Re-installing Windows 10 from USB stick to Acer Aspire e11 es1-111m-c3cp

Please help. I'm going nuts. I've spent 24 hours on this now.
This little laptop hasn't been used for years and I'm trying to install updates and it won't let me. Yes, I have deleted as much space as it asked for, and multiple times it has aborted the updates (from 2015 up to 2020 - so a massive jump).
So I decided to make a Windows 10 installation on a USB stick using Microsoft Media Creation Tool.
I start up the laptop holding F2, select boot from the USB stick, start to install Windows and it stops with the message "A media driver your computer needs is missing".
I watched a very good Youtube video and unfortunately the 'fix' of swapping the USB stick to the USB2 port did not work.
I can't for the life of me find the correct driver for this, so I am beaten at this point. I've tried Intel, Microsoft, Acer and every 'driver' fails.
Any ideas folks?

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StevenGen

First, what OP does it have on it? Does it have Win-8.1? What are the exact specs of your Acer Aspire E11 ES1-111M-C3CP? Has it got the Intel Celeron N2840 at 2.16 GHz and has it got 2GB or 8GB of RAM etc? Have you got the latest BIOS? Which is the last version: 1.16 dated 2015/12/11 as these are essential things that you should have and do! As your E11 ES1-111M-C3CP can support up to 1x 8GB stick of RAM with these specs: 8GB DDR3L-1866 SODIMM - DDR3 PC3-14900 • CL=13 • Unbuffered • NON-ECC • DDR3-1866 • 1.35V • 1024Meg x 64, which is pretty quick RAM and very useful to run Win-10.

What I would do FIRST is this:

1. Reinstall Windows 8.1 64-bit which is the OEM that came with this laptop

2. Reflash the BIOS to its last bios version: 1.16 dated 2015/12/11

3. Then do a complete and clean install of Win10

Also, it could be that your integrated graphics is damaged, as you said "This little laptop hasn't been used for years” which could have oxidised and/or damaged soldered connections on your motherboard or damaged your GPU section of the CPU, anything like that has to be checked out and diagnosed by a professional technician, otherwise you could be wasting your time, as there might not be a simple software solution(s) to your problem. Check all that out first!

It could also be a very strong chance that your install media is corrupt. Redo the USB installation media again and use another USB (8GB) that is brand new and not used, as that could be part of the problem. Download the Win-10 installation media here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10

Note: These laptops usually came with the following specs:

Windows 8.1 64-bit
Intel Celeron N2840 2.16 GHz
Intel HD graphics
11.6″ HD LED display screen (1366 × 768 pixels)
Fanless (silent performance)
8 GB DDR3 RAM (upgraded from 2 GB — there’s a guide here on how to upgrade the RAM: Acer Aspire E3-111 Disassembly)
eMMC 32 GB (solid state disk)

If and when installing Win-10 and that error comes up again then download this driver and preinstall this driver into the Win-10 installation when it askes for all the pre installation drivers. Try this specific driver which is for the “Intel® HD Graphics driver for Windows* 8/8.1 (64-bit) driver” it’s the gfx_win8_8.1_64_15.33.19.3540.zip at Intel: https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/24227/Intel-HD-Graphics-driver-for-Windows-8-8-1-64-bit-?product=82103

As it’s probably the graphics driver (which for the HD - Gen 7) its having trouble recognising and installing. This is very strange as I’ve done lots of windows 10 installs with an Atom N570 1.66GHz which has the Intel Graphics Accelerator 3150 and installed Win-10 Home perfectly, even with 2GB of RAM. Btw, you can do allot of ugrades on this laptop e.g. increase 2Gb to 8GB RAM, SSD from 32Gb to at least 250GB which will make this little laptop excellent and not a waist of money, not like the Acer One Happy2 that I did the same to, which was a complete and utter waste of money lol good luck!

abcdabcd

Hi Steven - thanks so much for your fantastic reply.
I neglected to say that the laptop works fine - it's already on Windows 10 Home, but the OS is from 2015 - and the battery no longer charges.
Spec: Celeron N2840 2.16GHz 2GB ram. 32GB storage. Windows 10 Home. BIOS 1.03
I've just tried to update the BIOS to 1.16 (from the Acer support website) but it says the battery is too low - it needs to be 15%... but of course my battery does not work at all...
And I did try the “Intel® HD Graphics driver for Windows* 8/8.1 (64-bit) driver” but the installation gets stuck in the same place with the same error message "A media driver your computer needs is missing".
I'll try to re-make the USB installation media again tomorrow, but it doesn't feel to me as though that'll work.
Hmmmm... thanks again though - any more thoughts?

StevenGen

To update the BIOS, keep the laptop plugged into the mains (without the battery) and try to update the laptop to BIOS v1.16 like that but and most certainly, get a new battery asap.

With the graphics driver, make sure that "Windows Update" is and has completely installed all appropriate drivers for your Win-10 OP, because it will also install the latest graphics driver provided by Win-10, which is the most up to date driver for your graphics. Check what driver that you have for your graphics now. Go to Device Manager > Display adaptors and right click on Intel, if its a new driver (see date) and its post the old Intel official driver for Win-8.1 then leave it, as that is the best and most current driver for your graphics, windows update will update that graphics driver as MS sees fit..

StevenGen

Btw, with the BIOS v1.16 update, do not unplug and/or turn off computer when you update the BIOS with the ZHK116.exe or application file, go through all the procedures and update the BIOS that way, it should work 100%, good luck!

abcdabcd

Hi Steven - quick update.
I tried to update the BIOS from v1.03 to v1.16 with the battery taken out and it wouldn't do that either, so I've ordered a new battery and will try it again when that arrives.
I've also ordered 8GB of the 1866MHz RAM.
I'll try the installation again when I've fitted the battery & report back.
Thanks for your help.

abcdabcd

Hi Steven - I want to thank you! The new battery seemed to help a lot.

I have two identical laptops like this and what succeeded was re-installing Windows 10 from the Settings/Recovery/Reset this PC (after several attempts) - I also updated the BIOS to 1.16 - and then updated to the latest Windows 10 using a USB stick, formatting the main partition. It was not at all straightforward but I got there in the end - so thanks so much!

I do however have 2 issues. Before I updated to the latest Windows 10 using the memory stick, both trackpads worked perfectly, but after the install they didn't work at all. I Googled and eventually found this fix: start up in BIOS and change Trackpad from Advanced to Basic. Unfortunately it means that although the trackpads work a bit, honestly, they are rubbish: no right click at all and even drag doesn't work.

So I need new trackpad drivers... BUT the trackpad isn't even present in the Device Manager! How can you load a driver for something that you can't find in device manager? There is a 1.17 BIOS - could that be it? Is it worth trying?

Also, the WIFI does not work on one of the laptops and it seems to be that Fn F2 doesn't turn it on and I can see no other way of achieving this. The network adapter is working and on the latest driver... any ideas? (I have Googled this extensively without a satisfactory result). I just can't turn on WIFI.

What was problematic was the new 8GB ram which I think is faulty, so I'll send that back!

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