How can I copy information from the SSD of my ACER Z24-890-UA91?

Dear Steve, Thank you so much for your very detailed answer. Your message is very clear: don't try to recover the data yourself from the M.2 SSD because one needs specialized tools and knowledge to do that. Fair enough. I still do need advice for a relatively basic issue though because I have never opened up the insides of any computer before. How do I remove the M.2 SSD? I see a metal casing that is anchored by at least 5 screws. Do I unscrew those? Are there any hidden so I need to dismantle something else like the speakers? When I see the M.2 SSD what needs to be disconnected? thanks!

Actually I think this is the answer regarding how to remove the aluminum backing: 5 screws and it lifts right off. It looks pretty easy. Thank you both very much Steven and Billsey!

Hi Billsey, After I have ordered and received the casing I will give this all a go. And thank you for the advice about the drivers. I agree, the problems started with the W11 not being able to install KB5023706 and I most certainly will install W10 this time. W0 worked fine with all the programs I had, even a very old Adobe X pro I was very attached to. But you know, folks like me sort of trust Microsoft when they tell you 'hey your computer is compatible with W11' and then send you a message every so many weeks asking you 'do you want to upgrade?' In the end you think 'well, why not?' and you click on that download link. Fateful decision, so far has cost tons of time. On the bright side, after the BSOD appearing two weeks ago I have learned something about the insides of a computer which I would not have attempted to understand before. Grazie mille! :)

Well Billsey, you did ask to let you know how it worked out!!

I am back with another question- please just ignore the following and go to the bottom for the question [I will first just describe removing the SSD for other people who like me have never done this]. It took me a while to finally open up the aluminum back encasing the motherboard. There are 5 small screws that need to be removed to do this. It looks so easy but since they have presumably not been moved since the factory put them in they did not go willingly, using a tiny screw driver that does not allow much torque. I even managed to strip the head of one. That brought me to this video from PC Monkey

which I tried and which worked, sort of, in that I managed to drill a hole all the way through the screw [fortunately did not go through the other side of the machine..] but when I reversed the drill the screw did not come out. I used a larger bit, reverse and some downward pressure to finally extract it. I carefully removed all the metal filings and dust with a piece of tape before removing the cover and wore gloves.

The thermal strip on top of the SSD feels a bit sticky and heavy and can just be peeled off. I stored it in a plastic bag to avoid it catching dust. The screw holding the SSD in place was easy, and it was also not an issue to pull it out at an angle. I had bought an SSD holder [Sabrent USB type-C tool-free enclosure for M.2 PCle NVMe and SATA SSDs] for the connection to my computer. It required quite a bit of force to insert the pins into the holder but when it snapped in, there did not appear to be any damage. And after connection to a computer everything showed up like regular folders. Of course if you want to copy the entire OS you need special software I guess, but as for me, I just wanted to retrieve personal information. Putting the AIO desktop back together in reverse order [I had kept the screws in labeled Ziplock bags] was very quick and took less than 20 minutes. I am showing some pictures of the -in my opinion- impossible way the plastic back of the computer is attached to the main body. To attach the back you do need to first push the DVD tray out with an opened paper clip. Then snapping the plastic back takes 1 second. But man it was so difficult to get it off in the first place, and I certainly damaged the aluminum encasing doing so. Looking at the construct it is easy to see why- you can’t really see what you are doing when you poke around with a piece of plastic or a metal screwdriver to try and disengage the latches.

The good news, for me, is that I did manage to transfer all my photos and videos off the Acer SSD to an external hard drive. That was half of the mission so I am really happy with that.

I then followed Billsey’s advice. I made a USB Windows 10 installation media, turned on the computer, got the windows installation screen and proceeded to a clean install. Alas, as Billsey had predicted, the computer claimed that ‘no signed device drivers were found’. Next I downloaded the IRST driver version 17.8.0.1065 from the Acer web site after having located the SNID number on the back of the computer to identify the appropriate driver. Repeated turning on the computer, it accepted the driver and then proceeded to “collecting information”. And that is what it did endlessly: collecting, collecting, collecting some more but never proceeding.

I also tried to do a Windows 11 clean install [because that is what is on there right now] but the Acer web site does not provide an IRST driver for my model and Windows 11. A version downloaded from the Intel web site for W11 is not accepted either by the machine. And finally the computer has the same quirk it developed before I got the BSOD: it can’t be permanently turned off either by pushing the off button or by clicking on ‘turn off’. It turns itself on again and the only way to permanently power it off is to literally pull the plug.

Any ideas? It is only 3 years old ☹but seems ready for environmentally appropriate final disposal.. ☹https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=pc+monkey+stripped+screw&qpvt=pc+monkey+stripped+screw&view=detail&mid=020A24A9BB33B1E98517020A24A9BB33B1E98517&&FORM=VRDGAR&ru=%2Fvideos%2Fsearch%3Fq%3Dpc%2Bmonkey%2Bstripped%2Bscrew%26qpvt%3Dpc%2Bmonkey%2Bstripped%2Bscrew%26FORM%3DVDRE

I downloaded IRST_Intel_17.8.0.1065_W10x64_A from the Acer web site based on my model Acer, unzipped and put on the USB; started up, when it asked for a driver I directed it to the Intel folder. After a while I got the message: “We couldn’t install the IRST_Intel_17.8.0.1065_W10x64_A device driver. Contact your vendor for an updated driver.” So sadly, I could not follow through with the rest of your advice. Unfortunately, t

his is the only driver option available for this Acer on the web site.

I do see as option Boot (X:) which also seems to contain drivers [see image for example]. Is it possible to locate a useable driver in one of those folders?

Yes I did navigate to that folder [please see image]. Difficult to understand but I got the message “We couldn’t install the IRST_Intel_17.8.0.1065_W10x64_A device driver. Contact your vendor for an updated driver.”