Switch 3 reset to factory Anybody know of a way I can hack the machine to get back to "normal?"

Bonanza_Pilot

I have a Switch 3 that was set up to drive Pro-Stitcher software on a long-arm quilting machine. They locked out all access to the OS (Windows 10) and the BIOS. No longer need the laptop for the quilting machine, would like to make it a regular Windows box. I've tried everything I find online to do a reset, but they're all locked out. Anybody know of a way I can hack the machine to get back to "normal?"

[Edited the thread to add issue detail]

Puraw

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/694270/switch-3-reset-to-factory

Start the laptop and as soon as you see the Acer Logo press simultaneously Alt+F10 that should open the Windows Recovery OS (called WindowsRE) located on a separate hidden partition on your drive. If that fails, you will need to do the same with a Windows USB Recovery flash drive: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/create-a-recovery-drive-abb4691b-5324-6d4a-8766-73fab304c246

Once you get the WindowsRE Troubleshoot menu, click on Advanced and select "Reset this PC without losing my files"

That's it.

When you are up and running again see if your Switch 3 can run on Windows11, I advise to upgrade if it is offered in W10: https://www.acer.com/us-en/support/windows/windows-11-compatibility.html 😉

Bonanza_Pilot

Thanks, Puraw. Sadly, this computer is so locked down that Alt-F10 doesn't work, nor will it let me create a recovery drive. I'm looking now to see if there is a way to force a reset from the command line. (I've been on a Mac for the last 20 years or so, so my Windows knowledge is very much out of date <g>)

billsey

Do you know which Switch 3 model it is? There have been a bunch of ones over the years… With the normal machines the actual model number is on the same sticker as the SN and SNID. It's likely something like SW3xx-xxx-xxxx. For most of these models you can enter the BIOS with a F2 press during POST (when the Acer logo is displayed) but it's possible for them to have set the timing to do that to something very close to 0 seconds. In those cases you can usually get there anyway by holding the F2 key while powering it up. Once you are in the BIOS enable the boot menu, save and exit, then use the same process but with F12 and a Windows install flash drive plugged in. That should get to a menu that shows the install drive as a boot option. Boot from the installer, start the install and when it gets to where it asks where to install, remove all existing partitions and choose the resulting unallocated disk space as your target. That ought to give you a vanilla Windows install with all the special permissions removed. Windows update should be able to get drivers setup for you afterwards.