Empty Boot Manager? HDD Issue? Getting error error '0xc0000185. The Model number is : AN515-53

Hi there! I decided to pull out my old laptop from storage to see if it still works, and by some miracle it's hanging on a thread.

There's something up with the computer that won't allow it to boot up Windows fully, and instead either loops forever on the Acer title or lets me access the boot manager. The latter of which had lead me to a conclusion that it had an HDD problem, since within the Boot Manager - apart from itself - was completely empty.

After countless restarts, sorting through the BIOS, connecting USBs and disk drives and swapping between new and old HDDs, it refuses to acknowledge anything connected to it. It's clearly got some issues, and I'm absolutely praying it isn't an issue with the HDDs connection to the motherboard. Additionally, I will sometimes receive a Blue Screen with the error '0xc0000185', which is unhelpful because software solutions (such as VMs) are nonexistent with an Arm64-based Mac (ie Intel-less).

TLDR:

Boot Manager completely empty! Can't order anything other than itself.
Swapping USBs, HDDs, disk drives seemingly useless.
BSOD w/ '0xc0000185' error

Model: AN515-53

Hope you guys can help!!

[Edited the thread to add model number to the title]

Accepted answers

All comments

AnhEZ28

@BigTigerM

Usually, a bad HDD will cause a hang on the logo, BIOS, and boot menu. You can try to replace it with another HDD or upgrade to a M.2 SSD.

BigTigerM

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1314319#Comment_1314319

I'm not quite sure how to install an SSD, but I'm sure I could fenangle my way into making it work - I'm fairly worse than a beginner, haha.

You would think, yeah! Sadly, out of all the HDDs I have, which I've tested and all seem to work perfectly fine on other devices, none of them respond well to the laptop.

BigTigerM

Oop, forgot to add, @AnhEZ28 !

StevenGen

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1314336#Comment_1314336

The BSOD error code #: 0xc0000185 blue screen pops up if your computer (unsuccessfully) attempts to boot from a USB drive. Shut down your computer (press and hold the Power button for 10-15 seconds) and unplug any storage device from its USB ports, and try again, as this is the first thing that you should attempt.

If the the USBs and/or the boot drive of this 6 years old Nitro AN515-53 laptop does not boot the laptop, then you need to change its boot drive and reinstall Win-10 22H2 latest OS with a USB Rufus 4.5 installation USB and put the IRST (Intel® Rapid Storage Technology) Driver Hot Fix 16.7.8.1024 driver so that when you get to the Win-10 installtion section @ "Where do you want to install Windows?>Load driver> you install this IRST driver so that you can continue the Win-10 22H2 installation, as otherwise you will NOT be able to continue, so be aware of this!

Also be aware that this laptop has an M.2 2280 for SSD (PCIe/SATA Co-lay) which means it can operate wit a SATA 3 M.2 "B Key" SSD drive or a PCIe 3x 2 lane "M key" type M.2 SSD drive (that are not available anymore) but you can install a current PCIe 3 x4 lane" M Key" or even a PCIe 4 x4 lane faster M.2 SSD as these drives are backward compatible and they will work.

This laptops M.2 slot is limited to a max read/write speed of 2000MB/s, so the most appropriate M.2 SSD drive is the PCIe 3x 4 lane M.2 SSD of either a 500GB or a 1TB or 2TB sizes, so be aware of this also and you can also install a SATA # 2.5" SSD secondary drive underneath its HDD back door, as an extra and quicker 2.5" storage and as a slave drive . Good luck and hope this helps you out.

I suggest that you also change the Nitro 5 AN515-53s boot drive to an M.2 SSD and also change the battery to a new battery, as these laptops batteries need to be changed at max 4 years intervals, and for a laptop that is stored for a long time, its even more important for a 6year old laptop to have its battery changed as if you don't, the laptop will not boot after a while and you will have problems. Good luck and hope all this helps you out to resurrect your AN515-53 laptop.