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quentin2121 Posted messages 9063 Registration date Status Membre Last intervention -
Hello,
after thoroughly searching the forum and trying most of the suggested solutions for my case, I'm still stuck.
Yesterday my computer completely froze, which has never happened before. It was slowing down more and more as I opened many tabs in Firefox. When this happens, sometimes I kill the Firefox process and everything returns to normal. Yesterday I didn't have time; it slowed down, then froze. So I had to force the PC to shut down.
I have an ACER Swift 7 laptop. It never restarted. When I try to start it, it displays the ACER logo on the screen and attempts to boot from its defined list in the BIOS, and since it finds nothing, it ends up showing "No bootable device."
I booted from a Windows USB stick that I created with another PC, which allowed me to see that my hard drive seemed dead. That's everything I've tried and what happened. If anyone understands anything, I’m all ears; the idea is to recover the last files from the week that weren't backed up externally.
1) I drained the battery, unplugged it to perform a hard reset -> no result
2) I searched the BIOS settings (which I could only display once), nothing unusual, except the system date (2016) which I corrected
3) Booting from USB created with Windows' "Recovery Drive." No diagnostic tool works.
4) Opening a MS-DOS console with the USB, I listed the HDD (which is called x: and not f:), there's almost nothing on it. Windows/System32 remains, but the "Users" directory contains only an empty "Public" directory. This makes me think that if the HDD isn't dead, there's nothing left on it. I could format it, but I want to recover my files first. Since they don’t appear anywhere, I'm starting to get anxious.
5) The chkdsk command gives nothing (Disk is write-protected). I modified the registry by creating the StorageDevicePolicies key -> WriteProtect and setting it to 0. It's like pissing in the wind...
6) I tried diskpart, and it basically tells me that my HDD is invisible. The diskpart volume command returns the USB stick and that's it. Everything else is empty (partitions, disk)
7) So I am now all ears as I have nothing left in my arsenal. There's no point thinking about software tools since I can at best boot from a USB stick and access MS-DOS commands
8) Computer repair (there's a home repair service in the big city nearby, but I'm not sure they can do better, even though in these conditions we're ready to try anything ;-)
Thank you for your feedback.
12 réponses
Hello, recovering data from a dead SSD can be difficult, and a simple computer repair technician probably won't be able to do much better; you need a data recovery expert, but this can be quite costly.
You can set your hard drive as a slave on another computer and use data recovery software to try to recover your files. There are several free and paid software options available on the market, such as EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard, Recuva, or Disk Drill.
It's because it's a UEFI system
In the BIOS, in the boot section, choose Legacy, restart, and go back into the BIOS, set your USB storage to the top, and restart; this time it will find the system.
I find this thing very poorly done
Be careful, it's an Acer, so there’s a hidden partition that contains an image of the system and another of the pre-installed software. Normally, this is meant for Acer's recovery system which you access at boot by pressing shift-F10 if I remember correctly (I could look it up to be sure if you need it), but that, on the other hand, requires UEFI
In fact, Acer has everything to make it super easy, but for some reason I don't know, it's still a headache :D
Hi
I dug through the BIOS settings (which I could only display once), nothing strange, apart from the system date (2016) which I corrected
BIOS backup battery is dead... needs replacing.
Then, discharging the battery on a laptop is a very bad idea; it can damage it permanently.
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Another thing: Yan, I agree with the others, completely discharging the battery isn't great.
And we can find a way to set the disk to slave mode with gadgets for 10 or 20 € on a USB port; the files are far from being permanently lost.
Personally, I love a little freeware called Photorec that even retrieves deleted files, as long as there hasn't been any writing over them.
On the other hand, I've just realized: an Acer Swift 7? Am I wrong or is that a recent and pretty powerful machine?
I'm surprised it's already acting up. Moreover, I’m almost certain it has the Acer recovery feature that allows you to reinstall the system while preserving data, through access to recovery mode at boot time.
It's in the manual.
Swift 7 yes, but from 2016, at the time when they released it at half price because no one wanted it. Honestly great, I've never had any issues, except today, and a big one.
However, I'm open to the idea of connecting the hard drive to another PC, but how? I didn't look closely when I removed the battery early this morning, but from what I've read, all the components are soldered on the Swifts, so I won't be able to take out the hard drive. So how can I connect it to another PC?
Oh, I was surprised by this petition at the moment ;-)
Anyway, I tried: legacy and then USB first, it didn't seem to yield much at first glance but there is still some change. Now, instead of a "No bootable device" bitmap, I have a white line on a black background saying "No bootable device -- insert boot disk and press any key". And when I restart from the USB key, a Windows logo appears. Then I get the repair menu again. The first recovery tool no longer crashes but tells me that my PC needs to be repaired (yes, I knew :-) with an error code 0xc0000098. It then asks me to use a recovery tool. I will try to download one onto my USB key.
