Acer aspire one cloudbook 14 stuck in boot loop?

Hello, well it's been over couple months since my laptop hasn't been able to start up. It just stays in the Acer load up screen and turns black and keeps going in a loop. I tried everything for the menu I even tried Resetting PC but it says it cannot reset and I tried restore to a point and it says I have no restore points. I tried everything that I saw on the internet, only thing I didn't was take out the battery I don't know how to I unscrew the bolts on the back but it wouldn't come off. So at this point I don't know what to do I can't afford to get a new one right now. Last time I tried rebooting my laptop that's the main reason it started but I did it wrong, after watching videos I was suppose to do it in the control panel of the computer but by time I found that out it, it was stuck in that loop. I don't have a disc area to put anything in the laptop so that's out of the picture.

Please can someone help me get out of this loop.

Accepted answers

Smugbug19

I had the same problem on my Aspire after I decided to do a factory reset (apparently there was a problem in windows X for this). I could not get it to get past the "ACER" logo on the screen and I feel as though I tried everything! After over 6 months of messing with it and doing different solutions I managed to get it working. This was my only successful attempt. I will include notes on the bottom of what other solutions seemed to fail for me (ALT + F10, using the command prompts to fixboot, etc) so If you have tried everything including automatic repair and system restore then try the following:

1. Look up which version of Windows your computer is running. (I had to google my model number from my phone to figure this out since everything was inaccessible on my laptop) you need to know if your running the 32 or 64 bit system.

2. Get a flash drive that has at least 8 gigs available for 64 bit system and 4 gigs for the 32. On another computer you will have to go to:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10
and download the installation media for Windows 10. You have to know the system (32 vs 64) and select download for another computer. The rest of the prompts are fairly easy as it walks your through the download. The first time I did mine it failed, but the second time worked perfectly.

3. Plug your flash drive into the Acer and power it up. It should load from the USB DRIVE and proceed to the Windows installation. If it is not loading the windows installation from your flash drive try hitting any button on your laptop to activate the external load. If that is not working and it is still looping back to the ACER screen do this:

*When the screen goes black (right before the Acer logo normally appears- its resetting the power cycle) hit F2 until you see the screen load your bios menu. It should be blue or grey. Scroll with you Arrows over to the boot tab and see if your HDD is number one on the boot list. Follow the instructions on the right side of the menu to raise it to the number one slot if not I think you would hit F5 and F6 to adjust the order. Your system should also list UEFI bootloader - not Legacy. Legacy boot is a last resort I will include in the bottom notes. Now scroll over to Exit and hit Save changes and Exit. It should load from your Flash drive now. If it is still not working try making you FDD (Flash disk drive) the #1 slot and HDD #2. Hit save & exit.

4. It will show the Purple Windows "Install Now" screen. You can attempt to Repair your computer by clicking the link on the bottom left of the window. (I had already attempted the repair before my installation media was in by hitting alt + F10. I tried again but my repair attempts were unsuccessful still as I would just get stuck in the boot loop again after the repair would attempt to restart the computer for it's last step, but this might work for others attempting to recover the data on the laptop.) You can hit Install windows- I could not upgrade from the installation media, so I was forced to do the CUSTOM INSTALL. Select to keep your files or new. I was already attempting a Factory reset so I did not have any files to keep. You can try option 1 and keep your files, but it did not get me out of boot loop hell doing that.

5. If you are starting from new, like I was, Windows will ask which disk you want to install on. If it lets you select the disk that says ACER- or similar (Could be your user- Drive c:) depending on what you have already tried to do to fix the issue. Mine came up as not enough space to re-install windows so I had to expand the partition to get it to fit.

6. Windows will go through and start the install, let it bake! I attempted this three or four times getting stuck in boot loop again after the Finishing up section... I even attempted to reinstall windows through the legacy boot- you cant since it is running on a different type of data for the Disk. How I got around the boot loop (even after taking out the Flash drive and windows was installed again it would loop to the Acer logo!) cycle was to let it finish up and wait until the screen says "restarting computer in 5...4..." When it hits 1 and the screen goes black pull out your flash drive! *Hit F2 and change your boot order back to HDD 1st if you switched it before.

