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November 21st, 2022 12:00
m17 R2, SA OS Recovery stopped halfway through factory reset
So while doing a factory reset on M17 R2 using my Alienware's built-in SupportAssist OS Recovery program, it stopped the process halfway through without even giving a reason and it wasn't my Ethernet connection suddenly going out either. After trying to restart the process all over again, now the S.A. OS Recovery program is gone. Apparently everything else on my drive is too... because now when I reboot my laptop it goes right into SupportAssist | Pre-Boot System Performance Check, then I get a notice saying NO BOOTABLE DEVICES WERE FOUND! POSSIBLE CAUSES COULD BE A CORRUPT OS IMAGE OR A BOOT DEVICE IS NOT ENABLED IN BIOS SETUP. and just has a SHUTDOWN option. For the record, I'm not some pro when it comes to PC's but I'm not a noob either. But this is insane because my laptop was working fine prior to doing this factory reset. I've never used SupportAssist OS Recovery because I've always done clean Windows installs when I get a different gaming laptop. But I trusted this built-in Dell OS Recovery to make it easier and ONLY so I could backup pictures I had in my files along the way and it failed me miserably!!! I can't even do a fresh Windows 10 install on this thing, which at this point is what I'd prefer doing. Can someone please help me get my laptop working again? I'd really appreciate it.
Ronster253
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31 Posts
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November 21st, 2022 14:00
Did more research about this issue and found a solution. In Secure Boot I change Secure Boot Mode from Deployed Mode to Audit Mode, then disabled Secure Boot and was able to reboot laptop so it's booting off thumb drive. Fresh install is finally happening. Thanks for your help community!
filbert
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November 21st, 2022 13:00
I'm sorry that happened, It's frustrating when tools don't work as expected, especially when it hobbles our systems.
This concerns me. I would have left it alone and hoped it would resume at some point. By restarting, you may have cancelled the original process before your drive was bootable again. Now the OS is either gone or corrupted and thus unbootable.
I think you'd be able to easily learn how to create full disk images using Acronis (my choice) or Macrium (which many prefer). That way, you'd have local copies of multiple backup images ready for any disaster recovery. Personally, I wouldn't trust a cloud image backup as my sole disaster solution.
Why not? Why can't you clean install Windows? That's what I would do, assuming that you have your personal files/documents saved. If you don't, then you may want to attempt file recovery from the drive before proceeding with any other operations.
filbert
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November 21st, 2022 14:00
In your first post you never said that you could not boot from installation flash drive. I can't provide relevant help if you don't tell me the issues.
You mentioned the thumb drive/USB drive, but you didn't say how you created the Windows 10 installer. It needs to be created to support UEFI, and if your drive is GPT then it needs to support that.
You can either download Windows 10 ISO and use Rufus to create the installer on USB flash drive (select GPT, if that's how your drive is setup), or you can use Microsoft Media Creation Tool to perform the entire process on the flash drive. I like to use Rufus, but many people find Microsoft Media Creation Tool less intimidating.
I believe you will need temporarily to disable Secure Boot to perform the installation from flash drive.
When the installer flash drive is ready, disconnect unnecessary peripherals. Insert the flash drive, reboot while holding down or repeatedly pressing (depends upon the system) F12 to enter the boot menu and select the flash drive.
How to Create a Windows 10 UEFI Bootable USB Drive from ISO (windowsreport.com)
How to install Windows 10 from USB with UEFI support | Windows Central
Ronster253
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November 21st, 2022 14:00
This is what it's showing with thunb-drive inserted
Ronster253
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31 Posts
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November 21st, 2022 14:00
Something in regards to the USB drive shows up when I choose File Browser Add Boot Option, but I'm not knowledgeable with that feature so I back out. If that's how I can boot from my thumb drive to put on a fresh install then I'll definitely go that route if you or anyone else in the community would be so kind to instruct me how to do it.
Ronster253
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November 21st, 2022 14:00
I definitely left it alone as soon as that Support Assist Recovery just stopped for absolutely no reason...for 5 hours I left it just the way it stopped and didn't touch it. I spent a few of those hours researching possible causes, solutions etc. Even tried fresh install. But it won't show my Thumb drive anywhere in BIOS/UEFI Boot Option and of course it's hard ruled for just UEFI with no Legacy option. Not too concern about pictures I lost. I have them backed up elsewhere. I just want to put a fresh install on my laptop (done it many times on other PC's) but Im having a hard time figuring out how to do it on this M17 R2, so if you have any other recommendations I'd appreciate them. Thank you.