To add fuel to my inner fire, it takes ages with each attempt because it always tries to mount all the partitions on its list and there must be significant time lapses with each attempt.
Thanks anyway, it's not over yet but things have changed, the patient might not be completely dead!
Hello,
I experienced the same thing on an ASUS laptop. For me, it's not related to a brand but to the "fragility" of SSDs.
After several hours of unsuccessful attempts (various repair options), I entrusted the machine to a LDLC center, where one of the technicians (Linux expert) managed, with Linux tools, to recover the vast majority of files onto another medium. This took four continuous days of slow transfer.
This was last summer and I am still in the process of organizing backups of my disk and NAS content.
Let's just say I don't believe in one-click solutions or magic tricks if it's indeed an SSD failure, which I have on a new PC but I am performing regular backups on a USB3 hard drive.
Hello apapap,
Happy to exchange with you for the first time. Generally, I struggle to find solutions, but hard drive failures (mechanical or SSD) are difficult to deal with (unless it’s data recovery via well-known software).
My SSD lasted exactly three years. I had about 700 MB of system and data. I haven't calculated the number of read/writes, which could have approached the maximum recognized for SSDs.
In any case, I think it's wise to reserve it for the system, software (which can be reinstalled), and to store data on an internal HDD, not forgetting to back up on an external medium (USB drive or NAS).
Just yesterday, I saw a request from a student stating that she knew nothing about computers and who was advised to recover her lost files using a Live DVD Linux.
I’ve done that several times, but without starting a pointless debate about the superiority of Linux (which I use occasionally), it would be better to ask her to change her focus in her studies. Regarding university courses, theses, or literary projects, the recommendation for systematic backup wasn't even mentioned in the responses.
While this may prove impractical for unrecoverable data, it’s a discipline we adopt after experiencing inevitable losses on a computer system, no matter how efficient it may be.
Back to the topic, yan can persist since he has access to system files and thus the SSD is functioning, only the user partition seems inaccessible, but this is not DOS (which disappeared with the first Windows XP if I'm not mistaken) but a command-line console (CLI), part of Windows.
This doesn’t change the problem, but the solutions should be sought in accessing or displaying this users directory and its subdirectories.
That being said, everyone has their limits and for me, it’s difficult to fix this type of malfunction without having the machine on hand.
Have a nice weekend
Yes, the info is a lot of time spent on diagnostics (that was my old job and I quit over 15 years ago, I felt like I was just watching time pass in debugging), but at least I was on Linux, it was simpler. Today, for the home PCs, I made 3 attempts, no one in the family supports Linux ;-(
For this case, I tried to reinstall Windows, but it doesn't work because the partition detection tool only detects a disk size of 20 MB (which is too small). However, in DOS command (sorry, I'm stuck on that term), I have a minimum of 500 MB detected as free. I'm hesitant to use tools like LAzeSoftRecovery (bootable USB supposed to repair the MBR/UEFI).
Hello Yan,
I didn't want to be dogmatic or self-righteous regarding the term DOS. It was just for the benefit of "beginners" for pedagogical purposes.
However, for a former professional, I think that the various participants could suggest conclusive tests.
As for the 20 MB detected, indeed one or more partitions are missing. However, for the 205 or 40 km, it’s probably worth it if it allows for recovering valuable data.
Have a nice weekend
I've found it. If your recovery partition is not damaged, then upon rebooting into the BIOS, load LEGACY and switch back to UEFI, restart, go back into the BIOS, in the main tab ensure that D2D recovery is "Enabled", and then restart. Immediately upon reboot, press Alt and then press F10 frantically :D (well, on mine at first the function keys were configured so that the function was accessible by pressing fn at the same time with direct access to the multimedia keys, in the BIOS I changed it so that multimedia requires fn and functions are direct access... I don't know if I’m being very clear...).
Anyway, Alt-F10 upon reboot should give you access to a recovery menu that offers several options, including a decent "keep my files" choice.
After that, I know that my old Aspire which supposedly has this feature doesn’t seem to want to cooperate, so does it work every time? It's a mystery, but at least it avoids having to boot from an external drive.
Then, at worst, assuming it's an HDD not an SSD, unless Acer has changed their repairability policy, you should be able to remove it without issue and put it into a small device like this:
https://www.amazon.fr/dp/B0BQ2YVG1L
If it's an SSD then I'm at a loss, but I don't think it's soldered; I've seen that RAM might be soldered but I have never seen that mention for storage.
