I'm having a frustrating issue with my Acer Predator Helios laptop running Windows 11. It keeps acting up, so I decided to reset it using the 'Reset this PC' option in the system settings, but I get an error saying 'There was a problem resetting your PC'. After that, I tried accessing recovery options by holding 'Shift' while restarting and pressing F2, but it just shows a blue screen with 'winload.efi missing' and the error code 0x000225. Now, I've downloaded the Windows Media Creation Tool and put it on a 32GB USB drive. I changed the boot priority to boot from the USB and got into the Windows installation mode. However, when I open the command prompt, it only shows the USB drive and doesn't recognize my laptop's C and D drives. I'm at a loss for what to do next!
4 Answers
If you can get access to Windows somehow – even in Safe Mode – check for any crash dump files in C:WindowsMinidump. If you find any, compress the folder and upload it somewhere we can access. If not, you could try configuring Windows to create small memory dumps, which can help us troubleshoot if you encounter BSODs.
Another option is to boot from a Linux Mint live USB. It can help you detect if your hard drive or SSD is being recognized properly. Just be careful during the process and don’t click on 'Install Linux'. You can run some diagnostic tools to check the health of your drive. If it passes, you can go back and try reinstalling Windows again!
You got it! Here's a quick guide to load your SSD drivers during Windows setup: 1. On a different computer, download the relevant storage driver from Acer's support site. 2. Put the extracted files on a second USB drive. 3. Boot from your Windows installer USB. 4. When you get to the disk selection screen, click 'Load driver'. 5. Plug in the second USB drive, browse to the driver folder, and select it. This should let you see your internal SSD and proceed with the setup!
It sounds like your laptop's storage drivers need to be loaded in order for the installer to see your internal storage. Go to your laptop manufacturer's website and find the right drivers for your model. You'll need to extract these drivers onto another USB stick so you can load them during the installation process.
Thanks, that makes sense! I'll try this and see if it works.