@EXO56 This appears to be a good solution for my OP item 2 issue... Please explain how and / or provide links so that I can create a Windows PE with MultiRes and PECmd and AOMEI Partition Manager and Backerupper included per your Spoiler images...
↑ lol that it exactly what happened, long story short after the 2nd reboot after updates the lappy never made it to desktop again... after using all the official HP techniques to reset after a gang of green, white, rainbow, colored screens of not starting properly finally had to restore from the cloud as a last resort. Using the Dual-Mode DisplayPort connector or the HDMI port gets the job done using 24" or 27" monitors.