Swift 314-57 System Update killed Windows

Put the laptop on this morning, big green bar saying system update

From what I can see it's updated the bios to 1.18 which I didn't ask it to.

After that it won't boot into Windows. Comes up with inaccessible boot device.

Tried going through Bios settings with no improvement. Ran all the Windows repair tools with same result.

Option to restore Windows works but lost all my programs/settings etc.

I have an Acronis Image from last month, restored that and back to not booting so obviously something in the new Bios is causing the problem.

I have a copy of previous 1.16 Bios .exe file but no way to install it, Acer say run in Windows, bit difficult as if I could get Windows to load I wouldn't need it in the first place!.

Accepted answers

Phaedra1106

Driver updates were off.

Re-loaded the 1.18 Bios and CTRL+S now brings up the hidden SATA Mode option. Changed it to AHCI, re=loaded my Acronis image from Feb and it boots again.

Not quite sure why Sata would affect an NVMe drive as it uses the PCi bus, not the Sata controller!.

All comments

Leostat

In the bios is there a sata mode setting? You may have to hit cntrl+s as the first thing you press to make it appear

Phaedra1106

No, it has an NVMe M.2 drive, only thing that has changed is the bios version.

I'm doing a clean install of Windows, then flash the bios back to 1.16 and re-install the Acronis Image from Feb 28th

Leostat

there may still be a"drive mode" or sata mode even with NVMe to cover off AHCI / RST / Optane. Sometimes it gets changed during upgrade to a "factory default" which may not the the same as whats there

Phaedra1106

Thanks, can't see anything like that.

Did a clean install of Widows, boots fine but won't let me downgrade the Bios (to one I know worked fine) either

If I have to do a complete re-install how do I stop Acer forcing a Bios update again? I never asked for this one.

Leostat

it needs to be the first keypress on the main tab i think ( https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/587782/acer-swift-3-sf314-57-not-detecting-ssd-when-installing-linux )

Phaedra1106

Thanks, tried that, nothing changes, none of the options on the 1st tab (information) are accessible, SATA Mode says Optane without RAID

Leostat

That seems right, does the drive show in the bios?

Phaedra1106

It's listed under Information.

I managed to get Windows to almost boot in Safe Mode, reset it and it booted into Windows.

On shutdown Windows spent 5 mins configuring Windows Updates (which I have switched off) and on restart it did the usual "Updating your system" got to 100% and promptly died.

Next restart it failed to boot again!. I've followed the bios flash hardware tutorial and have hacked 1.16 so it should downgrade so will try that next.

Phaedra1106

OK, I'm now stumped!

Downgraded Bios back to 1.16, re-loaded my Acronis image (which I know was OK and last updated Feb 25th) and it still fails to boot.

Clean install of Windows boots OK, so going to load all the updates and see what that does in case it's something in the latest Windows update.

Thanks for all the help!

Leostat

sorry i wasnt much help though

!

Phaedra1106

I appreciate you taking the time to reply, thanks

I'll see what happens after the updates are in

brummyfan2

Phaedra1106 said:

I appreciate you taking the time to reply, thanks
I'll see what happens after the updates are in

Hi,
Hope you have resolved your issue, if you prefer not to receive the driver updates through WU, follow the instructions in the tutorials below:
Enable or Disable Driver Updates in Windows Update in Windows 10 | Tutorials (tenforums.com)
How to disable automatic driver updates on Windows 10 | Windows Central

Phaedra1106

Driver updates were off.

Re-loaded the 1.18 Bios and CTRL+S now brings up the hidden SATA Mode option. Changed it to AHCI, re=loaded my Acronis image from Feb and it boots again.