how can I access the BIOS settings of an HP Pavilion laptop running Windows 8?

Follow the steps if you are able to succeed to enter int o bios with the HP provided url : https://support.hp.com/in-en/document/c00364979

If you are using Windows 10 and then login to system recovery and select recovery and try UEFI bios option and reboot while rebooting press the F10 Key to enter into the menu

Start up the computer and immediately press F10 repeatedly until BIOS starts.  

Some computers use F1 (mine) some F2 and some F10.  Try F10 with HP

Hi George,
Can't be certain without knowing the exact model. Possibilities are F1, F2, F6, F8, and F10. My HP EliteBooks use the Esc key and I suppose that's also a possibility for your Pavilion. Some of my HP laptops show the key for entering the BIOS in the lower left corner of the screen when it is booting, so I suggest concentrating your attention there to see if it displays...you need to focus there because it's on on the screen for only a second or two. But some of my HP laptops, such as my HP Stream running W8.1, do not display that BIOS message. If your Pavilion is like that, the only thing you can do is try the function keys (and Esc) until you find the one that works. Regards, Joe

"I can not locate the model number of this laptop"
On some laptops, the labels are under the battery.  Pop the battery out (usually one or two sliding latches hold it in place) and take a look.

The model is often is also seen at the bottom right side of the display
It will be the general class of to which it belongs.

The suggestions with the various keys. F8 is a Windows, but gets to the screen where you can accesssettings.

Hi Everyone,

         I was able to access the BIOS using the F2 key at boot up or at the blank screen.  Unfortunately, there are not any options for selecting the boot order sequence.  Incidentally, I did locate the model number while within the BIOS.  It is an HP Pavilion 17 Notebook PC.   Seeing that it does not have an option to customize the boot sequence, can it boot from the USB if there is bootable media on it?  

         Thank you

         George

Hi George,
There are many different sub-models of the HP Pavilion 17 Notebook:


I don't know if they all have the same method for changing the boot order, but I simply picked the first one and downloaded its User Guide and Maintenance and Service Guide.

On page 51 of the User Guide and page 85 of the Maintenance and Service Guide, they have the same instructions for changing the boot order (copied here under "Fair Use"):

To change the boot order:


IMPORTANT: For a tablet with a detachable keyboard, connect the tablet to the keyboard base before beginning these steps.

1. Insert the HP Recovery media.

2. Access the system Startup menu.

For computers or tablets with keyboards attached:

• Turn on or restart the computer or tablet, quickly press esc, and then press f9 for boot options.

For tablets without keyboards:

• Turn on or restart the tablet, and then quickly hold down the volume up button; then select f9.

— or —

Turn on or restart the tablet, and then quickly hold down the volume down button; then select f9.

3. Select the optical drive or USB flash drive from which you want to boot.

4. Follow the on-screen instructions.

I don't know if that will help on your particular HP Pavilion 17 Notebook, but I hope so. Regards, Joe

Hi John,

          I do not see an option for Secure Boot.  In fact, I do not see any areas within the BIOS which are customizable.  You are probably right here, but, I am not sure how to locate Secure Boot.  Also, there is not an option for Boot Order either.

          George

I wonder if they are admin settings. Maybe the user secured these

During the boot up try escape, f11, f12 to invoke the boot manager


Usually, the option is available, in your case, it might be a uefi so it differs somewhat.

Hello Everyone,

            At this point, I believe the HP Media Creation tool might be the only option of resolving this issue.  I still am not sure how it will be able to boot from it on a USB flash drive when I can not customize the boot order sequence within the BIOS.  Hopefully, the HP laptop can autodetect it without any BIOS intervention.   Given that this option might be the key here of putting this issue to rest, could you provide a direct download link for it, Joe?   I will go out and buy a new 32GB USB flash drive to put it on.

             Thank you very much :-)

             George

The Media Creation tool is probably the best thing

Hi George,

Here's the link for the overall page:
https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/bph07143

Expand the Create your own recovery media section and you'll see that there are different links for W7, W8, and W10. Since you need W8, use this one:
https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c03481733

Regards, Joe

Thank you very much, Joe.   I believe I left this out so I want to mention it now.  While within the BIOS, I see the title of the page being HP PC Hardware Diagnostics UEFI version 5.9.0.0.  Perhaps this information will prove helpful as well.  In the meantime, I will go ahead and get a new 32 GB flash drive to create the HP recovery media.

George

Ah, that does make a difference. If it is a UEFI system, you should try the methods outlined in this article:
https://www.howtogeek.com/126016/three-ways-to-access-the-windows-8-boot-options-menu/

For example, on my HP Stream that has W8.1, holding down the Shift key while clicking the Restart power option gets me to the Choose an option screen. Your Pavilion may work the same way.

Btw, if you want to learn more about BIOS vs. UEFI, this is a good article:
https://www.howtogeek.com/56958/htg-explains-how-uefi-will-replace-the-bios/

Regards, Joe

P.S. I'm going to be AFK for a couple of hours. I'll check back into this thread as soon as I return to see how you're doing.

George, you can post a couple of pictures of your BIOS, so we can see what's there; and give specific  help

Great news everyone !!!!!  I have finally resolved this problem.  Seeing that I am at work, I am unable to go into details with respect to the steps used in resolving this concern.  However, I will provide an in-depth feedback tonight.  In order to finalize everything, I would like to request that everyone check out my new open post at https://www.experts-exchange.com/questions/29128130/how-can-I-by-pass-the-password-requirement-at-startup-and-go-straight-into-the-Windows-8-environment.html#questionAdd  .  My friend that I am helping is elderly and has difficulty remembering usernames and passwords.  That said, any suggestions given to my new open post will be deeply appreciated.

Thank you so very much once again.  I look forward to providing in-depth comments and proper closure to this post tonight.  In the meantime, I look forward to reviewing everyone's suggestions and tip as it relates to my new open post.

George

Great news, indeed! As always, looking forward to your in-depth closing comments. Regards, Joe

Thanks George and I was happy to help

Hello and Good Afternoon Everyone,

         Thank you very much for your shared feedback, resourceful links, and suggestions.  Based upon the high caliber of content, I can easily tell that everyone has put a lot of effort and research into this question.  For that, I am very grateful and appreciative.  

           Moving to the actual resolution of the difficult task of setting the Boot Order or Sequence within the BIOS, I was able to achieve this through the following steps.  As noted by John, the first step of the process involves disabling secure boot which I was able to accomplish at the conclusion of viewing this YouTube video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qi4rOfpRugk.  I was able to enter this area by repeated pressing of the Esc key.  As it seems to me from this experience, any editing or reconfiguration of the BIOS is largely restricted when the secure boot option is enabled or turned on within the UEFI BIOS.  Once the secure boot option was finally disabled, I restarted the HP Pavilion notebook and repeated the pressing of F2 to enter the BIOS settings.  From there, I was able to select the USB device as my first boot device.  Now, it is noteworthy to mention here that the steps outlined might be different for each model of the HP Pavilion which makes this question rather difficult to answer with a high degree of accuracy.
         
          Once I was in the main Windows 8 menu of options which displayed at the boot from USB, I went to Troubleshooting and selected an option for a clean and full reset of the system.  The full reset did take several hours to complete so I basically let it run the entire night and finalized it by configuring personal settings the following day.

          In closing, thanks so much once again everyone for your help.  I am sure I would not have figured this entirely out without everyone's help.  

          Thank you

         George

You're welcome, George, and thanks to you for the comprehensive closing comment...extremely helpful! Regards, Joe