How To Get Acer Sw3-013 To Recognize Bootable Usbs?

Hello, I'm so glad to be back!

My little convertable Acer -- the one in my sig -- started exhibiting flaky network behavior (some of those extra/virtual wirelss entries not showing up in getmac) then network stopped working after a few weeks. Was helping a friend buy a computer at Best Buy when they told me these new laptops don't last as long and the motherboard is probably shot.

So after finally getting my "new" old laptop (almost 20 years old, used) locked down (re: Windows Updates + "remediation") I'm on the Internet again.

Problem...Acer won't boot from any USB stick so I can wipe it! Per the BIOS, it's supposed to boot from "USB CD" or "USB HDD". I have Puppy Wary 5.11, UBCD, and a couple others (should have written it down). The Acer has no optical drive. Can't buy a USB optical drive right now and my only other option is to hold onto the computer until I'm dead. Does anyone have experience with this model (see sig) or know of a particular distro/USB setup that will work with it?

 

What tool are you using to make the USB bootable?

 

So, here's what I've tried...everything boots on this computer except where noted.

• I have a Puppy Linux which only involved copying files to USB, it has the kernel, bootloader, config + few other things, the main OS is '.sfs' (squash fs)...it's a "live" distro.
• I had a PartitionMagic which I don't remember, and didn't work right here, either (since overwritten to try other stuff).
• I have a DBAN 2.3 i586 which I created with Universal USB Installer 1.9.9.3 (from https://PenDriveLinux.com).

The Acer doesn't even detect it, although the BIOS Setup has listings for "USB CD" and "USB HDD". (It never detects that a specific device is inserted, like this laptop.)

Normal usage of USB sticks is fine (copying files, etc.) although something popped up once (a week or so before I was trying to wipe the HDD) saying the controller was malfunctioning. But it otherwise works fine, and all USB controllers/hubs work are "working properly" according to Device Manager. (Remember, the motherboard is likely shot...already the WiFi stopped working.)

I also tried EasyBCD Creator. I copied it (via USB!) and installed it on the Acer. I also copied the DBAN ISO. (This program is supposed to let you edit Windows bootloader, fix bootloader problems, and boot from various devices as well as ISOs on the hard disk! However, it says that the Acer is using "ehi" and therefore some options are disabled...everything related to ISOs is greyed out.

I noticed, in BIOS Setup, that there's something about allowing users to "boot from specific, allowed '.efi' files" which seems to be the first file booted in a Windows OS. (I wonder if this provides a method? I don't know enough about it.)

 

FWIW, I did "Reset" the computer completely, used the McAffee that was distributed with Windows 10 to "shred" everything I could, hunted down + removed a lot of profiles stuff/app data/other folders by hand, re-installed IObit Uninstaller to uninstall Windows Updates and a bunch of Windows apps and Acer utilities that McAffee couldn't shred, uninstalled IObit Uninstaller again, deleted every Event Log it would let me do, installed CCleaner and ran "Wipe Free Space" 3 times. (In the hopes of overwriting a lot of old data.)

So it no longer uses my prior account name, and most Registry stuff (related to software that I used) should be gone. (FWIW, I never used the Acer things, most Windows Apps, and uninstalled McAffee when I first got the computer.) But I wonder...does anything SURVIVE a reset???

The other concerning thing is every time you connect a USB its serial number, as well as "link files" to any files that were listed in Explorer are stored in the Registry! (And I didn't realize Explorer would list files from recently-connected devices up top, it's been so long since I used any Windows at its default settings. So at minimum I have to figure out about "link files" because some files on that USB had my name in them.)

 

Is this the same laptop?

 

No, the almost-20-year-old "new" laptop I got last year is the one I'm using now, and the USBs, as mentioned, boot perfectly fine.

But the Acer convertible -- the one in my sig which I was using until last month -- is the one I'm trying to wipe.

Incidentally, the guy at Best Buy (I was helping my neighbor buy his first laptop), who is a dedicated gamer, is the one who said motherboards are often lasting only 3-5 years now because manufacturers are wanting to save money, and he thought my WiFi problems might be caused by a motherboard. (It makes sense...I just had to fix several electronics in my car, one of them twice before a new mechanic figured out the main board wasn't properly grounded! My brake and coolant lights are always on now because they were fried, but inserting a block of insulating wood stopped any new damage.) But then you folks may be right about it potentially really being the NIC.

