Acer swift 3 SF314 How to unlock the drive/disk to install another OS to get a dual boot?

aye77
aye77 Member Posts: 7 New User
edited February 2024 in Swift and Spin Series

My laptop, Acer swift 3 SF314, originally has windows 11 that is UEFI based. I prepared windows 8.1 UEFI bootable usb and tried to install from it, but when I try to access the disk, it states that it's unavailable or it has been locked. I have unchecked the secure boot option in the UEFI setting. And also made sure that my disk is read only. So is it possible to install windows 8.1 on such a pc, and if so, how to get around the problem I am facing. Thank you.

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

Best Answer

Answers

  • billsey
    billsey ACE Posts: 34,912 Trailblazer
    edited February 2024

    Nothing to do with Secure boot. Have you resized the C: partition to make room for another OS? You have to have free space in order for the install to continue.

    It's worth noting though that there may not be drivers for W8.1 and your hardware…

    Click on "Like" if you find my answer useful or click on "Yes" if it answers your question.
  • aye77
    aye77 Member Posts: 7 New User

    I have got partition D empty and ready. The problem is I can't get access to the disk or the drive. Even in command prompt when I type 'list disk'… it doesn't come up.

    Regarding the driver issue, that is also something to consider, even if it's not now… If windows 8 doesn't work, I might opt to other operating system. But currently there is no way of installing another OS while the whole disk is inaccessible.

  • KJN9000000
    KJN9000000 Member Posts: 398 Seasoned Practitioner WiFi Icon

    Two things the disk encryption might be on in Windows which would keep your other Os from accessing it.

    You can disable it in Windows settings create your new volume then turn it back on if you really like it. As far as I know it wont affect the new partition as it wont likely see it and even if it does it wont have access. Its better to use separate drives but it can be done either way. You might need to turn on legacy boot in your bios and in some cases turn off secure boot depending on the OS you want to install. Change the boot order so your thumb drive or cd are first in the boot list. Do not forget the name size etc of your windows partition you don't want to delete it by accident.

  • KJN9000000
    KJN9000000 Member Posts: 398 Seasoned Practitioner WiFi Icon

    To disable disk encryption in Windows, you can follow these steps:

    Open the Control Panel: Click on the Start menu and search for “Control Panel”. Select it from the search results.
    Navigate to BitLocker settings: In the Control Panel, click on “System and Security”, then choose "BitLocker Drive Encryption".
    Turn off BitLocker: Next to the drive where you’ve enabled BitLocker, click “Turn Off BitLocker”. Select the “Turn Off BitLocker” option.
    Windows will now start decrypting the contents of your drive, which can take quite some time, especially if your drive has a lot of content on it. In the meantime, you can continue to work with your files as usual.

    Please note that disabling BitLocker encryption makes your drive data more accessible in certain situations. For example, if you use a dual-boot PC, the other operating system can access the data stored on your drive if you’ve disabled BitLocker. Also, if your laptop gets stolen or you lose it, whoever has it can access the unencrypted data on your machine’s drive.

    If you’re concerned about privacy and security, know that removing BitLocker encryption makes your drive data more accessible in certain situations1. For example, if you use a dual-boot PC, the other operating system can access the data stored on your drive if you’ve disabled BitLocker. Also, if your laptop gets stolen or you lose it, whoever has it can access the unencrypted data on your machine’s drive.

    If you’re looking for an alternative to BitLocker, consider using Veracrypt, which is a free and open-source encryption tool.

    Remember, before making any significant changes to your system, it’s always a good idea to back up your data.

  • aye77
    aye77 Member Posts: 7 New User

    Thanks KJN9000000 for the detailed reply, but I have searched and gone through this possibility, that the drive might be encrypted, but it was not. I have checked again as you said, and there is no bitlocker or other encryption stated in the control panel. And that is one of the reasons I am coming to the laptop manufacturer website, if they've set some security measure that isn't common knowledge as encryption and secure boot. So Acer Swift manufacturers, if you'd be kind to answer this question, it'd be great.

  • aye77
    aye77 Member Posts: 7 New User
    edited February 2024

    Regarding turning on the legacy mode in the Bios, there is no option in this ACER swift 3 SF314, it has got only UEFI and no Bios.

    *In the original Main post, I stated that I made sure the disk is read only. Meant to say is NOT read only.

