Aspire S3 - Won't boot up with USB recovery drive in USB ports.

I am trying to use a W8 recovery USB drive (made with acer recovery management) in my S3-391. The computer will not boot at all with a USB drive in either of the ports. Upon power-up, the computer shows the "Acer" screen, then the screen goes black, then the "Acer" screen appears again, and then the screen goes black again. It loops like this until I hold the power button for a hard shut down. Tapping F2 or Del doesn't bring up the BIOS or do anything else. The computer boots up fine into W8 and BIOS without anything plugged into the USB ports. I am still running BIOS v. 2.07 but I am not sure if that has anything to do with it, since I can't get to the BIOS at all with the USB in. I have never updated a BIOS but I'm decently computer literate and could probably google my way through it if you think it will help.

Has anyone else experienced this or anything like it?

Thanks.

Accepted answers

finlux

Well, I'm glad we're sorted with the recovery drive!

With regards to the SSD, I have found this.

All comments

finlux

Hi bock_bock!

When you start your S3, do you see the option to press F12 for boot menu? - If you don't, boot into BIOS and look for the option to enable it. Save and exit.

If you see the prompt, press F12 and select the boot option for your USB drive. This should now work.

Post back if you have any further problems.

bock_bock

Hey finlux,

Thanks for the reply! I appreciate the help, apparently I need all that I can get right now. I enabled the F12 Boot Menu in BIOS, and tried it again. The problem, it seems is that when there is a USB drive in the port, the computer won't let me do anything past that first Acer screen. When that USB drive is plugged in, the Acer screen comes up like normal, but then goes blank, and then it just keeps coming up and going blank. Nothing happens when I press F12 or F2 or Del.

When there is nothing in the USB drive, the Boot Menu comes up just fine like normal. I'm not sure what to try next, I guess it could be a problem with the motherboard, but I really don't know.

Thanks again for your help!

finlux

Hi bock_bock!

I think there may be a problem with the USB drive itself. If you start Windows normally, THEN insert the USB stick, does it appear to work? Is there anything on the drive?

Can you try to make another USB recovery drive with another USB stick to see if that works?

bock_bock

The drive works like normal once in windows, I can read/write to it with no problem. I tried to boot up with the usb drive plugged in while it had the recovery info on it and also while it was blank and it did the same thing both times. I don't have another usb drive right now, but I will pick one up today and see if it does the same thing!

Thanks again for your help! I will let you know what happens!

finlux

Thanks, and good luck!

bock_bock

So, I found a little 256MB Flash Drive, obviously not nearly big enough to copy the recovery partition to, but I plugged it in and restarted the computer expecting to see the same problem, but the computer booted up normally! I restarted again to try to get to bios and it went right into bios, no problem. So, my next question is, does it matter what the flash drive is formatted in? The little 256mb that worked was formatted in FAT and the 32gb one is formatted in FAT32 I think. Or should I just go buy a brand new 16gb flash drive for the recovery partition?

Thanks a lot for your help so far! I feel like you are close to solving my problem!! Smiley Happy

finlux

I think we're close too!

Buy a new 16GB memory stick. Go for a decent make, like Sandisk or Integral and run the eRecovery program again. Hopefully this will work!

bock_bock

So, finlux, you solved my problem! I guess there was something wrong with that flash drive and it didnt want to boot. The new flash drive did the trick. Now I have another problem, though. The reason I needed to do all this was because I am trying to install a SSD in the S3. I installed the SSD correctly (I think, I have only done SSD upgrades in Macbook Pros, so I am new with PCs, but it is pretty straight forward) I plugged the flash drive in with the recovery partition on it and booted it up. I made the USB drive number 1 in boot options in BIOS. I selected my language and it gave me two options, "troubleshoot" and "power off the pc." I clicked trouble shoot and the options were "refresh", "reset" and "advanced" if I recall correctly. I tried "reset" and followed instructions and it started to do its thing and then said "unable to reset the PC, the system drive cannot be found." Then I tried refresh, knowing that there is nothing on the drive to refresh, and it said "the drive where windows is installed is locked, please unlock to continue."

You have helped me so much already, I hate to ask for more guidance, but are there some settings in BIOS that I need to enable in order for the motherboard to recognize the new SSD? Like I said I am new to PC's. Sorry if this is a silly questions. I appreciate your help, thanks!

PS I made the recovery disk with Acer's Recovery Management program if that helps. Thanks!

finlux

Well, I'm glad we're sorted with the recovery drive!

With regards to the SSD, I have found this.

bock_bock

Thanks again for your help. I'm not sure what to do now. It is an S3 so I don't have an optical drive. When I type in my SNID number in the store it tells me that I can only order the USB Thumb Drive since my machine doesnt have an optical drive. I guess I am just out of luck. I could just buy a caddy and migrate but I heard that is not the recommended way and a new install of the OS is better.

Anyway, guess I am out of luck...Thanks for all your help though, you have been great!

finlux

You could always buy a USB optical drive, and a retail version of Windows and install it that way. Just remember to download the drivers first from the Acer support website!

bock_bock

Would I have to buy the retail version or could I just buy an external opitcal drive, burn the recovery discs, then install the SSD and install W8 with the recovery dvds?

Thanks!

finlux

Yes, you certainly can - if Acer eRecovery gives you the option to.

bock_bock

Hey, finlux, I just had an interesting thought. My s3 came with a 320gb hdd and the 20gb ssd for cache. Theoretically, could I use the recovery software on the computer and "recover" the OS to the SSD and then install the aftermarket SSD and "recover" the OS back over the new SSD (which I assume is faster than the acer 20gb ssd)? Anyway, just wanted your input on that idea. I might be crazy but I just am anxious to get this machine set up for my wife.

Anyway, if it is too crazy an idea to even warrant a response, I understand. Just thought I would see what you had to say since you have been so helpful so far!