Aspire 5250 recovery from CDs hangs at 99%

tesmith66
tesmith66 Member Posts: 8 New User

Have an Aspire 5250. HD crashed, replaced it and bought the recovery CDs from Acer. Have tried the recovery process sevral times and it ALWAYS stops at 99% and will freeze. No matter how long I let it sit it will not go any farther. Is this common? Is there a fix?

Answers

  • JackE
    JackE ACE Posts: 44,868 Trailblazer

    There may be a hidden screen waiting for your response. Press the Alt+Home (or Fn+Alt+Home) keys to minimize the main setup screen to see what's behind it. Report back.

     

    Thanks

     

    Jack E/NJ

    Jack E/NJ

  • tesmith66
    tesmith66 Member Posts: 8 New User

    Alt+Home? Is Home the Windows key? Not in front of the Acer at the moment...

  • JackE
    JackE ACE Posts: 44,868 Trailblazer

    When you're at a keyboard, you'll see the Home key usually amidst the PgUp, PgDn, arrow and numerical keys. Sometimes smaller laptop keyboards without a dedicated numerical keypad will combine it with the PgUp key but you also press the Fn key to activate the Home key function.

     

    Jack E/NJ 

    Jack E/NJ

  • tesmith66
    tesmith66 Member Posts: 8 New User

    Didn't work. Let it sit over 12 hours- nothing. I replaced the hard drive (that's why I'm restoring it). Is the new, larger hard drive the problem? This is frustrating...

  • ajay_1988
    ajay_1988 Member Posts: 77 Enthusiast WiFi Icon
    is it windows 7 or 8
  • ajay_1988
    ajay_1988 Member Posts: 77 Enthusiast WiFi Icon

    If Windows 7

     

    Method 1:

    Try to perform system restore using Windows Recovery Mode by disconnecting the devices like flash drive, printer and modem, if they are connected.
     
    Method 2:
    Run chkdsk /f /r from in command prompt from the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) and check the issue status.
    What are the system recovery options in Windows 7?
     
    a. Insert the Windows 7 installation disc into the disc drive, and then start the computer. 

    b. Press a key when the message indicating "Press any key to boot from CD or DVD …” Appears

    c. Select a language, a time and currency, and a keyboard or input method, and then click next. 

    d. Click Repair your computer. 
    e. In the System Recovery Options dialog box, choose the drive of your Windows installation and click next. 

    f. At the System Recovery Options Dialog Box, click on Command prompt.
    g. Enter the chkdsk /f /r and press enter



    Important: While performing chkdsk on the hard drive if any bad sectors are found on the hard drive when chkdsk tries to repair that sector if any data available on that might be lost.
     
    You can also try performing system receovery using the Windows 7 disc
     
     
    If the issue still persists, I would suggest you to reply us with more information to assist you further. We’ll be happy to assist you further.
  • tesmith66
    tesmith66 Member Posts: 8 New User

    Thanks. I apologize for not giving enough information.

     

    This is WIn 7. The hard drive is new. The original hard disk is toast, that's why I'm in this situation. I can do nothing from the computer.

     

    Should I format the drive first? If so, how? On previous computers, I just popped in the CD, turned on the computer and went to town. I was hoping this would be as easy.

  • JackE
    JackE ACE Posts: 44,868 Trailblazer

    The recovery disk should take care of the format. To help recovery not get confused, F2 into the bios menu at the Acer logo screen. In the advanced or boot section, set the DVD/CD to first in the boot order. Switch the D2D setting. Then save changes, exit and see what happens.

     

    Jack E/NJ

    Jack E/NJ

  • tesmith66
    tesmith66 Member Posts: 8 New User

    I had to change the boot order in the BIOS the first time I ran the recovery because F12 did nothing. What is D2D?

  • JackE
    JackE ACE Posts: 44,868 Trailblazer

    You turn D2D mode on (disk-to-disk) recovery when you use the Acer recovery partition on your HDD. You don't have a recovery partition so it should be off. Should be in the same bios menu screen where you changed the boot order.

     

    Jack E/NJ 

    Jack E/NJ

  • tesmith66
    tesmith66 Member Posts: 8 New User

    Interesting...

     

    It's like Acer designed this recovery scheme to only work in cases where it isn't needed. The "documentation" that came with the recovery disks (that I had to pay $20 plus shipping for, BTW) is lacking. Smiley Tongue

     

    I will look into this D2D thing.

     

    Thanks again!

     

     

  • tesmith66
    tesmith66 Member Posts: 8 New User

    Sorry for not getting back right away. I installed linux (Kubuntu) because I needed the computer back in a bad way.

  • JackE
    JackE ACE Posts: 44,868 Trailblazer

    It's possible --- maybe even likely --- your DVD drive is having a hard time reading that high-quality recovery disk you got there. 8^) I suggest trying to iso it and making a bootstick from the image with something like rufus. You may have to do it with another DVD drive. Just a thought.

     

    Jack E/NJ

    Jack E/NJ

  • tesmith66
    tesmith66 Member Posts: 8 New User

    Thanks again for your help. The DVD drive is working flawlessly, heck EVERYTHING is working flawwlessly with Kubuntu. It has a beautiful interface, is faster than Windows, and I found linux versions of all of the apps I use with little to no effort. In addition, it came pre-loaded with Libre Office, which can directly edit ALL Microsoft Office documents. You can even go back and forth between the two without trouble. The best part is the OS and all apps are FREE.  I doubt I'll be going back to Windows any time soon...

     

    All in all, I found this little "experiment" with Acer's customer service and the quality of their support products very upsetting. The little hidden switches that needed flipping, having to buy the disks that should have been supplied when I bought the computer in the first place, the unbelivably poor instructions and the fact that recovery never worked all add up to me shopping another brand next time around.

     

    I also discovered in this ordeal that Emachines and Acer are the same company. My previous PC was an emachine that died less than 1 year after I got it. Their customer service was awful and I vowed never to do business with them again. Looks like the joke's on me. My fault for not doing the research first. Also my fault for buying solely on price.

     

    Sorry for my rant. I really do appreciate the help you've given me, and I hope others can benefit from this.

  • JackE
    JackE ACE Posts: 44,868 Trailblazer

    Gateway's Acer now too. 8^O

     

    I wasn't implying anything was wrong with your DVD drive. Just that it might be having a hard time reading this particular disk. It's happened to me plenty of times with different DVD drives and disks.

     

    Jack E/NJ

    Jack E/NJ

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