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My son's Acer E5-551-T1PJ Windows 10 laptop crashed while playing Steam yesterday. Screen went black while gaming, rebooted, then immediately "No Bootable Device".

crash error

There's nothing important on it so now I just need to Reset Windows 10.

What I've tried...

  • Tried resetting from boot screen repeatedly (both options). Each time got to 80% then failed and reverted.

    Reset Running Reset Failed

  • Login screen tells me there's no saved restore points (even though there should be.)

  • If/when it gets as far as letting me login, Explorer.exe crashes immediately:

    Explorer Crash

  • There's no taskbar or start menu but hitting CTRLALTDEL and Task Manager slowly loads, and from there I can manage to get an elevated command prompt.

  • Task Manager says Disk Usage is at 100%, but only 0.3 MB/s is listed:
    Task Manager and EXPLORER.EXE error
    Task Manager (sorted by Disk Usage) Task Manager (sorted by Memory Usage)
    (Click to Englarge)

Memory Tests

I was finally able to run a Windows memory test (MdSched.exe at the command prompt) and a Linux memory test (from the GRUB screen)...

  • No memory problems found.

CHKDSK /F

  • Result: Failed to transfer logged messages to the event log with status 50
    CHKDSK C: /F
    (Click to Englarge)

Apparently this error means:

...there are corruptions or bad sectors in Windows partition Run chkdsk c: /r /f /v to repair system partition.

(I began a CHKDSK /R before I found that, but looking at the docs I'm not convinced the extra switches will make a difference.)

CHKDSK /R

CHKDSK C: /R Bad Clusters Repaired (Click to Englarge)
CHKDSK C: /R

After about 8 hours it finished, and had found & repaired a few dozen bad clusters. I ran it again to confirm there was no problem.

...but it still won't reset. It gets partway done and then "has a problem" and reverts...

Windows Reset keeps failing

sfc /scannow

Finished Verification 100%, and then:

Windows Resource Protection could not perform the requested operation

CHKDSK /R /F /X again

Attempt #3 powered itself off halfway through.
Attempt #4 is about 4 hours in:

chkdsk4

SFC /scannow

Verification 100% complete.
Windows Resource Protection could not perform the requested operation.

sfc

  • Any guesses at the diagnosis? Memory vs Disk?

  • Is there anything else I can try using only the command prompt, recovery menu, or Linux?

  • Will creating a recovery drive in a USB thumb drive have any more chance of working than already the failed Reset attempts?

...any other suggestions to save this poor single dad a few hundred bucks at the repair shop?!

