Recovery Media for Aspire (Win8.1)

merk07

This is about frustration with Acer. My Aspire laptop has, for some time, been acting wonky. It is sluggish and freezes frequently. I have cleaned and cleared all that I can and decided to try a Refresh using the Win8 recovery system. All good until I was told that files I need are missing. They would be on Acer's recovery media, except that no media was provided with this computer. Plus, this unit does not have the e-recovery folder that is discussed in various help articles.

 

I was told by Acer that I need to purchase recovery media for $20. While that is not going to break the bank, as a matter of principal, I am frustrated with Acer's lack of support and failure to provide recovery media access to all users. That is just very poor customer service. I have never had a phone or computer manufacturer that would not help/allow me reset my device when it needed a refresh. Acer is, apparently, taking different tack.

 

Any idea how I can locate recovery media? If I can't get it without paying an Acer tax, I am inclined to simply upgrade to a different, customer-oriented brand of laptop.

Thanks.

merk07

Acer says, "All Acer desktops and notebooks come preloaded with a recovery partition to allow you to restore the operating system on your computer. You can use Acer eRecovery Management software to create recovery media, reinstall Windows without using CDs or DVDs, or just reinstall drivers and applications."

 

This is simply not true, although it sounds good.

IronFly

have you tried pressing ALT+F10 at boot?

merk07

Thanks, IronFly, for that suggestion. I have looked at that as an option but it does not seem as clean as Windows' own Refresh function, which leaves all existing data intact. The Acer function moves all data to a separate backup location for restoration later. I may have to go that route, but for now I am trying to use less draconian (and time consuming) measures. Why Acer does not play nicer with the existing Windows recovery modes is beyond me.

GordonWard

Hi... trying to get some help... may as well start here.  I was cleaning my Aspire S3-310 and somehow hit a key sequence that created a start up error; File:\BCD 0xc0000034.  The computer will now not boot to windows and I cannot seem to access any preloaded recovery tools.  The ALT / F10 keys do not seem to work with Windows 8.  Not sure how to reverse the key sequence to get it back.  Any help would be appreciated.

 

Thanks