New Laptop - Won't Boot

A

Agatheis

Member
Hello all,

I received my new SC laptop a few days ago and started loading up my usual programs and copying files across. Last night I accidentally left it unplugged while doing a file transfer and have come back to a drained laptop that won't boot.

I've plugged in the power and obviously given it some time to charge. But now when I turn it on I get the following message:

IMG_20201105_074836894 (2).jpg


I've tried disabling secure boot in the bios, but I just end up with the "SC" logo and which sits there for as long as I wait. It doesn't seem to be doing anything - There aren't even any spinning dots.

I've also tried booting with my Windows 10 recovery USB - Nothing seems to happen there either.

Any ideas on what to do?

Thanks!

A.
 
A

Agatheis

Member
Sure.

Chassis & DisplayOptimus Series: 17.3" Matte Full HD 120Hz 45% NTSC LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)Intel® Core™ i5 Quad Core Processor 10300H (2.5GHz, 4.5GHz Turbo)
Memory (RAM)16GB Corsair 2400MHz SODIMM DDR4 (1 x 16GB)
Graphics CardNVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1650 - 4.0GB GDDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 12.1
1st Storage Drive256GB PCS 2.5" SSD, SATA 6 Gb (500MB/R, 400MB/W)
down_right_arrow.gif
Partitions: 256GB
1st M.2 SSD Drive1TB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (2000 MB/R, 1100 MB/W)
down_right_arrow.gif
Partitions: 1000GB
Memory Card ReaderIntegrated 3 in 1 Card Reader (Full Size SD / SDHC / SDXC)
AC Adaptor1 x 150W AC Adaptor
Power Cable1 x 1 Metre Cloverleaf UK Power Cable
BatteryOptimus Series Integrated 46WH Lithium Ion Battery
Thermal PasteSTANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Bluetooth & WirelessGIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 (2.4 Gbps) + BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options1 x USB 3.1 PORT (Type C) + 2 x USB 3.1 PORTS + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Keyboard LanguageOPTIMUS SERIES RGB BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD
Click to expand...

One thing I have noticed is that in the UEFI, my hard drives are no longer listed as boot options:

IMG_20201105_084318295.jpg


Previously my two drives were on this list, and if I try to add them, they're not listed as options.

They are still listed on the Advanced screen though:


IMG_20201105_084312328.jpg


Any idea?

Thanks!

A.
 
Martinr36

Martinr36

MOST VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
Assuming your OS is on m.2 try moving the UEFI NVME up from position 5 in boot order to position 1 and see what happens, if no joy then, might be an idea to take the back off and make sure everything is plugged in properly
 
A

Agatheis

Member
Thanks - I gave that a try, but it made no difference.

I notice that if I change "Launch CSM" to Enabled, more boot options appear and my SSDs are listed. If I do that I get an error message that "No Operating System Found. Press Ctrl+Alt+Del to continue." and the boot cycle restarts again.
 
Martinr36

Martinr36

MOST VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
A

Agatheis

Member
I'd love to!

But as I said, booting with my Windows 10 recovery USB just results in the Specialist Computers logo on a black screen.

I'm sure there's something here to do with hard drives that needs to be resolved first.

A.
 
Martinr36

Martinr36

MOST VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
take the back of and make sure that the drives are plugged in properly.
where did you get that recovery usb, is it one that came from PCS or one created via the page i linked you to, if the former then try making one on a fresh usb thumb drive from that link
 
A

Agatheis

Member
Drives appear to be firmly seated.

The Recovery USB I made a couple of days ago from the Microsoft site that you linked to and a fresh 8GB USB stick.

A.
 
Martinr36

Martinr36

MOST VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
Agatheis said:
Drives appear to be firmly seated.

The Recovery USB I made a couple of days ago from the Microsoft site that you linked to and a fresh 8GB USB stick.

A.
Click to expand...
A 16GB stick is recommended for creating the Windows Media tool
 
A

Agatheis

Member
I don't want to get off-topic, but that's not what it says on the website, and it completed perfectly well. I've used it before successfully.

A.
 
D

Deleted member 103489

Guest
Does the usb show up on the bios boot device list?
 
A

Agatheis

Member
Jamie85 said:
Does the usb show up on the bios boot device list?
Click to expand...
Yes, something clearly changes and it doesn't go into BIOS. Instead, I get the SC logo and spinning dots. I've let it run like this for 30 minutes and nothing changes, like it's trying to do something but failing in a loop.

A.
 
A

Agatheis

Member
Spoke to SC Technical Support today - went through similar steps to above. They've offered to replace my 256GB SSD (the boot drive) by courier.

In the mean time, I've taken the SSD out and tried it with two other computers and they simply won't recognise it. Not using a hard drive reader or by plugging it in directly with SATA drive cables and power from the motherboard. Nada. Nothing. The computers just keep trying to read it and not getting there.

So it must be the drive. Every time the laptop tries to boot (and either find an OS or install a new one) it has to read the drive, but the drive is bust.

Hopefully this can be sorted in 24 hours by courier. Thanks for the advice that was given - It was a very unexpected cause!

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Scott

Scott

Behold The Ford Mondeo
Moderator
It certainly sounds like the SSD is at fault.

I believe the advice above was presuming that the OS was installed on the faster NVME drive. This is typically the choice as you would generally want the OS on the fastest drive.
 
A

Agatheis

Member
Scott said:
It certainly sounds like the SSD is at fault.

I believe the advice above was presuming that the OS was installed on the faster NVME drive. This is typically the choice as you would generally want the OS on the fastest drive.
Click to expand...
Windows 10 was installed on the 256GB PCS 2.5" SATA SSD rather on the 1TB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD, on the basis that if anything happened to the OS, it could be restored easily without losing all the data on the main drive.

Now I'm not so sure.

A.
 
Scott

Scott

Behold The Ford Mondeo
Moderator
Agatheis said:
Windows 10 was installed on the 256GB PCS 2.5" SATA SSD rather on the 1TB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD, on the basis that if anything happened to the OS, it could be restored easily without losing all the data on the main drive.

Now I'm not so sure.

A.
Click to expand...

Typically we would recommend a 500GB primary M2 drive for the OS & Programs. This gives plenty of room to have headspace to keep everything running optimal.

For the secondary drive, if it's luxurious fast storage that you are after, we would typically recommend a 1TB M2 drive. If the budget is tight but you still want fast, the 1TB SSD is suggested. If fast storage isn't required, you're onto a 2TB conventional drive.

You always want the OS on the fastest drive. It's where your page file is stored along with all the tiny files that operates with Windows.

Noone will recommend using an SSD for the primary drive with an M2 as the secondary nowadays.
 
Martinr36

Martinr36

MOST VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
Scott said:
It certainly sounds like the SSD is at fault.

I believe the advice above was presuming that the OS was installed on the faster NVME drive. This is typically the choice as you would generally want the OS on the fastest drive.
Click to expand...
Yeah that's certainly where i presumed the OS was
 
Martinr36

Martinr36

MOST VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
Agatheis said:
Windows 10 was installed on the 256GB PCS 2.5" SATA SSD rather on the 1TB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD, on the basis that if anything happened to the OS, it could be restored easily without losing all the data on the main drive.

Now I'm not so sure.

A.
Click to expand...
Do you not backup all your important files to somewhere like onedrive or dropbox, I personally use both, and also backup using Acronis to an Acronis secure Zone on one of my other drives.

Glad it's getting sorted
 
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