Notebooks & Netbooks

[Acer-Cory]

I would agree with finlux, that restarting the restore process at this point would be the best option at this point.

I did a bit of research to see if we had any other reported cases on the AO722 getting stuck like this and I haven't found anything. Occasionally we see the restore processes get stuck, but usually Alt-Ctrl-Del or a restart can move you forward. This is definitely an odd situation.

[PilotDave]

Thanks, both of you. I'm at a meeting until early afternoon. Will try this when I am finished.
Dave

[PilotDave]

Okay - I have restarted the Restore.

IF this runs normally, can you suggest how long should the entire process take?

Thanks much.

Dave

[PilotDave]

I restarted the Restore process. It's hung up at the same point, Installing Office 2010 (step 22/38). Am having the same issues with trying to stop the process to access MSCONFIG, etc.

Is there some way that I can eliminate Office 2010 from the Restore before it starts running?

Would it work to do the Alt+F10 and to select Restore Applications and Drivers? Would that give me the option to pick which applications I want to restore - and would Windows be fully loaded by the Restore I'm running now?

Thanks,

Dave

[Acer-Cory]

Dave,

No, it's just installing an image and going from there. You wouldn't be able to pick and choose. 

A couple options are:

1. Was a back created at somepoint prior to running into this issue? I would suggest running that to rule out bad sectors on the HDD.
2. http://shop.acer.com is where recovery media can be purchased.

 These options could require an external DVD drive. It's hard to say if there is a potential issue with the HDD or the load or both at this point.

[PilotDave]

No backup media are available. I don't think there's a DVD drive available from the owner, but I will check.

[PilotDave]

Did the Model AO722 come with a plug-in DVD drive? I don't see any listed in the Acer store. Or is there a generic drive that I could buy at a computer shop?

Thanks.

Dave

[JackE]

If your Acer erecovery is not acting as it should, you can get the machine up and running with a fresh generic copy of Win7 though not a fresh Acer copy of Win7. 

You should have a Win7 product key on the underside of the AO722. If so, you can make a bootable USB Win7 setup stick by first downloading the appropriate Win7 version (32 or 64 bit) iso image from this site. It's free.

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-windows_install/i-do-not-have-windows-7-m...

Then you can run the Windows 7 USB/DVD download tool on this iso image from this site to create the bootable USB (should be at least 8gb)

http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msusa/html/pbPage.Help_Win7_usbdvd_dwnTool#installation

Go into your bios to set the USB stick as your primary boot disk.

This process should at least get you into Win7 setup without losing the data and Acer OEM drivers that're already on the machine. It will not, however, return the machine to Acer factory defaults. Those will have to be done manually from the using the OEM directory.

The machine should start and operate Win7 normally for about a week or so. Then a Microsoft message will pop up directing you to call an automated 800 number to complete the activation process using the key on the underside of the machine. 

A bit of a hassle, I know. But you'll at least get the machine working again.

Jack E/NJ 

[PilotDave]

Jack - thanks for venturing into this quaqmire!

I followed most of the steps you describe. However, I'm a little lost with this part - my technical level isn't very high:

"This process should at least get you into Win7 setup without losing the data and Acer OEM drivers that're already on the machine. It will not, however, return the machine to Acer factory defaulta. Those will have to be done manually from the using the OEM directory."

Will this Win7 setup install the ACER OEM drivers? Or do I have to do this separately - is this what you are referring to when you say "Those will have to be done manually..."? And how would I do this manual restore?

Thanks a lot.

Dave

[JackE]

The generic Win7 setup should recognize, setup and allow you to operate most of the components on the machine, such as sound, graphics, display, ports, keyboard, etc. However, they might not operate optimally. For that, the Acer OEM drivers need to be installed and should still be within a subdirectory called OEM on the C-drive. They can usually be installed by just double-clicking one or more installation files. A bit involved, but nothing you can't handle. But we're not ready to fine-tune yet. First, you gotta get the machine to boot into Win7, either by Acer-specific Win7 erecovery or by generic Win7 setup. I wouldn't give up yet on Acer erecovery till you hear again from Finlux and/or Acer-Cory.

Jack E/NJ