ACER ASPIRE NOTEBOOK R3-131T KINGSTON 512GB KC600 2.5inch SSD UPGRADE
I bought KINGSTON 512GB KC600 2.5inch SSD to upgrade a ACER ASPIRE NOTEBOOK R3-131T.
I used the free Acronis True Image HD software to clone the original drive onto the new SSD and fitted it into the laptop.
The Laptop is now unbootable.
I have hit the F2 key when it starts - the clock is right so I think it isn't completely dead - I think the order of booting is right.
I have loaded Windows 10 onto a USB drive but that can't get it to boot. The USB windows software can't seem to repair it either.
Playing around with it I have got the following message
"Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller Series v2.68 (06/04/14)
PXE-M0F: EXITING PXE ROM.
No Bootable device -- insert boot disk and press any key"
What else can I do to get it going?
Peter,
Your comment:
Playing around with it I have got the following message
"Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller Series v2.68 (06/04/14)
PXE-M0F: EXITING PXE ROM.
No Bootable device -- insert boot disk and press any key"
suggests that the boot order is not correct in your system bios. the PXE ROM is a method of booting the machine from a network connection commonly used by OEM's to install Windows on a mass basis to multiples of machines at one time. These is likely a setting in the bios that controls the PXE. Locate that and disable it and I think your boot issues will be no more as long as the boot device order is correct as you say.
Thanks for the responses - I have put the original HD back - but this now has the same problem.
I have Windows 10 creation tool on a USB which I can get to work when I attach it to the laptop - but this is asking me for drivers to help it install - which I can't find.
I don't mind wiping everything off the HD if that is the solution - would DBAN help? I thought of wiping the SSD in the laptop might have been a solution and reinstalling Windows 10 from the USB - but I had the same problem - it was looking for drivers which I couldn't find. Don't even know the name of.
I still have the cloned SSD which I did with the Acronis software.
Any ideas?
Peter, have you looked at the contents of either your original HDD or the cloned SSD drive by connecting this to another PC via a dock or USB adapter?
As said previously, cloning should not have altered the original HDD drive contents unless any further actions have done so.
Do you have any disk backup created before the clone attempt?
For device drivers, you should be able to go to the Acer support website and download these for your Aspire R3-131T notebook. You can also download the User Manual from the same site. The user manual has information about the Acer recovery options, if needed.
There should be no need to use a tool such as DBAN - that is really intended for situations where you are disposing of a disk drive with sensitive data you don't want recovered.
Pete,
Just as info, PXE boot if enables will delay your boot process by up as much as 5+ minutes. Since you made reference to seeing that you really should have a look in the bios for PXE or Network Boot and make sure it is disabled.
This is a picture of the SSD after it was cloned from the ACER Laptop - how it looks now
I can hear the old HD going around in the laptop when when I try boot from the USB Windows 10 files - it always fails
Please remove the old HD from your PC and then start the PC with only the new SSD installed. This will allow the new SSD to assume the roll of the primary disk and the machine behavior should improve.
Peter, it would be more helpful to see the partition layout of both drives, and see if these look to be correct? My own Windows SSD looks as below when viewed in a partition manager tool.
Peter, the msinfo32 detail show that there are 3 partitions on the cloned SSD drive, 100MB, 465GB & 11GB but it doesn't tell us what filesystem and purpose each partition has:
Perhaps an alternative method to see the detailed information for the SSD is to use an Administrator level Command prompt and use diskpart commands, and in particular whether the 100MB partition is Legacy or EFI ?
To do this, use the following commands:
diskpart
list disk
select disk x (where x is the letter for the cloned SSD drive)
list volume
select volume y (where y is the letter for the 100MB partition / volume)
assign letter=P (or any unused letter)
In another command window, use the Windows command: dir P: (or the letter assigned) to see the contents of the 100MB volume.
Finally, back in the first command window:
remove letter=P
exit
Example from my own PC:
PS D:\powershell> diskpart Microsoft DiskPart version 10.0.19041.610 Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation. On computer: STEVE-9OP3KKF0 DISKPART> select disk 0 Disk 0 is now the selected disk. DISKPART> list volume Volume ### Ltr Label Fs Type Size Status Info ---------- --- ----------- ----- ---------- ------- --------- -------- Volume 0 C Windows NTFS Partition 200 GB Healthy Boot Volume 1 G SSD-Data NTFS Partition 210 GB Healthy Volume 2 H SPARE FAT32 Partition 37 MB Healthy Volume 3 SYSTEM FAT32 Partition 260 MB Healthy System Volume 4 Windows RE NTFS Partition 979 MB Healthy Hidden DISKPART> select volume 3 Volume 3 is the selected volume. DISKPART> assign letter=P DiskPart successfully assigned the drive letter or mount point. <<< See next panel for second command panel >>> DISKPART> remove letter=P DiskPart successfully removed the drive letter or mount point. DISKPART> exit Leaving DiskPart... PS D:\powershell> exit
PS D:\powershell> dir P:
Directory: P:\
Mode LastWriteTime Length Name
---- ------------- ------ ----
da---- 15/12/2020 21:48 EFI
PS D:\powershell> exitThe above shows that my 260MB FAT32 System partition is for an EFI boot system.
