Aspire 7741z-4643 can't boot

deepend
deepend Member Posts: 4 New User

A friend's laptop can't boot into Win 7 (64-bit) and the BIOS shows Audrey-Acer.jpg

 

She got this unit from her daughter who no longer has the windows nor drivers disks. She's thinking of just starting fresh with Win 10. Would this unit support it?

 

Thanks

Answers

  • padgett
    padgett ACE Posts: 4,532 Pathfinder

    If the system can support 7-64, it should support 10-64 (at least 4 GB RAM ?)

     

    Did you try a system repair ?

  • deepend
    deepend Member Posts: 4 New User

    Nope, afraid not. The laptop didn't come with any CDs at all. She went and bought a set of Restore Disk CDs that couldn't work either - came out with the error shown here Audrey-Restore.jpg

     

    So she's thinking about just buying the Win 10 installation disk once and for all. Only thing is, she'll still need the drivers for her laptop

  • mrpete
    mrpete Member Posts: 32 New User

     

     

    You said: "So she's thinking about just buying the Win 10 installation disk once and for all. Only thing is, she'll still need the drivers for her laptop."

     

    My reply to your immediate driver concern is that I've installed Win10 about a dozen times and each time the OS has installed ALL the needed drivers automatically for me. Just keep doing Windows Update and the drivers will come. In one install I lost bluetooth connectivity and was never able to get it back. Other than that the installs went great.

     

    You do realize that to test the laptop you could try booting from a Linux boot CD/DVD, right? That is free software, so it is generally available on the net at no charge. There are MANY options to select from.

     

    Now back to the general question of a Windows OS install for your laptop. I was able to install an OEM copy of Win7 onto my Acer laptop (same ver. it had installed @factory).  Remember, you need the same version (home/pro) and "bit-ness" as was installed @factory (32/64). The DVD I used was from another manufacturer, not Acer. An Acer DVD would work, too. I'm not so sure an "end-user" (system builder) DVD would work, but maybe. In my case the laptop OS validated as soon as I connected to the internet. It surprised me that I didn't have to call in. You shouldn't need an activation code. A generic Acer code should already be built into the SLIC table in your BIOS assuming it came from the factory with Windows installed.

     

    [edited to comply with guidelines]

     

  • deepend
    deepend Member Posts: 4 New User

    Hi pete,

     

    I've been building up systems myself based on OEM Windows from the Vista days till the current 7 and never once have I seen auto-driver updates in all my installations. Or is this only applicable to Win 10? If Win 10 can do it, then it'll be worth the price itself.

     

    As for the Linux boot CD, I've never had the need to use it before, since we always install new OEM CPUs, and none have failed yet.

     

    Her old OS is Win 7 Home Premium (no Service Pack stated) 64-bit with 3GB RAM & a 250GB hard drive. I presume this will be enough for Win 10? I'm not sure if her unit was factory installed, and all I can see is the Microsoft COA and Product Key on the base.

     

    In any case, many thanks for the great help !

     

    [edited due to previous discussion edits]

  • mrpete
    mrpete Member Posts: 32 New User

     

    You said: "I've been building up systems myself based on OEM Windows from the Vista days till the current 7 and never once have I seen auto-driver updates in all my installations. Or is this only applicable to Win 10?"

     

    My reply: I have occasionally seen drivers come down from Win Update in past OSs, but Win10 appears to have taken it to a new level. For me most all the time the Windows 10 driver updates just take care of themselves for a new install. That is indeed a nice new feature. Now remember, YMMV on driver availability, but it has worked for me.

     

    You said: "As for the Linux boot CD, I've never had the need to use it before, since we always install new OEM CPUs, and none have failed yet."

     

    My reply: The only reason to try booting from a Linux CD/DVD would be to check that all the hardware is working before you go to the trouble of doing an OS install. It's a lot quicker to burn a Linux ISO and boot from it than to install an OS. One Linux distro with ultra-wide hardware compatibility is Knoppix. I'm not so sure I would choose it for an installed-on-hdd/ssd distro, but as a boot CD/DVD it can be quite useful.

     

    You said: "Her old OS is Win 7 Home Premium (no Service Pack stated) 64-bit with 3GB RAM & a 250GB hard drive. I presume this will be enough for Win 10? I'm not sure if her unit was factory installed, and all I can see is the Microsoft COA and Product Key on the base."

     

    My reply: It will be enough, but I recommend a memory upgrade to 4 GB ( or 6 GB if you are feeling generous). On crucial.com the Aspire model 7741Z-4641 is listed as able to go to 8 GB with 2 SODIMMs (2 banks of 1 chip each). That's not exactly your model, but it likely has the same RAM options. You obviously have a 2 and a 1 GB SODIMM in there. Take the numbers off of the 2 GB SODIMM (use anti-static precautions) and then go find an exact match on eBay. That's an easy, guaranteed, cheap upgrade. I just looked at eBay and your type of 2 GB SODIMMs are generally being sold in the range of $6 to $12.50.

     

    Take close look at the COA. Does the 2nd line from the top say "Acer?" If so the OS validation is done through the SLIC table in the BIOS ... meaning it has a factory OS install.

     

    You said: "In any case, many thanks for the great help!"

     

    My reply: You are entirely welcome! Good luck!

     

     

  • deepend
    deepend Member Posts: 4 New User

    Hi Pete,

     

    Looks like I'll have to get her to download Knoppix in that case just to be sure before she pays for the install CD. What can she expect to see if say, it's a hard drive failure? 

     

    And yes, on the COA, it says Acer group on the 2nd line. But obviously this product key isn't going to work for Win 10, right? Would there be any other concerns if she installs 10 over the original 7?

     

    I'll let her know about the simple RAM upgrade.

     

    Once again, thanks for all the help and suggestions

  • padgett
    padgett ACE Posts: 4,532 Pathfinder

    I believe there is a site at Microsoft where you can download the ISO and burn your own CD or DVD. You may need to supply a valid key.

     

    AFAIR, MS required at least Win 7 SP1 to upgrade further.

     

    3GB is really minimal for -64, it takes 4GB to avoid excess swapping (depends on what you do, with just three IE tabs and e-mail open  but most bloatware removed I am sitting just over 2GB with Win 10-64) and where I can, my systems now are at least 8GB (inexpensive).