2014 Archives

[bowtiefan]

I have an Acer Aspire 5742 series laptop that the hard drive went bad.  I'm in the process of purchasing another hard drive to intall, but understand that I will need to reinstall the Windows 7 operating system to get the computer up and running again.  When I first got the computer new, I made 4 recovery discs (1-4), along with a disc called "AppDr1", a disc called W.7 64-bit, and finally a disc called Acer back-up.  Does anyone know which disc I will need to load the operating system onto the new hard drive or will I need all of these?   If so, in what order should they be loaded?  The new HD will not have any e-recovery files, so not sure how this will work. Thanks for any help!!

[finlux]

Hi bowtiefan

Firstly, make sure that the DVD drive is set to boot first - you can change the settings in BIOS or use the F12 boot menu. Install Disk 1 first - it will tell you when to insert the next disk. Once all four recovery disks have been inserted, WIndows will go through the installation progress - just follow all on screen instructions.

You may not need the AppDrv1 disk - this is just a backup of all drivers & applications that shipped with the computer. The disk marked Acer Backup may be just a back up of documents & files, and is not part of the recovery process.

[bowtiefan]

Thanks for the reply.  What about the Win 7 64-bit disk--Will this disk be part of the recovery process as well? Is this disk the system disk? Thanks!

[finlux]

The Win 7 64 bit disk, just sounds like an ISO image of WIndows 7 -  Did you make this disk yourself or did you get this disk from Acer?

If it is one you made, or even if it is a "proper" disk, but NOT from Acer, you will not need it. The 4 recovery disks are usually sufficient.

[bowtiefan]

Thanks for all your help!  I got my new hard-drive today and was able to use the 4 recovery disks that I originally made at the time I got the computer new.  All the disks reloaded perfectly and Windows 7 is operating properly on the new HD.  Only wish my original hard drive didn't break as I cannot retrieve any old files from it.  It's dead with no movement or sound when I connect it to another computer via a SATA 2.5 case.  Oh well, at least I can still use the computer now!  Thanks again for the very helpful assistance!

[finlux]

You're welcome, and I'm glad you're now fixed.

If the data on your old hard drive was important/precious to you, there are some companies out there who may be able to retrieve data from a dead hard drive - but they can be expensive!