W3 restore issues

tmwfla
tmwfla Member Posts: 3 New User
in 2013 Archives

I bought my W3 from Office Max 1 week ago. I have successfully restored from the included media once since purchase. I am trying to restore to factory/new condition again, but the tablet is not giving me the option to do so (options are grayed out). I have followed the steps from http://acer.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/30899 , however, when it comes up to screen that gives you the options to either: Restore Operating System to Factory Defaults , Completely Restore Computer to Factory Defaults , Exit ; I only have the option to select Exit. The first two options are "grayed out" and not available for me to select.

Any suggestions as to what to try to get this to restore to factory/new condition? The Live Chat representative just (almost immediately), said it sounds like a hardware defect and suggested I send it to Acer for repair, where I would be responsible for one-way shipping costs to them, with a turn around time of approx 7-10 days. I am, however, within my full return period to Office Max. I don't want to have to return this and give up on it if I don't have to. I like the tablet.

 

Thank you, in advance, for any help.

 

Answers

  • padgett
    padgett ACE Posts: 4,532 Pathfinder

    Do you have the restore DVD (comes with the 32 GB) ? If so, then boot from that (takes a loooong time with the Acer logo and a white dot on the upper left). If not you may need to either buy one from Acer or create one from the restore partition. I am not sure what you meant by "included media".

     

    Another alternative mught be to create a recovey flash drive and boot from that.

     

    Sounds like you installed something that does not know about the recovery partition or it deleted the recovery partition so need to start from scratch.

     

    Unfortunately the people on live chat do not seem to be allowed to deviate from their scripts. Your only hope is to ask to speak to a supervisor who may connect you with a tier 2 or 3 specialist but you need to be able to speak their language..

  • f2
    f2 Member Posts: 24 New User

    I might not fully understand what steps you tried.  Have you tried doing the restore/reset from the PC Settings.   I don't have the W3 anymore as I had to return mine due to a defective sd card slot.  I am trying to recall the steps: Swipe left from the right edge and select PC settings.  It may have then been the General option.  Win8 contains this and I found it by googling something like "remove personal data win8"

     

    I, too, called and had the option to ship it to them, wait 7-10 days for repair or return it.  I returned it and the store had no more 64gig units so I took a refund.  Now I'm holding off although, I, too, kind of liked the unit.

  • tmwfla
    tmwfla Member Posts: 3 New User

    Yes, I've booted from the attached DVD drive, with the included Acer restore DVD/CD. I have followed the steps from Acer's support page to successfully boot to the DVD drive (with the included Acer restore disc). These are the steps I followed (http://acer.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/30899), which is what allowed me to boot to the DVD drive w/the included Acer restore disc. The issue is, when it comes up to the menu asking what you want to do (see OP explaining the 3 options it boots to, in order to restore), it does not allow me to select either of the first two options; Exit is my only available option (the other two options are "grayed out", meaning nothing happens when I click on them). I have tried to restore from the restore partition as well, but that seems to be missing, from the first day I received the tablet, therefore not an option.

    I have not installed anything other than Amazon reader and the Nook reader app.

  • padgett
    padgett ACE Posts: 4,532 Pathfinder

    If you have the DVD then you have a 32 GB W3 which does not have the 6 GB restore partition. Are you able to boot from the internal drive at all ? The only way I can think of that this would make sense would be if the recovery DVD cannot find the internal drive.

     

    Boot to the BIOS setup (power + volume down), select "Information" and scroll down to "EMMC Model Name". Does it say "MBG4GA" ? (Incidently this is a 29.1 GB drive, not a 32).

     

    If recognised by POST then what happens when you boot normally ?

  • tmwfla
    tmwfla Member Posts: 3 New User

    It boots normally; there are no issues with actually using the tablet. The only issue is that it's not allowing me to wipe it clean and reload from the included restore media. The tablet let me do it once before with no issues. When I went to do it again (because I was going to return it...hate the screen), it would not allow me to restore the tablet to factory condition via the media. When I tried to use the restore option from WITHIN the OS, it asked me to place my disc in the drive, and then it said the media was "invalid". This is the same original Acer disc included with the tablet, and the same media that the tablet let me restore from, previously.

    In the end, I took it back for a full refund. This should not be this difficult, plus I couldn't get over the poor screen. To me, it was akin to when you are looking at one of those old hologram trading cards, and you keep angling the card to see if you can get a clearer view of the object. This is how the screen on the W3 was for me. Had the screen been IPS, I would have just traded it for another one. I loved the form factor, the OS (other than the issue described in this post), etc. It makes me hopeful for the next crop of 8 inch W8 tabs.

    Thank you, all, for your help with my post.

  • padgett
    padgett ACE Posts: 4,532 Pathfinder

    Sorry to hear you had a problem. I have not had any issues with mine but mostly have been doing development with a 24" Dell monitor, will need to see if visible in the car once I get configured. At 60% battery brighness it does disappear in Florida sunshine but is ok with a little shade.

  • billsey
    billsey ACE Posts: 33,467 Trailblazer

    The Windows restore is going to look for a vanilla Windows disc and likely won't work from a system image disc. Aren't you supposed to boot from the Acer disc?

    Click on "Like" if you find my answer useful or click on "Yes" if it answers your question.
  • padgett
    padgett ACE Posts: 4,532 Pathfinder

    I tried booting the DVD and other than taking forever with the white dot in the upper left and the Acer splash screen, seemed to proceed normally.

     

    Maybe "restore" is looking for you to have first created a "retore" cd or flash drive to boot from.

  • jimbobz
    jimbobz Member Posts: 3 New User

    I had the same issue where it was greyed out and to get round it i downloaded the win 8.1 preview ISO from microsoft and created a bootable USB.

     

    I ran the factory reset via the recovery option in metro and installed it...... 400 years later ...

     

    i then made the tab boot from CD using the win 8 recovery disc supplied by acer and the options were no longer greyed out ! winning !

     

    Hope this helps others at it took me ages to work it out.

     

    Remeber a powered hub and external DVD drive is needed .....

  • geoffwill
    geoffwill Member Posts: 3 New User

    Were you able to get this resolved... I'm having the same issue :-(

  • timehawke
    timehawke Member Posts: 1 New User

    Who do I need to contact to see about sending my w3 in for repair, as I've now fowled it up so much that not even the disc recovery (which I moved to USB) doesn't even work right anymore. I keep getting Error Code=0x570 (The File or Directory is corrupted and unreadable.)

  • padgett
    padgett ACE Posts: 4,532 Pathfinder

    Try here.

This discussion has been closed.

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