Windows should load from factory reset!

NOTES:
I had to take some extra steps for mine, and anyone who is trying to recover data instead of resetting fresh might not find this helpful, however I was attempting anything I could to save my computer from death. ($200+ is a lot of money to waste for me and I just wanted a laptop again! I didnt care if I had to start fresh..) I am running out of space so I will continue in the next post if you still need work...

All comments

Randystillday

markhilt1986

I have the same problem. It will boot to the Acer logo, go black, and then it will just repeat the process. Been going on for almost a year now. I've tried many things and all have failed. Any help would be great.

HisGirl0830

Same problem here.

Drewper

I know this is an old thread but did anyone get this sorted at all?

My daughter has had her Cloudbook 14 for two years whilst at Uni. She is going back this year to do her masters and the Cloudbook has decided to do the Boot Loop thing as described.

I have tried resetting using the Alt f10, Troubleshooting, Option. She had removed all her files to a separate Harddrive so I have tried the "Remove All" Factory Reset option. When it does this i've seen it get to 62% and no higher. Next this i see is a completion screen that says "there was a problem restting this laptop" (or similar) and we're back to square 1.

I've read, elsewhere on this community, about using a programme called RUFUS to create a bootable USB by copying ISOs however this may be beyond me - although I'm not scared to use the DOS prompt i'm not experienced at it!

Can ANYONE suggest anything I might try OR offer some advice re the RUFUS route if it's appropriate.

TIA

billsey

First thing you should probably do is post the question in one of the Windows forums here. The Chromebooks and Cloudbooks are very different! You may find that a Windows reinstall using a Rufus created boot drive will be your best choice, but look more into doing the startup repair after clearing up some space on the drive will work better, without losing your configuration. The Cloudbooks come with very little local storage, expecting everything to be in the cloud, but a lot of apps aren't really good at not using local storage.

Sjharriss

Hi,
i too have the same issue as above with my acer cloudbook 14..
It too is suck and wont boot up, i have tried too the repair and it only gets to 62%
i have tried just about everything in my level of knowledge to fix it..
any suggestions?
I tried to boot and re install windows from usb and even that said i had windows or something along those lines and didnt work.

HELP PLEASE

[edited for privacy-please do not post personal or unique information such as but not limited to full names, email addresses, phone numbers, full serial numbers, etc.]

Sjharriss

Did you have any luck?

Frank_Grimes

My niece came over with this problem yesterday. I managed to to reinstall windows and her laptops is back running without any problems. I know its late but I hope it helps someone

1. Power on the computer and immediately start pressing f2. Once you're in the BIOS press the right arrow until boot is highlighted scroll down to boot mode and press enter then select legacy. Press the right arrow until exit is highlighted. Highlight 'exit saving changes' then press enter.

2. Download Windows 10 iso(a iso is basically a file that is treated live a CD) from windows website or however you get it. Download Rufus Here. Install rufus and run it. Open the folder where you downloaded Windows 10. Drag the Windows iso on top of the open rufus program and drop it on the open program. Insert your usb stick into your computer/laptop and click start. This should take 3-10 minutes depending on the speed of the drive.

3. Insert the usb stick into your cloudbook 14 and power it on while continuously pressing f12. You cloudboot will give you boot choices. Your usb stick will be a listed press enter.

If you are unfamiliar with installing windows here is a step by step walkthrough by Lowell Heddings.

How to Install Windows 10 on Your PC

By Lowell Heddings

You'll see a screen like this one:

Click Next and you'll be taken to the Install now button screen. Which obviously you should click.

At this point you can choose whether you want to upgrade Windows or install a new custom install. Since were recommending that everybody install into a virtual machine or on a test PC, you should select Custom here.

Update: You should probably choose to Upgrade the first time, because the license key might not work otherwise.

At this point you'll need to pick where to install Windows 10. You might need to delete or create a partition,

if you have a problem installing because it says something about Gpt you can convert your drive to Gpt by following these instructions.

1. Convert MBR to GPT using Diskpart

press the Shift + F10 keys to open command prompt and type in DISKPART and press Enter.
Then type in list disk (Note down the number of the disk that you want to convert to GPT)
Then type in select disk number of disk.
Finally, type in convert gpt.

