Unable to refresh or reinstall Windows 8.0-8.1

stonehorse
stonehorse Member Posts: 7 New User

Okay, I'm frustrated. My Acer Aspire P3 has corrupted Windows files. It cost me $55.00 for a tech to get my computer to boot from a black screen. I'm unable to refresh or reinstall Windows do to "missing" files. I also tried to install Windows 10 but I keep getting error code 80070005; happens every time I've tried. So, what are my options at this point? Is there anyway to "force" my computer back to factory settings?

Thanks.

Best Answer

  • stonehorse
    stonehorse Member Posts: 7 New User
    Answer ✓

    In closing, I shouldn't have needed to take my Acer computer into the fix-it shop in the first place. The protected recovery partition (refresh/reinstall Windows) should have been accessible through Windows without having to make a recovery USB flash drive when I first purchased the computer or buying one from Acer at extra cost today.

Answers

  • billsey
    billsey ACE Posts: 34,101 Trailblazer

    Yes, unless you've deleted the recovery partition. If it's still there you can simply go through the Acer recovery process to take the tablet back to the factory load. Be aware that you will lose all data and non-stock applications, so if you can back it up first do so. You'll find also that you'll have about a bazillion updates that need to be done, to move first from 8 to fully patched 8 to 8.1 to fully patched 8.1 before you can then upgrade to 10.

     

    If you have deleted the recovery, and you are in the USA, you can purchase new recovery disks from the Acer store. If you are outside the USA your local Acer support team can help you get the appropriate disks.

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  • stonehorse
    stonehorse Member Posts: 7 New User

    Thanks for the reply. As far as I know, the recovery partition is still there. I understand there is a way to access the recovery partition without the USB flash drive. Hold down the left Alt key and tap F10 on startup but that doesn't work on a bluetooth keyboard. Any other way to do this? This is plan 'B'.

     

    I rather not go through the time to reinstall Windows 8.0 then 8.1 but I rather go straight to Windows 10. Why the 80070005 error code? Windows 10 install is plan 'A'.    

  • billsey
    billsey ACE Posts: 34,101 Trailblazer

    Fire up Disk Management (right click on computer in Explorer, select Manage, then navigate to DM) and take a look at your partitions. If the recovery partition is 10GB or so in size we just need to find out to boot into it (should be one of the options when booting into BIOS/UEFI). If the recovery is more like 400MB then it's just the dummy one that Microsoft requires be there and doesn't include any actual recovery images.

     

    I had a customer erlier in the year who had similar corrupt files issues due to a virus. I had to do a repair install of Windows 8 on top of her bad Windows 8, but had to jump through several itterations of 'sfc /scannow' and the various 'dism' options before it had enough valid files for the repair to work. I was getting similar errors prior to those hoops. It wouldn't hurt to try it yourself, though you'll need a clean image of Windows to use as the source, that matches the version installed.

     

    BTW, her bill was considerably more than $55, but then I gave her a fully working system with 8.1 and all current updates at the end. Smiley Happy

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  • stonehorse
    stonehorse Member Posts: 7 New User

    Thank you for the suggestions. I spent some time on my computer Monday trying a few things but I still couldn't get Windows 10 to install. Installation fails about half way through. Then I get error code 80070005. I've given up trying to refresh or reinstall Windows 8.1 I have since dropped off my computer this morning to see if my tech can get Windows 10 to install. I really don't have the time this week to deal with the problem.

  • stonehorse
    stonehorse Member Posts: 7 New User

    Update. My local computer tech has been unable to refresh or reinstall Windows 8.0/8.1 So he moved on trying to get Windows 10 to install but still no joy Smiley Mad

     

    I received a call this afternoon asking if I have backups of my personal files because he was going to nuke the hard drive and do a clean install of Windows 10. I have never have experience such a time consuming problem with any computer I have even owned; going all the way back when DOS commands were the order of the day. 

     

     

  • billsey
    billsey ACE Posts: 34,101 Trailblazer

    As I mentioned before, I had to do a full repair install after running both sfc and dism several times before I could get a clean enough system for the repair to take. Once that was done though everything worked fully, including updates. It's a long, drawn out process but potentially better than a reload of all your applications.

     

    Your technician should have no trouble backing up your data, though let him know of files that are stored out of the normal My Documents, My Pictures, My Music, etc... Once he's got all your stuff on a thumb drive he can do a clean install, but he'll need the disks for all the software you've purchased  along with their activation keys so he can reinstall them.

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  • WillL
    WillL Member Posts: 121 Troubleshooter
    I had problems with mine too. Repair has never worked (always complains about missing files) and when I tried to update to Win10, this failed and it tried to restore to previous OS which it couldn't do so got stuck in a reboot loop. In the end had to do a fresh install from a USB stick.
  • stonehorse
    stonehorse Member Posts: 7 New User

    Hi WillL, my computer wouldn't even boot from my recovery flash (USB) drive. Something about invalid media.

    Regardless, my tech ended up nuking my hard drive then doing a clean install of Windows 8.1 After everything was back up and running smoothly, he did the upgrade to Windows 10. I now have my computer back and have finished installing my backup files. My computer is now working like a charm.

     

    Case closed.

  • WillL
    WillL Member Posts: 121 Troubleshooter
    I couldn't get mine to boot from USB at first, but I then changed some random BIOS setting (can't remember which, something like heritage, but not something obvious) and then it worked. Really thought I was screwed though, Win10 was a pretty painful experience.
  • stonehorse
    stonehorse Member Posts: 7 New User

    I did the BIOS thing and so did my tech. We kept getting critical errors (Windows). What ever went wrong, it was serious. Sometimes you need to start from clean hard drive.

  • stonehorse
    stonehorse Member Posts: 7 New User
    Answer ✓

    In closing, I shouldn't have needed to take my Acer computer into the fix-it shop in the first place. The protected recovery partition (refresh/reinstall Windows) should have been accessible through Windows without having to make a recovery USB flash drive when I first purchased the computer or buying one from Acer at extra cost today.

  • WillL
    WillL Member Posts: 121 Troubleshooter

    100% agreed. The question is, was this problem created due to the 8.1 update or did it already exist when the machines were shipped with 8.0. Whenever I tried the refresh (can't remember if I tried before 8.1) I always got the error about missing files.