PC bricked??Windows update and restart, PC not get the beginning black screen - Aspire TC-885

todd7eric

The message on the screen reads, 'Install Windows,' in the upper left of notification box. The main message reads,

'The computer restarted unexpectedly or encountered and unexpected error. Windows installation cannot proceed. To install Windows, click okay to restart the computer, and then restart the installation.' 

Acer technical support had me enter the BIOS setup utility, switch to the 'Advanced' tab and look for a 'Miscellaneous' option. No such option exists and I was told that the hard drive is not being recognized and that I need to send the PC in for service. I was just hoping somebody might have a quicker solution. I have no recovery or original installation disc/media. (poor form, I know). Thank you for your time. 

//Edited the content to add model name on title.​​

todd7eric

I can't believe the following worked, but I tried it on a whim after it came up in a Google search of the error message I was facing...

Commodore_1995#

What is the exact model? Example an515-51-75kz. When you said this "I have no recovery or original installation disc / media. (Poor form, I know)", are you saying that you have formatted the hard drive? What happens when you press alt + f10 before the acer logo?

todd7eric

egydiocoelho,


     
      Thanks for your response. 

Aspire TC-885 series
Model: D17E5
Rating: 100-127/220-240V~
              6/3A, 60/50hz

By saying that, I only meant that one should always have recovery media, just in case. I tried pressing ALT + F10 after powering on the computer but well before the green Acer logo, but this action had no effect.

Larryodie

Try FN ALT F10.
Hold the Function Key, ALT and tap the F10. Good Luck

Larryodie

Note: If you have another keyboard try it. 

StevenGen

todd7eric said:

The message on the screen reads, 'Install Windows,' in the upper left of notification box. The main message reads,

'The computer restarted unexpectedly or encountered and unexpected error. Windows installation cannot proceed. To install Windows, click okay to restart the computer, and then restart the installation.' 

Acer technical support had me enter the BIOS setup utility, switch to the 'Advanced' tab and look for a 'Miscellaneous' option. No such option exists and I was told that the hard drive is not being recognized and that I need to send the PC in for service. I was just hoping somebody might have a quicker solution. I have no recovery or original installation disc/media. (poor form, I know). Thank you for your time. 

Firstly, do you remember what Windows Update this was e.g. KBxxxxxxx or what version and/or OS build you last had? As a "Windows Update" should not do this to your system unless the system had prior problems and it wasn't maintained properly. Do the following as there is more wrong with your system then just what a WU did and see if your problem will be fixed 

Are you hearing any beep sounds during boot? Also, if you are using internal PC speaker make sure it is connected so that you can hear the boot beeping as they can tell you the following
:
           a. continuous beeping: memory not detected
           b. 1 long beep and 2 short beeps looping: VGA not detected

Check all setting on the Advanced bios Integrated Peripherals: 

This page sets up some parameters for peripheral devices connected to the system: 



Onboard SATA Controller (Enabled) - This item allows you to enable or disable the onboard SATA controller.
Onboard SATA Mode (RST with Optane) - Use this item to select the mode of the Serial ATA.
SATA Port 0/1/2/3 - These items show the information of SATA0/1/2/3.
NVME Port1 - This item shows the information of the NVME1.
Device Type (Hard Disk/Not Installed) - Use these items to show the information of device type.
Device Name - Use these items to show the information of device name.
Size - Use this item to show the size of SATA device in port 0/1/2/3.
Serial Number - Use this item to show the serial number of SATA device in port 0/1/2/3
Onboard Audio Controller (Enabled) - This item enables or disables the onboard audio controller.
Onboard LAN Controller (Enabled) - This option allows you to control the onboard LAN device.
Onboard LAN Option ROM (Disabled) - This item enables or disables the onboard LAN option ROM function.

Also, do a CMOS Jumper reset:
           a. Clear the CMOS values using the CLR_CMOS jumper (see caption below) when completed, follow up with a Load Optimised Default in the BIOS setup.
           b. Or take out the CMOS battery and keep it disconnected for 30 min so that the bios resets completely. 



Also remove the following and clean and reinstall:

• Long term accumulation of dust will reduce these components connectivity and effectiveness
• The hard drive, optical drive or DDR memory to determine which of these components may be at fault and see if that resets the system to boot. 

TC-995's mainboard CMOS jumpers and battery

ttttt

@todd7eric

I have a TC-885-UA91, still do not know what is your PC's sub-model number. Also, what  have you done before seeing the error messages?

I use a generic keyboard, so when bootup the ALT+F10 will work with mine. If you are still using the original Acer keyboard, at start up, hold down the ALT and the Fn key, then hit F10 key three times a second during bootup while the screen is black. A recovery menu should show up.

TROUBLE SHOOT->ADVANCED OPTIONS->SYSTEM RESTORE->then roll back to an earlier day.

If the problem persist, then I'll say it's hardware problem, probably the hard disk.

todd7eric

Larryodie said:

Try FN ALT F10.
Hold the Function Key, ALT and tap the F10. Good Luck

Larryodie said:

Note: If you have another keyboard try it. 

