Unable to save changes to ESXi configuration

[westcoaster]

When I make changes to my ESXi host, the changes are lost when I reboot. I suspect the problem is that I am running ESXi off a USB stick and I unintentionally put the USB controller into passthrough mode, so now ESXi does not have access to the USB stick after the host boots. How can I remedy this situation? Will putting the host into maintenance mode help or booting into the alternate configuration help? Is there some way to mount the drive in VMA and edit the files from there?

[athlon_crazy]

If you have vMotion, what's wrong with reinstallation of ESXi? It should take 5-10 minutes to be finished.

[westcoaster]

I have only a single host and no vCenter. I suppose another option would be to simply reinstall ESXi and re-add the 4 guests.