Problem re-installing OS on Gateway M-6843

Joelito
Joelito Member Posts: 10

Tinkerer
edited March 2023 in 2017 Archives
Hi there! No problem with my Aspire V15; however, my uncle's laptop  (Gateway M-6843) is now useless. Why? Because the HDD went dead and when I try to install its original Home Vista 32 bits, the BIOS doesn't allow the keyboard to work in the final steps. At the beginning I get this message "X:\windows\system32>". I make it go through, but when I need to type the Computer's name, the keyboard is dead. Please, help me with this.

Answers

  • Joelito
    Joelito Member Posts: 10

    Tinkerer
    I forgot to telly you, that I'm trying to install its original Vista 32 on a new HDD.
  • Riktor
    Riktor Member Posts: 11

    Tinkerer

    Have you tried an external keyboard?

  • Joelito
    Joelito Member Posts: 10

    Tinkerer
    Thanks Riktor, I tried with an external USB keyboard but it didn't work either. I think that the best solution is to get a similar laptop (same model) and install the OS on it and then, take out the HDD and insert it in my uncle's laptop. But ... Where do I get the same laptop? Uhmmm, too difficult!
  • Riktor
    Riktor Member Posts: 11

    Tinkerer

    It doesn't allow you to type anything at the screen you are at? Did it allow you to select a keyboard layout? You're able to use the keyboard up until the point you got to, right? 

  • Joelito
    Joelito Member Posts: 10

    Tinkerer
    Hello Riktor! I have advanced a bit because I managed to install Win 7 Home without the keyboard (I could copy "PC" and pasted as Computer name "PC"), and after that, everything was fine with the mouse. However, I have founded out that for the laptop to boot Win 7 I have to press ESCAPE once or twice (it shows the Gateway logo with the F2 and F10 options), and that sometimes the external keyboard works, but sometimes it doesn't work. The internal keyboard sometimes works with some keys (about 70% of the keys). So, it really seems to be a Bios problem. It has version 95.10 and I don't think there is a newer version.
  • Riktor
    Riktor Member Posts: 11

    Tinkerer
    I don't think flashing the BIOS will help. It sounds like you might have a motherboard issue :(
  • Joelito
    Joelito Member Posts: 10

    Tinkerer
    Hi Riktor and the other nice people! This is an UPDAT of this bad laptop: After I could install a fresh Win 7 on this Gateway M-6843 laptop, now I cannot enter the BIOS because the internal and the external keyboards don't work. The laptop boots up with the CTRL key pressed (I know it because the virtual keyboard shows it), and later only some keys of the internal keyboard work (the external keyboard never works). How am I going to solve this mess? Help me, please!
  • JackE
    JackE ACE Posts: 44,889 Trailblazer
    The BIOS or CMOS lithium button battery is probably dead. This is expected for a machine that's more than 10 years old. If you cold boot the machine, you can sometimes enter the BIOS menu at the logo screen to set the BIOS defaults then save settings and exit. But you can't shut the machine off after doing this or it will lose the settings again. You must eventually replace the button battery by accessing the motherboard and looking for and replacing the coin-shaped lithium button battery. Jack E/NJ 

    Jack E/NJ

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