This is what I got - I think we should be looking at volume 11
I attached a Word document - which may give you a better view
Peter, thanks for the word document view of the images. You assigned drive letter P to your volume 11 but then did a dir of drive letter K: not of P:
I sent you K: as P: shows nothing (see page 2 of the Word document)- is it because volume 11 is hidden, so we can't get at the detail you want?
If you want to view the contents of an ESP partition you will need to use Explorer to open a full disk backup to do so.
Hi Enchantech - What we trying to look at is the clone of the HD on a SSD - what you are suggesting looks like taking another copy of the SSD?
Peter, at this point I would suggest two possible options to go forward:
- Remove the cloned SSD drive if installed, reinstate the original HDD drive, then try to boot normally into Windows 10. Try up to 3 times if you see an initial boot failure and if you are brought to the Windows Recovery Environment, try doing a Start-up Repair if needed.
- Remove the original HDD drive and set aside for safety.
Install the new SSD drive and attempt to perform a clean install of Windows 10 using the install media for the OS.
If you don't have the install media, then this can be obtained from the Windows 10 Download webpage using the option for the Media Creation tool / create media for another PC.
Note: make sure you download the correct edition of Windows 10, i.e. Home or Pro to match the edition that was installed / activated on the notebook.
Peter,
Okay, so I understand your problem now. Since the volume 11 ESP partition with letter P assigned shows no files found it is obvious that the boot files are missing from it.
The easiest way to fix that is to use diskpart again to assign a drive letter to the ESP partition. For simplicity lets use P here. Once you have P assigned exit from diskpart. At the command prompt type the following command: This is assuming that partition letter K is the Windows partition on the SSD. From your .doc post it appears to be.
bcdboot C:\windows /s P: (“K” is the drive letter of the system partition and “P” is the drive letter you assign to the ESP partition.)
Bob, is there a typo in your post above:
bcdboot C:\windows /s P: (“K” is the drive letter of the system partition and “P” is the drive letter you assign to the ESP partition.)
Should this be:
bcdboot K:\windows /s P: (“K” is the drive letter of the system partition and “P” is the drive letter you assign to the ESP partition.)
Thanks for the help - it maybe a few days before I get a chance to try this - but I will and will also let you know the outcome
Steve, Peter,
Good catch Steve, yes there is a typo and you are correct C: should indeed be K: Apologies, I was in a bit of a hurry.
This is what I got & by then I had closed the original command window (just forgot) and hadn't done -
remove letter=P
exit
I hope this doesn't cause any problems
Just checked with list disk - now called P
Peter, I can only repeat my earlier suggestions:
Peter, at this point I would suggest two possible options to go forward:
- Remove the cloned SSD drive if installed, reinstate the original HDD drive, then try to boot normally into Windows 10. Try up to 3 times if you see an initial boot failure and if you are brought to the Windows Recovery Environment, try doing a Start-up Repair if needed.
- Remove the original HDD drive and set aside for safety.
Install the new SSD drive and attempt to perform a clean install of Windows 10 using the install media for the OS.
If you don't have the install media, then this can be obtained from the Windows 10 Download webpage using the option for the Media Creation tool / create media for another PC.
Note: make sure you download the correct edition of Windows 10, i.e. Home or Pro to match the edition that was installed / activated on the notebook.
From an Admin command prompt run:
bcdboot K:\windows /s P: (“K” is the drive letter of the system partition and “P” is the drive letter you assign to the ESP partition.)
Hi Guys - I gave up - put the SSD back into the Laptop - rebooted it and .........................................
it booted up.
Its a miracle.
Anything else you recommend to do?
Once again thanks so much
Peter, great news that installing the SSD has given you back a working laptop!
Please make a full disks & partitions backup of the working SSD to an external backup drive, so that you protect the status of the laptop & Windows at this point.
Am I correct in believing that this is the new SSD being discussed at this point?
Yes the new SSD is working in the laptop - I have managed to replace the HD - will take a back as recommended.
Once again thanks to the both of you.
Will mark as a solved.