If ther's no problems click Next.

And now it will install.

Once the PC reboots again, you'll be able to select the settings like whether Windows Updates are enabled (they aren't allowed to be disabled in the preview). We'd recommend just using the express settings if you are using a test machine — use Custom if you're really going to use the computer.

And now you can sign into your Microsoft account. We'd recommend using a Microsoft account because otherwise you won’t be able to use half of the new features and you may as well use Linux or stick with Windows 7.

If you’ve setup your account properly you’ll probably be asked to verify it in the middle. We excluded those steps from this article, but they are pretty simple.

Now you’ll be asked how to setup the PC. Since we wanted to test everything as a new computer, we chose to set it up as a new PC instead, but you could copy all your settings from another computer if you wanted to.

Want to use OneDrive? It’s nicely integrated into Windows, so we just left it alone.

And now a colorful screen that tells us things are happening.

And finally, we are at the desktop! Note that the desktop on the full release of Windows 10 looks different, and this screenshot came from a pre-release version.

justindaniel

frank the infomtaion that you helped me alot thankyou

Hoppie

My new Acer aspire also was acting up so I tried a reset and it sticks and loops at 62%, I even purchased a new Windows 10 flashdrive and installed it and you guessed it, it still loops. As I bought it from **** Smith before they closed their stores I dont really have any come back so I am hoping someone has a solution, ta.

[edited to override word filter]

Hoppie

I reinstalled my Acer with a new Windows 10 flashdrive and got to the new full install window and then it started freezing again so I reset it again and it looped at 62% again so that didnt help me.

TeKola

I had same problem. I lost my recovery partition. Reinstalled Windows 10 from Microsoft Recovery Download. But now my computer won't boot in UEFI mode and only boots on the 2nd power up. Lost all Factory installed software as well. Upgraded BIOS to 1.12. Installed Linux (Lubuntu) from instructions online. Works well, fast boot and fast shutdown. New environment takes getting used to.

Smugbug19

I had the same problem on my Aspire after I decided to do a factory reset (apparently there was a problem in windows X for this). I could not get it to get past the "ACER" logo on the screen and I feel as though I tried everything! After over 6 months of messing with it and doing different solutions I managed to get it working. This was my only successful attempt. I will include notes on the bottom of what other solutions seemed to fail for me (ALT + F10, using the command prompts to fixboot, etc) so If you have tried everything including automatic repair and system restore then try the following:

1. Look up which version of Windows your computer is running. (I had to google my model number from my phone to figure this out since everything was inaccessible on my laptop) you need to know if your running the 32 or 64 bit system.

2. Get a flash drive that has at least 8 gigs available for 64 bit system and 4 gigs for the 32. On another computer you will have to go to:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10
and download the installation media for Windows 10. You have to know the system (32 vs 64) and select download for another computer. The rest of the prompts are fairly easy as it walks your through the download. The first time I did mine it failed, but the second time worked perfectly.

3. Plug your flash drive into the Acer and power it up. It should load from the USB DRIVE and proceed to the Windows installation. If it is not loading the windows installation from your flash drive try hitting any button on your laptop to activate the external load. If that is not working and it is still looping back to the ACER screen do this:

*When the screen goes black (right before the Acer logo normally appears- its resetting the power cycle) hit F2 until you see the screen load your bios menu. It should be blue or grey. Scroll with you Arrows over to the boot tab and see if your HDD is number one on the boot list. Follow the instructions on the right side of the menu to raise it to the number one slot if not I think you would hit F5 and F6 to adjust the order. Your system should also list UEFI bootloader - not Legacy. Legacy boot is a last resort I will include in the bottom notes. Now scroll over to Exit and hit Save changes and Exit. It should load from your Flash drive now. If it is still not working try making you FDD (Flash disk drive) the #1 slot and HDD #2. Hit save & exit.

