks in advance.

Yes, this is the dreaded PXE error media cable blah blah operating system not found issue.

Have you tried disconnecting any LAN and USB connections? Do yourself a favor BACKUP!!!

No, I was wondering how to do that exactly on a laptop.

It's the same on a laptop as a desktop. Disconnect the cables. Do yourself a favor BACKUP!!!

I think the hard drive is kaput. Not very knowledgable when it comes to laptops. Does anyone have any information on replacement drives?