My problems lies with the PQSERVICE partition. It is still there and I can see it with Ubuntu. When I attempt start up, I get the message c:ootcd and an error status message. I also have recovery cds that I have tried to to use but I am not able to boot up from them or get any sort of indication that they work , only a blinking cursor then back to the c:ootcd error. My question is if I just completely delete and reformat my entire hard drive, pay that "lovely" $20 fee for new recovery cds from Acer as I'm out of warranty, would it work?
Having already done a clean install of Vista Ultimate, and thoroughly configuring my system away from the Acer factory default, and having burned both Acer and my own recovery disks (the latter using Complete PC Backup right after the clean install), do I really need the PQSERVICE partition anymore?
If not, I'll make sure to delete it next time I clean install - when I get my new T8300 in a few weeks.
Im interested in an alternate use of PQSERVICE and the ALT-F11 D2D Trigger. I would like to put something else other than recovery software on the PQSERVICE partition, specifically a secondary OS. One that can be launched secretly by holding the D2D key combo on startup.
As far as i know, the only limitations are that PQSERVICE has to be named that, be the first partition on disk, be smaller than 5 gigs, be of partition type, be FAT32, and has to have Acer's special mbr.
So, knowing those facts, how can i get something else other than the winPE recovery software to boot when holding down alt-f11? What file does the BIOS D2D functionality look for, is it just NTLDR?
If this is the case, i should just be able to install windows on that partition, restore acer's mbr, reset the partition type to 12, and have it work as long as i keep the other parameters the same. Hypothetically, windows would boot
I recently bought an Acer 5610z from a family member that didn't need it anymore and it didn't come with any documentation or software save for the Vista OEM DVD. I proceeded to immediately wipe the HD and make a new install with Vista on a 20 GB partition and my remaining space reserved for programs and the like.
About 2 days later I realized I was missing space on my HD and realized there was a hidden partition for recovery called PQSERVICE. This is my first notebook and I had no idea how hard it is to find drivers and was having a hard time finding all the drivers and programs I needed (even from the manufacturer most of the drivers/utilities are for win XP).
I didn't make the recovery DVD's so I thought it might be possible to find the utilities or drivers on the hidden partition. I've unhidden it but I'm at a loss as to where to find them or if any drivers or utilities are even on it.
At this point do I even need the partition or can I delete it? I'd love to find someone with a copy of the DVD's at factory default settings but...
I have a clean HDD(without pqservice) and pqservice backup in acronis on usb HDD. i try to restore pqservice with acronis boot disc, everyting goes fine, then i restore mdr with the same acronis image of pqservice. everyting work fine, with acronis disc director i can see, that i have hidden pqservice as primary, next comes NTFS partition as primary, active. but alt+f10 does not want to work... d2d in bios is enabled. how can i restore everything in order to use normal factory defaults using alt+f10?
I've recently offered to help out a friend who's Acer aspire has stopped working.
It won't book into windows, but she is keen to keep her old files.
I installed a 2nd version of windows onto the machine to basically back up the whole disk using acronis true image. I've now got that image storage remotley on my own machine.
I think she bought the computer 2nd hand and never got a burned copy of the recovery disks and for some reason the Alt-F10 thing doesn't work to get into the recovery stuff (I've checked in the Bios for D2D)
I've managed to make the PQService partition visible and was wondering what was the best way to restore the machine to factory defaults. I created a CD from the STCDBOOT.ISO file, which allows me to book into the recovery manager, but all it does is prompts for the first disk/system disk.
I'm guessing that all the data required is held in the PQService partition, but I'm not sure how to create the backup DVD's that should have been done when the machine was first used.
I would image that the data is held in the 92EPIXIE.nnn files in the D2D/images directory of the PQService.
started with USB thumb drives not showing in MY Computer but visible every where else, getting a drive letter etc. After abunch of investigation I finally seemed to isolate the problem to some Apple Itunes related software. I used MSCONFIG to shut off the apple updater and some other Apple Ipod related startup software. THe USB problem went away. I decided to then do a little cleanup and get rid of some software installs, I remove Apple Mobile Device support and Apple updater as well as US service. This seemed to go well but I got a software may not work right with out a reboot so I did. On reboot I again got a software needs a reboot I did it again. Now the wierdness starts, my USB problem is gone but I now have a visible F: drive called PQSERVICE, checking with disk managment in system tools I see all my partitions but in Disk MAnagement none of them show a drive letter but all are visible in My Computer and in programs with their correct drive letters. THe machine boots fine and all files are there. I used PTEDIT and see the PQSERVICE partion has a type of 12 which from what I can find should be hidden. My Alt F10 seems to take me to the partition even though it is visble, I did not choose to restore as I really want to figure this out before I re-format this laptop. My concern is why can't I hide PQSERVICE and why are there no drive letters showing in Disk Management? I know most people want to make PQSERVICE visible but I want it to go back to the way it was. Also the PQSERVICE shows a EISA Configuration Healthy in disk Management and therefore I can't do anything to it.
I have an Acer Travelmate 6460 with Windows XP on it. I want to format my harddisk and put a Vista Business on it (no OEM). With that format I mean complete one, including the PQService partition from Acer.
Basically I want to have an 'Acer clean' laptop in the end (I only want the drivers for the hardware, and the downloads to make the soft keys working).
Now first of all i can not delete the PQService partition (not in Windows, not in the Vista installation program after booting from dvd). That made me curious and searched the internet.
Now I've read that it is possible that after deleting the PQservice partition, you loose the MBR and can not boot anymore. I don't want to take that risk because I do not want to loose many time during working hours.
I'm a software developer, knows a fair bit of hardware but I really like some advice of some 'manual' of what to do to accomplish what I want. (If that is possible).
