My Acer Swift 3 (SF314-43) became BitLocker-locked, and I no longer have the recovery key or access to the associated Microsoft account, so I wiped the SSD to perform a clean installation. Since then, Windows 10, Windows 11, and Ubuntu have all failed in a similar way. File copying completes normally, but the laptop crashes or restarts when Windows begins driver initialization or services, or shortly after selecting "Try Ubuntu."
The SSD passes sustained write tests and reports as healthy, and a full Memtest86+ run found no memory errors. The laptop can also sit in the BIOS or command line for more than 20 minutes without overheating or crashing, so the problem does not appear to be limited to Windows or caused by normal thermal load.
One suspicious issue is the battery: it remains around 4% and never increases, even after more than an hour connected to the charger, although the charging indicator stays lit. Could a failed battery or charging circuit be unable to handle the power surge when an operating system starts? Since the battery is internal, would it be worth disconnecting it and attempting an installation using only the charger, or is this more likely to require a motherboard-level repair or replacement?
2 Answers
A battery stuck at 4% is definitely worth investigating, but it does not prove that the battery is causing the installation failure. The charging circuit, motherboard power regulation, or another hardware component could also be involved. If disconnecting the battery does not change anything, professional board-level diagnosis may be more practical than immediately buying a replacement laptop.
If you can safely access the internals, disconnect the internal battery and try booting and installing with the AC adapter connected. That would help distinguish a failed battery from a broader power-management or motherboard problem. If the machine still crashes at the same point with the battery disconnected, replacing the battery alone probably will not solve it.
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