reinstalling system from scratch

I have an Acer 1682. Recently I installed some software that made my system unstable. I don't know where the problem is so I finally decided to reinstall my system from scratch. The computer came with three recovery CD and, if I understand correctly, it should be possible to do this with them. I just can not figure out how!!!

How do you reinstall everything with these CD's? I tried restarting from the CD's and it didn't work. There is no bat exe or com files on any of them.

 

You need to boot to the restore disc and then follow the prompts.

Dan.

 

Thanks but that is exactly my problem, I am not beeing able to boot to the restore disks, and if I look inside there doesn't seem to be anything that can execute, as I said no *.bat, *.exe or *.com. I thought maybe I am missing a CD but I have all 3 of 3.

 

Have you gone into the bios and set it so that the cdrom/dvd boots first? 2nd have you tried all three disc? If they are not booting for you, call acer tech support and they will walk you through it. You'll have to talk to them if the disc are defective anyway. The F12 option maybe already set on your bios, look at the bottom of the screen when your system first boots (bios pre-boot screen) there maybe an option to hit f12 for boot device selection. HTH

Dan.

 

Yea, go in the Bios and check. If it still doesn't work, check to see if you still have that 2gig partition. If you do you can use that to do a hard disk recovery.

This recovery process helps you restore the C: drive with the original
software content that is installed when you purchase your notebook.
Follow the steps below to rebuild your C: drive. (Your C: drive will be reformatted and all data will be erased.) It is important to back up all data files before you use this option.
Before performing a restore operation, please check the BIOS settings.

a Check to see if "Hard Disk Recovery" function is enabled or not.
b Make sure the [Hard Disk Recovery] setting in [Advanced] is [Enabled].
c Exit the BIOS Setup Utility and save changes. The system will reboot.

1 Restart the system.
2 The instruction "Press <F2> to Enter BIOS" is shown at the bottom of the screen, during POST.
3 Press <Alt> + <F10> at the same time to enter the recovery process.
4 The message "The system has password protection. Please enter 000000:" is displayed.
5 Enter six 0s and continue.
6 "Acer Self-Configuration Preload" window appears.
7 Use the arrow keys to scroll through the items (operating system versions) and press "Enter" to select.

=======================================
One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter.
My advice is based on personal experience. Effectiveness will vary.

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by gecko

 

this may be slightly off topic but...

is it possible to partition before reinstalling using the recovery discs? is this valid for most notebooks pcs?

 

Hi, can't you perform a system restore to a point before you installed the offending software?
ChrisC

 

WWorld,
I don't beileve it's possible to just install the OS ontop of itself without losing data. Acer uses an image file which gets extracted onto of everything. You can try installing Windows from a stand-alone XP CD (non-Acer supplied CD) like you can get from the store. This will allow you to install XP right on-top of the existing OS, which just replaces the current OS files with the ones on the CD. Your data should still be intact. But you may want to backup yourdata just in case before performing.

Deopee,
If the Recovery CD's are image based, then no. Some manufacturers are starting to just include an OS CD & a drivers/apps CD. This way, the user can re-install the OS without re-installing all the drivers/software that the manufacturer provides on the drive when you first power it on. If you have just an OS CD, then it's possible.

Jgsacris,
The Acer systems use an imaging method to restore their systems. A copy of the entire HDD is compressed and saved onto the CD/DVD's and then restored when you boot off the disc. You probably won't see any executable files on the disc through Windows, this is because all the files are probably located on the Boot section of the disc. This is usually not accessible unless you boot off the disc. If you perform the steps to make your CD drive bootable in the BIOS, I'm sure it'll read the disc w/o any problems. Just out of curiosity, what file extension did the files on the CD have?

-Vb-

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by Venombite

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by Venombite

 

Wworld,

Actually, what the manufacturers provide is an operating system, they don't say anywhere they provide an operating system that you can install on top of itself so you can recover your data. [ ] That's the loop-hole. Their restore CD's, after being restored, will give you a fully operational OS, that's what you paid for.

All manufacturers recommend to backup your data on a regular basis, as things like this can always happen out of the blue. If you can see into the future, there would be no need to backup anything or to even have recovery cd's as everything could be avoided. [ ] Since this is not the case, there are other methods to backup your data.

1. Using Backup software
2. Transfer important data to removable drive/disk
3. Burn important data onto CD

In the event that the OS is not bootable, you can always boot from a Linux "Live CD" and transfer the data out (should be able to read NTFS now). Another method is to take your HDD out and connect to another computer as a slave and transfer the data out, restore system and transfer back.

In the event that something needs the OS CD, you can point to an i386 folder that the manufacturer would most likely have put into the root of your C: drive. This contains all the OS files located on an OS CD.

Making the recovery CD from the hidden partition will make the exact same recovery CD's you have. It's still based on the Image technology and will still overwrite your HDD and all the data.

-Vb-

 

Wworld,

I guess using that technique can build yourself an XP CD to re-install your OS. I don't know how well that will work, so obviously it's a "try at your own risk" test. It also requires you to have the i386 folder. If you don't have that in your system, you're also stuck, because you need this folder from your HDD or from the original XP CD's.

-Vb-