4. It will show the Purple Windows "Install Now" screen. You can attempt to Repair your computer by clicking the link on the bottom left of the window. (I had already attempted the repair before my installation media was in by hitting alt + F10. I tried again but my repair attempts were unsuccessful still as I would just get stuck in the boot loop again after the repair would attempt to restart the computer for it's last step, but this might work for others attempting to recover the data on the laptop.) You can hit Install windows- I could not upgrade from the installation media, so I was forced to do the CUSTOM INSTALL. Select to keep your files or new. I was already attempting a Factory reset so I did not have any files to keep. You can try option 1 and keep your files, but it did not get me out of boot loop hell doing that.

5. If you are starting from new, like I was, Windows will ask which disk you want to install on. If it lets you select the disk that says ACER- or similar (Could be your user- Drive c:) depending on what you have already tried to do to fix the issue. Mine came up as not enough space to re-install windows so I had to expand the partition to get it to fit.

6. Windows will go through and start the install, let it bake! I attempted this three or four times getting stuck in boot loop again after the Finishing up section... I even attempted to reinstall windows through the legacy boot- you cant since it is running on a different type of data for the Disk. How I got around the boot loop (even after taking out the Flash drive and windows was installed again it would loop to the Acer logo!) cycle was to let it finish up and wait until the screen says "restarting computer in 5...4..." When it hits 1 and the screen goes black pull out your flash drive! *Hit F2 and change your boot order back to HDD 1st if you switched it before.

Windows should load from factory reset!

NOTES:
I had to take some extra steps for mine, and anyone who is trying to recover data instead of resetting fresh might not find this helpful, however I was attempting anything I could to save my computer from death. ($200+ is a lot of money to waste for me and I just wanted a laptop again! I didnt care if I had to start fresh..) I am running out of space so I will continue in the next post if you still need work...

Smugbug19

*CONTINUED*
If this still is leading you into boot loop hell you can attempt these fixes- as well. Before step 3, (Do not put your installation media in yet, it's ok if you attempted the installation already, but we need it to boot regular) you may need to Use Command Prompt from Windows 10 Boot Options menu or Delete the problematic file, which has worked for some. I followed instructions for this from here: windowsreport dot com / windows-10-automatic-repair-couldnt-repair-pc

Hit ALT+F10 to Access the Boot Menu. You should see it after your computer restarts a few times. (Hit the ATL+F10 when your screen is black before the boot up starts. You should see "Please wait" under the ACER logo if you did it right.)
Choose Troubleshoot > Advanced Options.
Select Command Prompt from list of options.
When Command Prompt appears, enter the following lines and press Enter after each line in order to run it:
- bootrec.exe /rebuildbcd
- bootrec.exe /fixmbr
- bootrec.exe /fixboot
Some users are also suggesting that you need to run additional chkdskcommands as well. To perform these commands, you need to know drive letters for all your HDD partitions. In Command Prompt you should enter the following (but remember to use the letters that match your hard drive partitions on your PC):
- chkdsk /r c:
- chkdsk /r d:
This is just our example, so keep in mind that you have to perform chkdsk command for every hard drive partition that you have.

You can see if this worked (IF your still boot looping when you restart your computer continue on):

Hit ALT+F10 to Access the Boot Menu. You should see it after your computer restarts a few times. (Hit the ATL+F10 when your screen is black before the boot up starts. You should see "Please wait" under the ACER logo if you did it right.)
Choose Troubleshoot > Advanced Options > Command Prompt.
When Command Prompt opens, enter the following (Hit enter after each line):

C:
cd WindowsSystem32LogFilesSrt
SrtTrail.txt

After the file opens, you should see something like this: Boot critical file c:windowssystem32driversvsock.sys is corrupt. We have to mention that this is just an example as you will mostly likely get a different result. Now, you need to perform some research into what exactly this problematic file does. In our case, vsock.sys was a file related to a third party application called VMWare. Since this isn’t operating system file that is required by Windows 10, we can delete it.