  • KJN9000000
    KJN9000000 Member Posts: 398 Seasoned Practitioner WiFi Icon

    When you prepared the partition in Windows 11 what did you format the drive too? it should be NTFS or fat32 anything else won't work for Windows 8. The partition must also be a MBR Bootable. I only bring this up because later editions of Windows 11 can use a new format called ReFS. that will eventually replace NTFS

  • aye77
    aye77 Member Posts: 7 New User

    I didn't install windows 11, It came with the laptop, but it has a 260 Mb FAT32 Efi partition, and the windows is installed on an NTFS C: partition. But as I stated previously the problem is once I booted from the windows installation Usb drive, when windows tries to install the additonal OS, it can't access the whole disk, and gives the message the drive is locked, unlock it first.

  • KJN9000000
    KJN9000000 Member Posts: 398 Seasoned Practitioner WiFi Icon

    Have you tried accessing the drive with alternative OS like a Ubuntu Live disk/thumb drive. To reformat it as a clean mbr bootable ntfs partition then try the Windows 8.1 disk again.

    or Chat GPT says this

    The error message “The drive where Windows is installed is locked” typically appears when there are issues with the Master Boot Record (MBR), Boot Configuration Data (BCD), or system files. Here are some methods you can try to resolve this issue:

    Rebuild MBR: The MBR could be damaged or corrupted. You can try rebuilding it using a professional partition manager.
    Repair Your Computer With Windows Installation Media: You can try to repair your computer by creating a Windows 10 Bootable media (i.e., USB or DVD) using the Media Creation Tool.
    Fix Boot-Related Files With Bootrec.exe Tool: The Bootrec.exe tool can be used to troubleshoot and repair the master boot record (MBR), boot sector, and Boot Configuration Data (BCD) store.
    Fix Disk Errors With CHKDSK.exe: The CHKDSK utility can be used to check the integrity of your hard disk and fix various system errors.
    Use System File Checker to Repair Missing or Corrupted System Files: System File Checker is a utility in Windows that allows users to scan for corruptions in Windows system files and restore corrupted files.
    Restore Windows: If all else fails, you might consider restoring Windows.
    Please remember to back up any important data before performing these operations as they could result in data loss. If you’re not comfortable performing these steps on your own, consider seeking help from a professional. Good luck!

  • KJN9000000
    KJN9000000 Member Posts: 398 Seasoned Practitioner WiFi Icon

    PS I new that Windows 11 was the original Operating System That why I asked about how you prepared the second partion "in Windows11"

  • aye77
    aye77 Member Posts: 7 New User

    No I didn't try it with ubuntu, May be there is something there, I will let you know the result once I have tried it. And Yes, I have read and gone through some of ChatGPT's responses 🙂before I came here, and finally it/he/they suggested to seek professional help or contact the manufacturer as it stated for you.

  • billsey
    billsey ACE Posts: 34,912 Trailblazer

    You can't use a D: partition to install another OS, since it has already been configured for your existing OS. Just leave that space unallocated, then let the new OS install to the unallocated space.

    Click on "Like" if you find my answer useful or click on "Yes" if it answers your question.
  • aye77
    aye77 Member Posts: 7 New User
    Answer ✓

    I think I found where the problem lies, nonetheless the solution seems far.

    1. The disk in ACER swift 3 SF314 is a NVMe Micron SSD, and it has got some advanced end to end data security, using TCG opal 2.01 and pyrite 2.01 security, which are high end encrypting, decrypting and access control softwares that come with the disk. https://media-www.micron.com/-/media/client/global/documents/products/product-flyer/micron_2450_ssd_product_brief.pdf?rev=1647a1959a624df6acdecb1efe4665ce

    2. Windows 8 and other older OS might not have the driver to read this specific NVMe Micron SSD drive. So installing the driver might fix the issue. https://www.reddit.com/r/techsupport/comments/5fg4ih/windows_8_not_detecting_m2_nvme_drive/

    Thank you for your help upto now.

  • billsey
    billsey ACE Posts: 34,912 Trailblazer

    Actually, Acer uses several different manufacturers for the drives, not just Micron. You never told us just which SF314 model you had, so I can't look up which drives shipped with them. In any case, running Windows 8 on any modern machine is likely to have driver issues, since most new hardware doesn't come with drivers for the old OSes.

    Click on "Like" if you find my answer useful or click on "Yes" if it answers your question.