Argh! That’s on me, they used the same model number for pal and ntsc versions. I found another manual that indeed doesn’t have that option.

I had a look at the manual for the recorder and it seems like NTSC isn’t actually supported, or at least not properly.

NTSC isn’t listed as an option under “colour system”(under setup > vcr function setting). Only PAL, MESECAM and B/W(black and white). The manual also mentions some limitations about NTSC DVD recording.

You may be able to connect to the wifi on your phone and usb tether to the computer as a temporary measure.

Does the beep come through the headphones/media speakers or is it actually an internal speaker? If it’s an actual internal speaker beep like the “post ok” beep at power on the solution is usually to just disconnect the speaker.

The way uefi booting works you don’t select a disk to boot from, rather you select a boot loader. You should be looking for “windows boot manager”

Physical destruction is good option. I doubt 10yo HDDs are a huge loss.

HP tends to call CSM(compatibility support module) “legacy boot” or “legacy boot mode”. Might be worth having another look through to see if “boot mode” is an option.