The device is probably not dead! My old Aspire is ten years old and is more practical and almost faster than an Acer Swift Edge (hampered by an abominable W11, to be fair), it just has the display going haywire after a few hours of use. But other than that, it's a true marathoner.
I'm really sorry for you; yes, you're going to spend some time on this and your weekend is surely doomed :D
https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=92&v=RUxpFd_-K3U&feature=youtu.be
I don't know if it's exactly the same model as yours. In any case, this SSD is really small.
Indeed, some links mention that the RAM AND storage are soldered. That sucks :(
After disassembly, I couldn't find a CR2032 battery or anything else for the BIOS; I imagine it might be well hidden (usually it's under the battery but there’s nothing there), but I don’t want to disassemble everything without knowing. As for the HDD, it's the one here, so it's an SSD. The good news is that it's not soldered, everything can be taken apart. I will then attempt to switch to UEFI again first, and then I only see the option of disassembling the HDD, connecting it to another PC, and a good prayer that the data is recoverable.
Thank you for all your leads.
Hello,
Be careful that BitLocker is not enabled on the SSD! I had this issue and struggled to reinstall Windows on the SSD corrupted by Windows...
Hello
I’d like to clarify the reliability of SSDs. For many years, mechanical drives have been replaced in the industry by SSDs, with a failure rate incomparable to the previous situation. I have personally experienced this in machine parks with several hundred units, so as far as I’m concerned, the reliability of SSDs is indisputable and is far superior to that of traditional HDDs.
This is supported by a number of studies that can be consulted online:
It should be noted that mechanical drives will eventually disappear. Currently, SSD manufacturers are agreeing not to flood the market with low-priced SSDs (memory chip prices are currently at their lowest) to maintain the industry for a few more years:
https://www.tomsguide.fr/les-disques-durs-seraient-voues-a-disparaitre-en-2023/
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Hello, I think there is a market for large capacity HDDs, like 20 TB and more. Unfortunately, the prices are really too high, making them almost inaccessible for the average person.
SSDs are indeed reliable for intensive use over a few years, until their write limit is reached (which can happen very quickly). They are better suited for this kind of overuse than HDDs, which have mechanical components in motion.
On my old Toshiba (my first PC), I've been using a Samsung HDD for 15 years and it shows no signs of failure or fatigue. For non-professional use (and operations in servers), I think HDDs have a future."
When I talk about an industrial park, I'm referring to machines that run 24/7, 365 days a year, with some SSDs in use for over 10 years, which write and read continuously, and for commercial purposes, not specific versions, Corsair Sandforce just to name a few. Of course, we've had failures, but most of the time it was after a few weeks. Otherwise, regardless of the brand, we often fry the machine before the SSD fails...
When I talk about writing limit, I mean an estimate that manufacturers provide to gauge the lifespan of their SSDs in TBW (TBW for TeraBytes Writing), and that's how it's calculated, not in terms of years. This limit can be reached in 1 year or even 10 years (or more).
What is phenomenal, I agree, is that during tests conducted by the German magazine "IT and Computer" in 2016, the total amount of data written to the SSDs exceeded the maximum capacity claimed by the manufacturers, reaching 2.5 times the promised figure! And for Samsung, it was 60 times! (considering that Samsung had provided an estimate twice as high as other manufacturers, we arrive at 120 times). SSDs of 128 GB, 256 GB, and 512 GB are generally extremely reliable! Beyond 1 TB, it really depends on the quality of the components.
Very high-capacity HDDs (20 TB and more) have their uses in certain sectors that require huge storage capacity and less processing intensity.
I don't think they're going to disappear anytime soon, and I'm not saying that just to contradict you. You can find plenty of them on Amazon, even 500 GB for barely €20, and if you look at the customer satisfaction reviews, they're selling like hotcakes. HDDs are components that are suitable for a lot of people who don't necessarily need the crazy performance of SSDs.
In my opinion, one solution to see HDDs disappear is that new motherboards stop offering SATA slots! Just like in recent laptops where there are none, nor even optical drives (which is gradually putting an end to CDs and DVDs in our daily lives).
As long as there are SATA slots, there will be demand for HDDs and thus offers.
Hello Flo,
I gladly accept your testimony and take note of these documents. Nevertheless, in the face of such situations, we find it difficult to propose concrete solutions to Yan, knowing that it may not be a breakdown issue as reported and could relate to a mechanical disk.
But what now?
Hi,
Did Yann put his SSD in an external enclosure? To see if he can recover his data with the software "testdisk", or others? Check under a Linux session?