ashleedawg
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    Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been moved to chat. – Mokubai Mar 18 '18 at 18:40
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    Seems like a hard drive issue potentially like the drive is failing or something per no bootable device then the check disk errors and such. If you can reinstall Windows on another drive, that may not be a bad idea but if you're able to get an image of the existing drive and push it to another drive and then boot, maybe you can get some success but something to try if you have another drive to test. From an elevated command prompt if you can get into the Windows OS at times though, run SFC /SCANNOW but seems sporadic drive issue like hardware failure, etc. potentially. – Vomit IT - Chunky Mess Style Mar 21 '18 at 04:01
  • @pimp thanks for the info but you know file recovery isn't important right? Or do you mean just for the sake of getting it working again? No hopes of using Windows Reset? Also I do have an external USB drive... (i assume that works?) I will try SFC as soon as the current operation is done -- i figured i'm run CHKDSK again... and it's finding more bad clusters :( – ashleedawg Mar 21 '18 at 04:11
  • Look over my post here and the section labeled Reset Windows 10 in particular: https://superuser.com/questions/1283165/uwp-icons-are-missing/1285465#1285465. Consider using chkdsk /f /r /x as well when you do that again. Basically though, if the hardware is failing and it being readable is hit or miss, sporadic or whatever, then maybe you get lucky when you image it and no need to recover data regardless. I assume if recovery is no concern, then wipe and reinstall fresh Windows OS instead of repair functions. If hardware is failing, then replace the part and move on otherwise. – Vomit IT - Chunky Mess Style Mar 21 '18 at 04:46
  • @pimp - I finally was able to run sfc /scannow - It finished verification 100%, and then:Windows Resource Protection could not perform the requested operation. Now, running CHKDSK again as suggested... – ashleedawg Mar 21 '18 at 10:32
  • If chkdsk is able to finish and resolve all issues, run the sfc again and be sure it's with elevated admin permissions. I assume the "reset" you completed is just the same type as per that answer link I provided but if not, consider looking that over and giving that a try. Having I/O errors, no bootable device, and oddball chkdsk issues though, to me that screams the HD is dying, almost dead, and/or about to die. If the OS has a hard time reading from it sporadically, then its likely related and it's just hanging by a thread. – Vomit IT - Chunky Mess Style Mar 21 '18 at 12:09
  • @pimp - Thanks very much. I've have chkdsk /r /f/ /v running for the 4th time in a row. 1st time, it said it successfully repaired all bad sectors, 2nd time it said there were more bad sectors (clusters?), 3rd time powered off partway through, and the 4th, running now is recovering orphans and removing corrupt indexes (see new photo at bottom of my question.). I'll try sfc afterwards. It's not very old and didn't have any physical damage, but I guess that has no bearing on whether the HD is dead. – ashleedawg Mar 21 '18 at 16:14
  • I'd like to try the other suggestion made to me, to re-seat the RAM & hard drive cables (since I know first hand from an old phone-support job, the amazing number of issues it can fix) .. but I looked it up and I'm not very confident on the hardware end of laptops and I;m worried I won't be able to get it back together! On the other hand, it's just out of warranty, so it's not going to make things worse if the HD is dead... – ashleedawg Mar 21 '18 at 16:14
  • ...As for the reset, yeah that's similar to what I tried (repeatedly), except I went through the boot/recovery screen to get there. It looks all good at first and then eventually stops. Are you suggesting the registry fix too? The key doensn't exist but I could add it. – ashleedawg Mar 21 '18 at 16:20
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    No just the reset but perhaps just the HD is dying though and nothing else with the laptop so if you can unscrew just that and slide it out of the laptop, take it to Walmart, BestBuy, or some electronic type store in your area, you may find a HD that'll suffice which is cost effective to replace. With all those I/O type issues, the file system errors, and all other things you've disclosed, it seems perhaps at least the hard drive is dying so to replace that, you wouldn't need to take entire laptop enclosure apart to get it out and replace. Just keep working it!! – Vomit IT - Chunky Mess Style Mar 21 '18 at 16:22
  • *sigh* new issue, I removed/reconnected the memory & HD as suggested. Unfortunately (typical of my luck with hardware), it's *"getting it back together"* that is the problem..... The ribbon cable for the keyboard is so damn short that I don't know any anyone is supposed to be able to reconnect it to the tiny connector while only lifting holding the keyboard up an inch. How much more would it have cost Acer to add an extra inch of cable?? These things are obviously put together with really small hands (child workers) or not people at all. Sorry for the rant but any suggestions? – ashleedawg Mar 25 '18 at 04:36
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    I'm surprised you'd need to take apart the keyboard or its ribbon to replace the hard drive.... I suggest YouTube.com search for "<PC Model> Disassembly" and then watch thru some videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVhwmScVfLo&vl=en and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ct99AKtSm8g I assume this won't help much but just in case: https://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Acer-Aspire-V5-551-64454G50Makk-Notebook.91077.0.html – Vomit IT - Chunky Mess Style Mar 27 '18 at 02:30
  • Thanks for the links. To clarify, I didn't remove the keyboard from the part it's mounted to, but it is reconnecting the keyboard cable that is the current issue, like he does here. Unfortunately I can't see what he's doing but it's funny (and discouraging) that he calls this "the complicated part" — after he just took apart the entire laptop. I didn't actually replace the HD; this was to re-seat the connections as recommended: RAM & HD. – ashleedawg Mar 27 '18 at 05:51
  • @PimpJuiceIT - that video did evntually help me get the bugger back together - Thanks! (That was a pain in the ass!) Now for another half-day chkdsk.... – ashleedawg Mar 29 '18 at 00:29
  • @ashleedawg I look forward to hearing your final solution but consider a HDD replacement if you continue to have disk type issues and corrupt file system objects and such. I'll be happy to clean up all the comments and consolidate it down to an answer with everything if you think that'd be appropriate—just let me know; otherwise, please keep me informed on your status and final solution. – Vomit IT - Chunky Mess Style Mar 29 '18 at 00:51

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UPDATE (Fixed)

As there are no answers for me to accept I figure I'll add my solution here.

After running CHKDSK /R /F /X repeatedly (felt like a million times, at 4 to 6 hours each time) there were eventually no more bad sectors found.

I formatted the drive with the startup options: img

...then (on another machine) downloaded the Windows Installation Media and saved it to a thumb drive.

I changed the boot order to boot from USB, where it installed Windows, and we haven't had a problem since.

ashleedawg
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