To delete a file, you need to navigate to the specified location using the Command Prompt and enter del command. In our example, it would look like this:

cd c:windowssystem32drivers
del vsock.sys (this was not my person experience but it might help others)

Once again, this is just an example, and you might have to navigate to a different folder and delete a different file. Before deleting a file, make sure the file you want to delete isn’t a core Windows 10 file or else you can cause damage to your operating system. After you’ve removed the problematic file, restart your computer and uninstall the program that caused you this issue (in our case it was VMWare, but it might be a different program for you). You can see a list of files in the file log (If you got in that far by typing DIR and hitting enter) **This is from the website- not what was happening with my ACER but I left this in here in case it helps you**

-----------

When I attempted this I could not get step 3 to find the file. So if you are getting some kind of error message like file does not exist or incorrect path/command then you may need to do what I did in order for me to find the file that seems to be the problematic one. I got around this buy doing the following and accessing my file directly to delete it.

1. Shut down the computer and turn it on. While the screen is still black (right before the Acer logo normally appears-) hit F2 until you see the screen load your bios menu. It should be blue or grey. Scroll with you Arrows over to the boot tab and go down to UEFI bootloader hit enter and switch it to LEGACY (Dont worry you will be able to switch it back after). It may load a message that says "windows does not recommend..." yada yada we know- it's only temporary so continue with the legacy boot load. Now scroll over to Exit and hit Save changes and Exit.

2. Plug in your Flash drive with the installation media on it before you start the next boot loop. It should load from your Flash drive now. You will see the Acer logo and then the Windows one. Load to the Install windows screen. you can only use your tab button and sometimes the arrow to navigate here. Go to repair computer at the bottom left. Mine went on to do the same error “Windows 10 Automatic Repair couldn’t repair your PC- but it might work for you.

3. When the next boot loop is starting do the following:
We do not have an image file to repair from but this is a hack I found to get into the system and delete the problematic file when my limited command prompt skills had failed me.

Hit ALT+F10 to Access the Boot Menu. Even during legacy mode you can get to the access menu. It will say Please wait again.
Choose Troubleshoot > Advanced Options.
Select Repair from Image file from list of options.
Hit ok to search for the "image" file (we are not actually loading one, but this gets us in the files). It will open a normal file window.
Navigate to your C: drive and select the windows file, hit enter to open.
Find your system32 file and open that.
Find your your log file and open it.
Find the SRT file and open it.
NOW COMPLETELY DELETE THE SrtTrail.txt file (Mine had two and I deleted both) by hitting the Delete key once you have selected them.
Complete the delete when the window pops up to confirm.

Now you can exit the menu you are in and start another boot. Unplug your flash drive while the computer is off and before it boots up while the screen is still black (right before the Acer logo normally appears-) hit F2 until you see the screen load your bios menu again. We want to go into the boot and change it back to UEFI bootloader. Hit enter on Legacy and switch it to UEFI bootloader hit enter. Now scroll over to Exit and hit Save changes and Exit.

Before your next boot loop starts plug back in your flash drive with the installation media on it. I completely reinstalled my windows starting at step 3 of my original post and it's very important that you pull out the flash drive when it counts down tot he restart after the finishing up or you will boot into the flash drive again. Once my computer restarted it loaded windows normally!

I hope this helps and sorry if it is confusing, I am not a tech savvy person but found this all out through trial and error hoping to help anyone else who has been burned by the ACER boot loop of DEATH when nothing else worked!!!!

Jimray65

Smugbug19 said:

I had the same problem on my Aspire after I decided to do a factory reset (apparently there was a problem in windows X for this). I could not get it to get past the "ACER" logo on the screen and I feel as though I tried everything! After over 6 months of messing with it and doing different solutions I managed to get it working. This was my only successful attempt. I will include notes on the bottom of what other solutions seemed to fail for me (ALT + F10, using the command prompts to fixboot, etc) so If you have tried everything including automatic repair and system restore then try the following:

1. Look up which version of Windows your computer is running. (I had to google my model number from my phone to figure this out since everything was inaccessible on my laptop) you need to know if your running the 32 or 64 bit system.

2. Get a flash drive that has at least 8 gigs available for 64 bit system and 4 gigs for the 32. On another computer you will have to go to:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10
and download the installation media for Windows 10. You have to know the system (32 vs 64) and select download for another computer. The rest of the prompts are fairly easy as it walks your through the download. The first time I did mine it failed, but the second time worked perfectly.

