HELP <MEH

vn62059 · Jul 10, 2022

I recently purchased a used laptop, worked great then....
The previous owner installed Windows 11 when according to specs the laptop was not qualified.
Now 30 days has already passed and I can not revert to 10 which to me is a farce since 11 should have never been released yet.
Ok so last update my screen goes blue, I have accessed the bios and it still shows everything on the C: drive but it refuses to boot.
I have tried everything to no avail, replaced the bios battery, tried windows repair, online diagnostics etc.
everything points to no boot log, but the files are there on C:
Now at restart I get this message
HELP <MEh

jvickers · Jul 10, 2022

vn62059 said:
I recently purchased a used laptop, worked great then....
The previous owner installed Windows 11 when according to specs the laptop was not qualified.
Now 30 days has already passed and I can not revert to 10 which to me is a farce since 11 should have never been released yet.
Ok so last update my screen goes blue, I have accessed the bios and it still shows everything on the C: drive but it refuses to boot.
I have tried everything to no avail, replaced the bios battery, tried windows repair, online diagnostics etc.
everything points to no boot log, but the files are there on C:
Now at restart I get this message
HELP <MEh

Is it possible you hard drive failed? Either that, or you need to select it in the BIOS.

vn62059 · Jul 10, 2022

jvickers said:
Is it possible you hard drive failed? Either that, or you need to select it in the BIOS.

As said I can get into the bios and C: shows up with all the files still the boot directory fails, and I fully believe it is because 11 is not compatible. There has to be some type of fix or MSFT needs to come out with one because I have lots of very important files already saved just wished my backup would work but that fails also, "no boot directory"

jvickers · Jul 10, 2022

vn62059 said:
As said I can get into the bios and C: shows up with all the files still the boot directory fails, and I fully believe it is because 11 is not compatible. There has to be some type of fix or MSFT needs to come out with one because I have lots of very important files already saved just wished my backup would work but that fails also, "no boot directory"

Just because you can access your BIOS doesn't mean the drive is fully functional. As you know, they're two different things.

Do you have access to another system? If so, you might want to remove the drive and copy all your important files from it to the other system.

Bree · Jul 10, 2022

vn62059 said:
I recently purchased a used laptop, worked great then....
The previous owner installed Windows 11 when according to specs the laptop was not qualified.

Welcome to Eleven Forum.

vn62059 said:
I fully believe it is because 11 is not compatible.

Just because the laptop is below the Windows 11 minimum requirement shouldn't mean that it won't run 11 well. I have several test machines running 11 that are well below spec, my System Two in My Computers below this post, for example. Taking that to a ludicrous extreme is this one:

Bree said:
using the current latest RTM build 22000.527. Still works fine, albeit a little sluggish - no 64-bit OS should be asked to run in just 2GB of RAM

Let's install Windows 11 on a incompatible hardware - post #717

Your issues are not likely to be due to incompatibility, it's more likely that the drive is corrupt or failing.

Bree · Jul 10, 2022

vn62059 said:
I have lots of very important files already saved just wished my backup would work but that fails also, "no boot directory"

To retrieve those files boot from something else, an install usb for example. If you boot to a command prompt and the drive is still readable you should be able to copy your files to an external drive.

Open Command Prompt at Boot in Windows 11 Tutorial

The Command shell is an entry point for typing commands in the Command Prompt console window. By typing commands at the command prompt, you can perform tasks on your computer without using the Windows GUI. If you are troubleshooting or unable to open a command prompt from within Windows 11, you...

www.elevenforum.com

vn62059 · Jul 10, 2022

jvickers said:
Just because you can access your BIOS doesn't mean the drive is fully functional. As you know, they're two different things.

Do you have access to another system? If so, you might want to remove the drive and copy all your important files from it to the other system.

Yes, I do, the one I am using now, but it is Windows 10

Lance1 · Jul 10, 2022

vn62059 said:
Yes, I do, the one I am using now, but it is Windows 10

The Windows OS doesn't matter. Remove the problem drive and install it on the system you posting from. Boot the system and you should be able to see and hopefully access it.

jvickers · Jul 10, 2022

vn62059 said:
Yes, I do, the one I am using now, but it is Windows 10

You can either install the drive in the system you're using now, provided it has the space, and copy the files (if you know what you're doing), or you can buy an external enclosure and run the drive in your Windows 11 system as an external hard drive. I like the later solution as it's easier. You can get an enclosure pretty cheaply nowadays.

Lance1 · Jul 10, 2022

jvickers said:
You can buy an external enclosure and run the drive in your Windows 11 system as an external hard drive.

You know your old when! As I'm typing out my post I was looking directly at my external enclosure on my desk and the light did not go on...

Hazel123 · Jul 10, 2022

Agree with the idea that the drive has failed - having just had something similar myself. Similar screen messages too. The system can't see the OS on the drive because it can't see the drive. Is the laptop easy to get into to change the drive? Or is that a silly question these days! Mine wasn't too bad but getting the back off needs a bit of care.

Sounds like you need a) a new ssd drive and b) an external hard drive enclosure so you can retrieve all your files on another computer, as mentioned above. Is it a 2.5" drive or an M.2? I had problems with external enclosures for M.2 drives - they are not all the same and some will fit some M.2's and not others. for a 2.5" drive it's a piece of cake and they're inexpensive. I get these.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Optimized-Inateck-3-0-Portable-2-5-SATA-I-Additional/dp/B00KW4T69A/ref=sr_1_3?crid=2PM4WSZ7OPBVX&keywords=inateck+external+drive&qid=1657489348&sprefix=inatek+external+drive%2Caps%2C191&sr=8-3

Winuser · Jul 11, 2022

vn62059 said:
As said I can get into the bios and C: shows up with all the files

The BIOS shows you the files on the C: drive?

Winuser · Jul 11, 2022

To those that posted a possible drive failure. Why couldn't it just be a driver conflict when the device did an update?

Hazel123 · Jul 11, 2022

I just went with what happened when my drive failed. There was also an option to do a drive test came up. Do you have that option vn? I think it asked me to press F2 after the warning message and a drive test was one option (it failed) and a memory test another option.

I also wondered about being able to see C drive and files in bios - sounds a bit strange! Do you mean you can see the hard drive listed in bios?

Another thing would be to boot from parted magic on a usb and test the drive that way - something you could do before removing the drive. It runs live from ram.

Although I think I would want to get the files off the drive first and back them up, and then test the drive. And to do that you need an external enclosure for the drive.

glasskuter · Jul 11, 2022

As I said earlier, you can bypass removing the drive and using it an enclosure since most people do not have one.

1.Download Linux Mint Cinnamon. Download Linux Mint 20.3 - Linux Mint

2. Create a live usb Linux Mint usb drive using Rufus like screenshot at bottom of this post.

3. Insert the flash drive as well as a drive to backup your files to. Using f12 at boot, select the uefi flash drive from the boot menu.

4. You will have the option of installing Mint or running it from the usb drive. You should boot into the live Linux Mint environment. Select "start Linux Mint"

5. Once it loads, your will see a desktop similar to the old XP desktop. Use the Linux explorer. If it can see and read your m.2 drive you will see it there. Browse to you user folder on your m.2 drive, Copy and paste your files onto you backup flash drive.

If Linux Mint does not see your M.2, then the drive has completely failed and your files are lost.

jvickers · Jul 11, 2022

Winuser said:
To those that posted a possible drive failure. Why couldn't it just be a driver conflict when the device did an update?

The operative word is "possible", not definite. Anything is conjecture at this point until the OP isolates the issue. Your suggestion is excellent, though!

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