Hi All. I have an acer aspire 5542. Black screen.

Greg-Lang
Greg-Lang Member Posts: 6 New User

Hi All. I have an acer aspire 5542 with windows 7 64-bit

After I replaced the fan and speakers the laptop worked perfectly but wanted to do a large amount of updates every time I shut it down and powered it up again. I think there were 101 updates it did and it was working perfectly afterwards until I shut it down which it did at it's usual speed. when I turn it on now all I get is a black screen. I can hear the fan running and the DVD tray opens and closes normally.

Please can anyone help me.

Answers

  • jimmiev
    jimmiev Member Posts: 18 Troubleshooter

    if u can just wpie the drive and do a fresh reinstall of os

  • Greg-Lang
    Greg-Lang Member Posts: 6 New User

     


    jimmiev wrote:

    if u can just wpie the drive and do a fresh reinstall of os


    Won't that be difficult with a black screen that is not coming on at all? Or is there a way around that problem?

  • jimmiev
    jimmiev Member Posts: 18 Troubleshooter

    try shuting off computer put  in os media (usb flash or disk os) turn on computer press f12 boot menu button repeatedly screen shoulld come on try message back

  • Greg-Lang
    Greg-Lang Member Posts: 6 New User

    jimmiev wrote:

    try shuting off computer put  in os media (usb flash or disk os) turn on computer press f12 boot menu button repeatedly screen shoulld come on try message back


    Thanks...will try that and see how it goes.

  • IronFly
    IronFly ACE Posts: 18,413 Trailblazer

    first thing to try is to connect an external monitor and check if any image appears.

     

    Are able to see Acer logo at boot or it's just black with fan spinning?

    try to take off the HDD and boot to BIOS, if screen is still black, it's not an OS issue.

    I'm not an Acer employee.
  • Greg-Lang
    Greg-Lang Member Posts: 6 New User

    IronFly wrote:

    first thing to try is to connect an external monitor and check if any image appears.

     

    Are able to see Acer logo at boot or it's just black with fan spinning?

    try to take off the HDD and boot to BIOS, if screen is still black, it's not an OS issue.


    Thanks very much for suggestion. Tried the external monitor already with no luck. Not very computer savvy so please could you explain what is the HDD and booting to BIOS please.

  • IronFly
    IronFly ACE Posts: 18,413 Trailblazer

    HDD is hard disk, it's under the middle of bottom cover.

     

    BIOS, to enter you must press F2 at boot.

    I'm not an Acer employee.
  • Greg-Lang
    Greg-Lang Member Posts: 6 New User

    IronFly wrote:

    HDD is hard disk, it's under the middle of bottom cover.

     

    BIOS, to enter you must press F2 at boot.


    Thank you very much for your advice. Definitely going to try that today. Just one thing: someone else mentioned pressing F12 and you mention F2 does that mean that it is ok to utilise either one please?

  • IronFly
    IronFly ACE Posts: 18,413 Trailblazer

    for Acer's laptops is F2 to enter BIOS.

    I'm not an Acer employee.
  • Greg-Lang
    Greg-Lang Member Posts: 6 New User

    IronFly wrote:

    for Acer's laptops is F2 to enter BIOS.


    Thanks, have done as suggested but screen still remains black....nothing happened at all. Maybe time to buy another laptop because I am thinking it will cost more to fix this one than to buy another. 

  • dklug6606
    dklug6606 Member Posts: 3 New User

    Since you are getting a black screen on both laptop screen and external monitor and since it started on your first reboot after downloading updates, it sounds most likely a software coruption issue. Assuming you have externally backed up your important files and your laptop has its original hard drive you should be able to do a factory reset using the hidden partition. Please follow the steps below to restore the laptop to factory settings:
    1. Plug in the AC adapter and battery.
    2. Turn the system on
    3. Immediately, press ALT on the keyboard and start tapping F10 key.
    Continue holding ALT and tapping F10 as the unit boots up.
    4. A screen stating "Starting Acer Erecovery" should appear.
    (Release ALT and stop tapping F10 at this point)
    5. There will be 4 options:
    1. Restore system to factory default
    2. Restore system from user backup
    3. Restore system from cd/dvd
    4. Exit

    Select Restore system to factory default

    1. Enter the password (if needed) created when eRecovery was first started.
    2. Read the on-screen warning and choose Yes.
    3. Click Next. The recovery process will start.

    When recovery is complete the system will re-start and will need to complete the setup of Windows. When setup is complete you will still need to update windows from Microsoft and a driver update from Acer. You will lose all files and programs other than what came with it from retailer. If your files are not backed up or it is not the original hard drive I would pull the hard drive from your 5542 and install it as a slave or external drive on another computer, save the files you need(not replaceable programs), unhide all hidden partitiions and wipe the drive, then reinstall into your 5542 and reinstall the OS. If you flashed the BIOS(basic input output system) you will need to pull the cover and get all information from motherboard to find correct BIOS and re-flash, you must make absolutely certain you follow Motherboard manufacturers instructions exactly. Other drive option, Staples has a solid state drive for about $70. If your drive is older than 3 years and not solid state I would consider that.P.S. Instead of the hard drive you may have fried the on board graphics of the MOBO or the CPU. If your fan, exhaust vents have much dust accumulation that is a good posibility. A LAPTOP IS NOT MEANT TO BE USED ON ANYTHING SOFT THAT CAN BLOCK THE AIR FLOW!!! 

  • IronFly
    IronFly ACE Posts: 18,413 Trailblazer
    How can be a software issue if without the HDD he still have a black screen trying to enter BIOS?
    I'm not an Acer employee.
  • armoured_smiler
    armoured_smiler Member Posts: 1 New User

    Hi,

     

    I fixed one for my friend, it turns out if the BIOS battery gets to low it will not light up the display/show the acer logo even. replaced the battery all was good.

     

    Regards

    Paul