Like I said, I forgot if I tried the USB antenna, and I forgot to do that last night. Now that will have to wait until next week.

But it would be nice to solve the can't-boot-from-USB problem...I don't like not being able to boot any tools!

And the SSD on the Acer's only 30GB...it might be better to siphon off good parts to someone who can use them while it's still good!

My "new old" laptop might take 5 minutes to shut down -- but at least it can run everything! And has a 750GB HDD!

 

Usually the temporary boot key is F12 for Acer PCs/laptops. Have you tried rapidly clicking this key as soon as you see the Acer logo on boot?
This seems to require enabling first:

1. Press F12 to access the Acer boot menu.
2. Go to the Main menu tab by pressing the right arrow button.
3. Press the down arrow to select F12 Boot Menu.
4. Press Enter to change the status from Disabled to Enabled. https://www.minitool.com/data-recovery/what-is-acer-boot-menu-how-to-acces-change.html

 

Thank you GB. I have no problem getting into the BIOS. It just seems it doesn't support booting from USB, though it's supposed to. Or perhaps that's a motherboard issue as well. (I can't remember if I ever booted it from USB for any reason.) I'll see if that link has any other applicable info.

In the meantime, I've been working on a multi-boot setup on this "new old" computer, and since it has some issues, too (no hardware acceleration, can't book any 64-bit Linuxes though it has 64-bit Windows 10 on it [but the reseller did that, it probably had 7 or 8 originally], if you enable only 1 device at a time to "force" things you must do it in 2 saves -- enable one/save/disable one/save) it is otherwise excellent. In the process of working though stuff (because of the BIOS enable/disable pickiness and *old* 64-bit architecture) I've found some other things that might apply to the Acer. (Apparently EasyBCD Creator has "PLOP" which acts as a BIOS extender -- which I didn't recognize -- and UBCD (Universal Boot CD) has PLOP and another BIOS extender -- but Acer can't boot from USB, whereas EasyBCD is installed on the target (or that's an option).

I just haven't tried them yet. You know how you get sick of hammering away at something and have to switch focus for a while? (We really need a "brain fried" smiley!)

However, I did test the USB antenna, and it also did not work. I think the BestBuy guy is right ... he pointed out how you can bend most of the computer chasses now, and the Acer does not have a brick in the cord (neither does my neighbor's new laptop), while this old workhorse does. I imagine there may be some extra protection there (even if unintended). I still remember years ago when lightning hit our cable line and fried the cable box -- we actually heard it "pop" -- the cable box protected the TV by acting as a circuit breaker! (If the TV had been directly connected to something, it would have been fried.)

He said laptops are lasting about 3-5 years and you have to be careful about keeping them plugged in a lot. Well, where I have to go out to use the Internet, I did keep it plugged in at home -- so the transfered heat probably wrecked the Acer. Big mistake! Like I said, it's about 6 years old now.

 

FYI, for anyone who needs this info (if anyone is still using this Acer Aspire) 'F2' enters BIOS Setup and 'F12' brings up the boot menu if you've enabled it.

The BIOS on this is totally crappy and you can't tab or enter anywhere except password prompt or save/exit confirmation popup. Every other action requires your mouse or touchpad, which is a really slow drag.

 

I keep my laptop plugged in & it’s fine. I do have a cooling fan pad underneath though.
The one thing with keeping laptops plugged in is that it’s recommended to run on battery on occasions & calibrate the battery once in a while.

Booting from USB is needed imo for when you cannot boot into Windows, you can then recover either from the Windows boot media or (if you use it) imaging software’s own boot USB.

 

So when you use f12 the pc does not see the USB drive? It does not give you the choice to boot from it?

 

WTHeck is that sumpro? Spam?

 

Yes, the site appears to be selling kitchen appliances.
Spammer reported.

 

I never see the specific media listed by name and model, like I do if I insert something to my other laptop and reboot.

Now that everyone is open I'm going to have a local repair shop see if they can test whether it's the motherboard or NIC. I would like to know, because if I get the NIC working and a desktop with PXE running on the UPS, I can let it boot DBAN from the network and wipe it. I've already done a reset, if someone wants to buy it I might just do some deep cleaning if they still want the installed Win10 OS.