3. Plug your flash drive into the Acer and power it up. It should load from the USB DRIVE and proceed to the Windows installation. If it is not loading the windows installation from your flash drive try hitting any button on your laptop to activate the external load. If that is not working and it is still looping back to the ACER screen do this:
*When the screen goes black (right before the Acer logo normally appears- its resetting the power cycle) hit F2 until you see the screen load your bios menu. It should be blue or grey. Scroll with you Arrows over to the boot tab and see if your HDD is number one on the boot list. Follow the instructions on the right side of the menu to raise it to the number one slot if not I think you would hit F5 and F6 to adjust the order. Your system should also list UEFI bootloader - not Legacy. Legacy boot is a last resort I will include in the bottom notes. Now scroll over to Exit and hit Save changes and Exit. It should load from your Flash drive now. If it is still not working try making you FDD (Flash disk drive) the #1 slot and HDD #2. Hit save & exit.
4. It will show the Purple Windows "Install Now" screen. You can attempt to Repair your computer by clicking the link on the bottom left of the window. (I had already attempted the repair before my installation media was in by hitting alt + F10. I tried again but my repair attempts were unsuccessful still as I would just get stuck in the boot loop again after the repair would attempt to restart the computer for it's last step, but this might work for others attempting to recover the data on the laptop.) You can hit Install windows- I could not upgrade from the installation media, so I was forced to do the CUSTOM INSTALL. Select to keep your files or new. I was already attempting a Factory reset so I did not have any files to keep. You can try option 1 and keep your files, but it did not get me out of boot loop hell doing that.

5. If you are starting from new, like I was, Windows will ask which disk you want to install on. If it lets you select the disk that says ACER- or similar (Could be your user- Drive c:) depending on what you have already tried to do to fix the issue. Mine came up as not enough space to re-install windows so I had to expand the partition to get it to fit.

6. Windows will go through and start the install, let it bake! I attempted this three or four times getting stuck in boot loop again after the Finishing up section... I even attempted to reinstall windows through the legacy boot- you cant since it is running on a different type of data for the Disk. How I got around the boot loop (even after taking out the Flash drive and windows was installed again it would loop to the Acer logo!) cycle was to let it finish up and wait until the screen says "restarting computer in 5...4..." When it hits 1 and the screen goes black pull out your flash drive! *Hit F2 and change your boot order back to HDD 1st if you switched it before.

Windows should load from factory reset!

NOTES:
I had to take some extra steps for mine, and anyone who is trying to recover data instead of resetting fresh might not find this helpful, however I was attempting anything I could to save my computer from death. ($200+ is a lot of money to waste for me and I just wanted a laptop again! I didnt care if I had to start fresh..) I am running out of space so I will continue in the next post if you still need work...

Jimray65

Thru all my troubles trying to re install windows. I remembered that only one install will work. I chose the Acer partition and formatted it. Erasing the corrupted windows file. Then installed the new system from Microsoft. It took a while but patience paid off. Once the new windows system loads and installs fully you must remove the flash drive. Restart and hit f 2 change the boot to windows boot manager and save and restart. Let the program do it’s job and it will work.

Jimray65

Acer should fix the reset issue or Microsoft.?i spent hours on line and off trying to get the cloud book to just start up after an attempt to do a factory reset.

Sylk

@Smugbug19

You're the real mvp I tried to find your twitter to give you a shout out, but all I found was some weird youtube channel from 9 years ago.

Anyway, I appreciate it. You helped me out!

Cheers,
Sylk

ChiTea

I fixed my laptop after 3 years of not being able to use it thanks to @Smugbug19! You are a God send! I was about to Chuck it and buy a new one but I only used it for 3 months before this problem happened. I didn't even have to do all of the extra stuff. I downloaded windows 10 onto my USB drive. Plugged it into my laptop and turned it on. Installed it and once it's started the countdown, I pulled it out and the screen turned black and it began to boot up and on the bottom of the screen it said "Getting Ready". I haven't seen anything other than the Acer Logo on this laptop in literally 3 years. I'm not even that tech savvy but you made it so easy to follow. No extra downloading or anything special. Thanks so much! Now I'm able to use it and it's like brand new.

viking12345

press f2 at boot to get into bios turn back on secure boot and go to boot options and press f6 to move windows to the top then press f10 to save and exit

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