Question How to get my laptop to work from the UEFI Shell? I don't even know what that means.

[babysteps]

Hi, Here's more details-I have an inexpensive 2GB I view Maximus laptop that stopped working-Apparently it had a Win 10 update and there wasn't enough room to make the computer work.I wanted to keep my files so I tried resetting it didnt work - I contacted the Manufacturer they said it sounded like a firmware problem-I sent them a flash drive they loaded everything I tried installing it & After several hours It prompted me to put in a user name and password-After I did that it wanted me to sign in but it kept saying the password was incorrect. I called Microsoft they told me I had to reinstall it. So I did & It made it to a one drive update & restarted all over again-Windows defender started detected an error and the computer went back to black screen. I tried reinstalling with the flash drive & it detected an error and couldn't fix it because its write protected. I think I did something wrong by keeping the flash drive in the whole time. So, I finally took the USB out and now it starts up at the UEFI Screen- I have no idea what this means or if I can go anywhere from this screen. PLEASE HELP!

 

[hang-the-9]

You may want to have some local computer tech take a look at what is happening, sounds like a bunch of things were tried and it may be a drive issue at this point if you can't boot it off the setup disk. Since you took out the USB boot disk without getting Windows installed, that UEFI screen is just the BIOS, what it goes to if it can't find an operating system or can't locate the disk.

 

[babysteps]

Hi, I just saw your reply-Thank u for responding. What do u mean a drive issue?Is that another way of saying I should probably get a new computer?

 

[Prostar Computer]

Sorry if I misunderstood - Have you tried simply reinstalling Windows 10 from scratch? No "upgrade install", no factory reset, just format your primary hard drive and install a clean copy of Windows?

You can get the tool to setup a flash drive to do this from here (instructions for installing are on the page): https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10

 

[babysteps]

I was told I needed a computer that had at least 8Gb to download Win 10 I don't have that so I went to the Library to download Win 1O and it wouldn't let me download it.

 

[Prostar Computer]

The USB flash drive or DVD is what needs 8GB+ of space for the Windows setup. The library likely has restrictions setup to protect their computers. You might need a local tech to reinstall Win 10 for you.

 

[babysteps]

Thank you for responding. Hopefully you can explain somethings to me-The USB flash drive the company sent with firmware shows up in the boot directory as x but it's greyed out Why is that? & When the USB trys to run and the error comes up-I eventually type in regedit and it shows all these files on the C drive as well as on the flash drive. So. my other question is how can all those files be listed on there ie root, sam, software, etc. & But the laptop still won't go anywhere except the UEFI? Back in good ole days the tech guys at whatever company you purchased it would be able to walk you thru typing commands in and would be able to make your computer come back to life. Have the systems changed that much or is it the technicians? Ps-The last part is only about the companies not you guys--You guys are a Godsend. Thank you for your help.

 

[hang-the-9]

Thank you for responding. Hopefully you can explain somethings to me-The USB flash drive the company sent with firmware shows up in the boot directory as x but it's greyed out Why is that? & When the USB trys to run and the error comes up-I eventually type in regedit and it shows all these files on the C drive as well as on the flash drive. So. my other question is how can all those files be listed on there ie root, sam, software, etc. & But the laptop still won't go anywhere except the UEFI? Back in good ole days the tech guys at whatever company you purchased it would be able to walk you thru typing commands in and would be able to make your computer come back to life. Have the systems changed that much or is it the technicians? Ps-The last part is only about the companies not you guys--You guys are a Godsend. Thank you for your help.

This is a bit confusing, if you have some cheap system without even enough space for a Win 10 update, it's a good idea to replace it. Not sure what you mean about regedit, you don't use regedit to show files, it is to edit the Windows registry file.

Not sure what commands you are talking about to bring a system back, what can be done to fix issues all depend on the issue. No amount of typing in commands will fix a failed Windows setup without actually installing Windows properly. Form what you put in the posts, it's really hard to sort out what you have on that USB stick and exactly what is happening. Find someone local to you that can see what is happening.

Your system is basically a toy not really a full computer, it's $110 at WalMart, to buy a Windows 10 license just on it's own would cost someone about $100 (not counting the OEM discounts the vendor would get).

I would check on Craigslist for a used laptop, for about $150-200 you can find some great systems like Lenovo T420/T430 models that will be faster, have normal disk space and will be much more reliable even used.