Thank you Larryodie.  I appreciate your responding to my post. I have never used a forum such as this, as I didn't really think anybody would care about how I jucked up my PC. So thanks for proving me wrong. I believe that these ideas would have worked if I was facing a different beast. The simple, but important tip of swapping the keyboard, I especially appreciated. See the below post for the solution that worked, if you're interested.

todd7eric

StevenGen said:

Firstly, do you remember what Windows Update this was e.g. KBxxxxxxx or what version and/or OS build you last had? As a "Windows Update" should not do this to your system unless the system had prior problems and it wasn't maintained properly. Do the following as there is more wrong with your system then just what a WU did and see if your problem will be fixed 

Are you hearing any beep sounds during boot? Also, if you are using internal PC speaker make sure it is connected so that you can hear the boot beeping as they can tell you the following
:
           a. continuous beeping: memory not detected
           b. 1 long beep and 2 short beeps looping: VGA not detected

Check all setting on the Advanced bios Integrated Peripherals: 

This page sets up some parameters for peripheral devices connected to the system: 



Onboard SATA Controller (Enabled) - This item allows you to enable or disable the onboard SATA controller.
Onboard SATA Mode (RST with Optane) - Use this item to select the mode of the Serial ATA.
SATA Port 0/1/2/3 - These items show the information of SATA0/1/2/3.
NVME Port1 - This item shows the information of the NVME1.
Device Type (Hard Disk/Not Installed) - Use these items to show the information of device type.
Device Name - Use these items to show the information of device name.
Size - Use this item to show the size of SATA device in port 0/1/2/3.
Serial Number - Use this item to show the serial number of SATA device in port 0/1/2/3
Onboard Audio Controller (Enabled) - This item enables or disables the onboard audio controller.
Onboard LAN Controller (Enabled) - This option allows you to control the onboard LAN device.
Onboard LAN Option ROM (Disabled) - This item enables or disables the onboard LAN option ROM function.

Also, do a CMOS Jumper reset:
           a. Clear the CMOS values using the CLR_CMOS jumper (see caption below) when completed, follow up with a Load Optimised Default in the BIOS setup.
           b. Or take out the CMOS battery and keep it disconnected for 30 min so that the bios resets completely. 



Also remove the following and clean and reinstall:

• Long term accumulation of dust will reduce these components connectivity and effectiveness
• The hard drive, optical drive or DDR memory to determine which of these components may be at fault and see if that resets the system to boot. 

TC-995's mainboard CMOS jumpers and battery

Thank you Larryodie for your response as well. It was easy to follow and perform. I did perform the BIOS reset as you described, but this didn't fix the issue, though I believe that this solution as well would have worked if my problem was slightly different. Also, see below for solution.

todd7eric

ttttt said:

@todd7eric

I have a TC-885-UA91, still do not know what is your PC's sub-model number. Also, what  have you done before seeing the error messages?

I use a generic keyboard, so when bootup the ALT+F10 will work with mine. If you are still using the original Acer keyboard, at start up, hold down the ALT and the Fn key, then hit F10 key three times a second during bootup while the screen is black. A recovery menu should show up.

TROUBLE SHOOT->ADVANCED OPTIONS->SYSTEM RESTORE->then roll back to an earlier day.

If the problem persist, then I'll say it's hardware problem, probably the hard disk.

ttttt, thanks for your contribution as well. I tried your advice, but came up short as well. But it's very appreciated that you stopped by to help. The following post has the solution that worked, if you're interested.

todd7eric

I can't believe the following worked, but I tried it on a whim after it came up in a Google search of the error message I was facing...

Larryodie

My TC-892-UA92 is the same as with the original ACER keyboard it is HOLD the FN and ALT Key while tapping the F10 Key.
But with an older bigger keyboard. It is hold ALT and tap the F10. Good Luck.

todd7eric

Larryodie said:

My TC-892-UA92 is the same as with the original ACER keyboard it is HOLD the FN and ALT Key while tapping the F10 Key.
But with an older bigger keyboard. It is hold ALT and tap the F10. Good Luck.

I definitely tried it both ways, but I swear nothing happened. Did you see the solution that worked? I posted it just before your last post. Thanks so much again

Larryodie

Yes Thanks for the follow up. I'm glad that you got it working. Nice Find. 

ttttt

@todd7eric

I learn something new too. I'll bookmark this post for future reference. Hard to imagine a Windows update will cause people to do modification in REGEDIT, which can be dangerous for people making mistake there.
Good job!

StevenGen

ttttt said:

@todd7eric

I learn something new too. I'll bookmark this post for future reference. Hard to imagine a Windows update will cause people to do modification in REGEDIT, which can be dangerous for people making mistake there.
Good job!

Me too "ttttt", as I've said before in my above post to "todd7eric" that this system must have had issues before this WU was installed, as going into Regedit to change settings to fix an issue has nothing to do with a particular WU, this has never ever happened to me in over 36 years of using every version of a windows operating system, btw and I've had a few problems in those years with the windows operating systems

todd7eric

ttttt said:

@todd7eric

I learn something new too. I'll bookmark this post for future reference. Hard to imagine a Windows update will cause people to do modification in REGEDIT, which can be dangerous for people making mistake there.
Good job!

StevenGen said:

Me too "ttttt", as I've said before in my above post to "todd7eric" that this system must have had issues before this WU was installed, as going into Regedit to change settings to fix an issue has nothing to do with a particular WU, this has never ever happened to me in over 36 years of using every version of a windows operating system, btw and I've had a few problems in those years with the windows operating systems

I believe you are both correct, that the Windows Update didn't cause my issue, rather my system had issues. The timing of the error just led me to believe that Windows Update was the cause. Once again, thank y'all