I accidentally shut down my laptop while it was in the middle of resetting, specifically during the installation stage of Windows 11. Now, whenever I turn it on, I'm getting a message that says, "the computer restarted unexpectedly or encountered an unexpected error. Windows installation cannot proceed." I tried following some steps online to fix it, including advice from my IT guy, and they suggested creating a bootable USB drive for a fresh Windows installation. However, when I started the installation process, I couldn't see my SSD listed at all; the only thing that showed up was the USB drive I'm using to install Windows. Am I completely out of luck here, or is there something I can do? I really want to avoid spending money if it was just a silly mistake.
2 Answers
The first thing I would recommend is to check the BIOS and make sure your SSD is being recognized there. If it’s not visible, the next step would be to open up your laptop case and check the connections of the SSD. Sometimes, it just needs a little push to get it seated correctly. If it still doesn't show up, you could try using a disk utility like GParted to potentially fix it before attempting the installation again. If all else fails, it might indicate your SSD is shot, unfortunately.
Don't panic just yet! It sounds like your SSD might just not be detected by the BIOS instead of being fully broken. First, try to see if the SSD shows up in the BIOS settings when you boot up your laptop. Sometimes it's just a partition issue rather than the SSD failing altogether.
Where exactly should I look in the BIOS?
Some installations might not recognize the SSD when booting from a USB. Have you tried using a DVD instead?
Thanks for the tips! I'll definitely check the connections and try out GParted.