Acer Predator 500 has stopped loading Windows

Korboal
Korboal Member Posts: 4 New User
edited November 2023 in 2020 Archives
Hello!

Yesterday I have gotten a problem with my Acer Predator Helios 500. I have had this computer for almost 2 years with minimal problems (I think the CPU has started getting a bit too hot lately, so maybe I need to change thermopaste, but otherwise it was ok). However, yesterday my PC froze in the middle of work. I have turned it off by holding the power button for a few seconds and tried to start the computer again. Sadly the laptop has stopped to load up Windows. It shows the predator logo, has a few circles spinning for a minute and then shuts down and restarts. It continues to do for the eternity. Has anyone encountered this problem before?

2-3 times while loading in this way it has said that it does not have bootable drive. I thought that perhaps the SSD has died, but currently I do not have the tools to test the SSD. Warranty has also sadly ended already. I have also installed new RAM a week ago (which seemed to work fine so far), but even temporarily uninstalling it did not fix any problems.

Attempted solutions (spent about 6-7 hours on all of these):
1. Opening safe mode. Could not open safe mode as windows does not load and manually turning off PC 2-3 times in a row did not turn on safe mode automatically.
2. Reset BIOS to default. Did nothing, but at least I was able to open BIOS.
3. Creating a bootable image disk on external flash drive. I have used Mac to create them on external flash drives (as the currently only available hardware). But windows boot did not see any flash drives. I also had a very old HDD with Windows 8.1 installed there. The PC was able to see that Windows, but gave blue screen while trying to load Windows from there via USB (sadly I did not install instead of old HDD and cannot because I have erased that HDD trying to create a proper bootable image disk).
4. Try a different SSD port. Just out of curiosity I have tried to install SSD in the another available slot. That has changed nothing.
5. Opening Acer special fix screen (?). While loading I have pressed Alt+F10 to open the fix screen (according to Google that apparently exists). After loading I only saw mouse cursor without any options/settings. So that did not help either.

In general, BIOS sees SSD/HDD correctly. Uninstalling SSD simply gives "no bootable disk" as expected. With SSD, I am just never able to load into Windows. I still suspect that perhaps SSD has just died. But maybe someone else has encountered a similar problem before? Any help is appreciated.

Answers

  • StevenGen
    StevenGen ACE Posts: 12,162 Trailblazer
    edited June 2020
    Get your USB Windows Installation Media (have you got one?) if not download from here: Download tool now and install then get an 8GB USB and install the Win-10 boot installations files, boot from USB and once in the installation process and you reach "Install now" chose "Repair your computer" (bottom left corner) then choose > "Choose an Option" > "Troubleshoot" > "Advance options" > Starup Repair or Go back to the previous build, try those options and see if that if it fixes your problem.






  • Korboal
    Korboal Member Posts: 4 New User
    StevenGen said:
    Get your USB Windows Installation Media (have you got one?) if not download from here: Download tool now and install then get an 8GB USB and install the Win-10 boot installations files, boot from USB and once in the installation process and you reach "Install now" chose "Repair your computer" (bottom left corner) then choose > "Choose an Option" > "Troubleshoot" > "Advance options" > Starup Repair or Go back to the previous build, try those options and see if that if it fixes your problem.

    Thanks for the reply! Sadly I do not have a separate Windows machine to do that. Although, I have used Mac to do the similar process. However, I am NOT able to boot from the USB. The PC simply does NOT see the USB stick in boot options. I have no idea why, maybe because of the Mac software. I have both tried to use "boot camp assistant" and by trying to install the boot file onto the USB using the terminal (yes, I did it properly, not simply copying the files to the USB, I have used the actual recommended software/methods on the internet). I have tried to turn off the secure boot in BIOS, but that did not help either. I would love to change to Legacy boot, but there is simply no such option in BIOS.