This guide is made based on an Acer Aspire 5315, but will probably work on other machines with a hidden eisa rescue partition.
This is for everyone who has got problems unhiding and accessing the hidden rescue partition, and have tried all the methods with d2d disabling and changing partition type, perhaps with partedit32 or ptedit32, only to find out that nothing has happened after rebooting.
Download and install "Diskpart" from Microsoft, a small but powerful textbased utility, the link below is a direct download: [url]
Here's the step by step to succeed...
Press "win + r" to bring up the run window Type: "cmd", to bring up the command window Type: "diskpart", a new command window pops up with a "Diskpart >" prompt Type: "rescan", a configuration check runs Type: "list disk", a list of the availible disks appears Type: "select disk 0", if your hidden partition resides on that disk of course Type: "list partition", to find out with partition is your hidden one (probably about 10 gb and without name).......................
my Acer Extensa 4420. A few days ago while on my laptop the BSOD suddenly popped up and my laptop shut down. A restarted it and while it did log in, I got notices saying a lot of stuff was corrupt. I ran chkdsk to see if i could diagnose the issue, and it stated the system volume was corrupt. As time went by using windows became erratic. I decided to try to restore my acer back to factory settings using the eRecovery program. This program would stop working every time right before the process began. Eventually windows stopped booting up at all. leaving my at a boot screen the endlessly looped. I installed Ubuntu shortly after, and managed to get my PQSERVICE partition recognized by the GRUB bootloader and Ubuntu itself (as a mounted drive). The problem is that whenever I do boot to the PQSERVICE partition and look through the options in the recovery center, there is no restore to factory default settings.
managed to overwrite the PQService on my Acer Aspire E380. Acer very promptly sent me recovery DVDs for my model, one System DVD and one Recovery DVD. Some of what I've read here confuses me a bit, however, and makes me afraid to use these discs if I should ever need to.
To sum up my question as succinctly as I can: if PQService has been deleted/overwritten, will system/recovery DVDs issued by Acer itself (sent from the company) still function, or will they do me no good? I'm asking you guys because, frankly, my experiences with Acer's support have been less than stellar.
I got this laptop a few days ago, I currently have 7 and XP installed on it and kind of have vista...(read further down).
My 7 seemed to break today after playing around with a program called powerstrip trying to get my external monitor to show the right resolution (I've realised now the cable vga was broke, but meh) but this is not the full problem, after windows 7 failed to boot I tried to boot xp after turning it off during the windows 7 splash screen and now im stuck with a dash when I turn the laptop on (I dont know if its actully related to something I've done or not).
If I turn the laptop on a flashing dash comes on in the top right, it then stops flashing and turns into a none flashing dash further up the screen and just locks here and I cant do anything at all other than trying to restart it. When I had this problem previously (at least I think this problem) on my desktop it usualy turned out to be something usb related but I have everything unplugged (all though the bluetooth adapter light is on when it is doing this) so I realy dont know what to do...............
I have a Acer E1 522-3657 computer, which my son set-up for me but did not make the recovery disc(s). The unit is just outside of the warranty period when the hard drive failed. The hard drive just makes a clicking noise and after the logo screen appears it goes to a blue screen with a box that has the following message with in, "Default Boot Device Missing or Boot Failed. Insert recovery Media and Hit any key.....Then Select 'Boot Manager' to choose a new Boot Device or to Boot Recovery Media.
I have installed a brand-new Western Digital 1T Sata3 harddrive to replace the Toshia 750 GB original Drive. After turning the computer on and at the logo screen I press and hold F2, this takes me to the InsydeH20 Setup Utility Screen. I see under the "Information" menu that the installed harddrive model and serial number appear. I see in the "Boot" menu, Boot Mode: "UEFI" and Secure Boot: "Enabled".
Under the "Exit" menu, Exit Saving Changes is highlighted. When I press F10 a "setup Configuration" box appears asking to save configuration changes and exit now? "Yes" is highlighted to which I hit Enter and are returned to the "Default Boot Device.......page. I then hit ecs twice and are at a black screen with the message No bootable device -- Please Restart system_appearing in the upper left corner of the screen. I then push and hold the power button until the computer shuts off.
I have ordered from acer the "Acer E-recovery Media Disc Set", which is specific to the SNID of my computer. I have not attempted to format the new hard drive in any way. I assume the E-recovery Media Disc Set will handle that operation due to the multiple partitions required.
In view of the above situation, do I need to set up the computer in any way before I start to utilize the E-recovery Media Disc set. I assume the Media will be on CD's. The computer was running Win 8.0 which was updated to Win 8.1 and was running very well, very stable.
Acer V5, spilled coffee on keyboard. no problem at first, then lockup, and on restart get the No Boot Device or Boot Failed. Am using my old laptop now. Can I get a download, save it to thumb drive, and use it to restart/reboot my Acer?
I'm trying to boot from legacy boot from my new dell 7000 series. however when i change from uefi to legacy i have no boot option. the whole boot list is empty.
i have called dell and the support desk told me dell has no support for legacy :S that means no windows 7 on my dell or any other os that uses non uefi...... i think the bios is corrupt is the whole list is simply missing.
I have the AOA-150. I boot it up and once it runs from start up to end it is only a minute and then it dies. i have taken the batery out and replaced it and changed power problems and nothing still does it. even in BIOS it dies in a minute even after running on power cord. very strange. Is it part of the MOBO thats the issue?
Past few days I got my 8600M GT 256MB DDR2 GPU overheated and it is broken now. Sigh!! The system was still bootable and I did even hear the login sound not until today when I just unplugged the HDD and GPU myself. When I put them back together, I won't boot as usual. It stops loading a while after I turned it on and stays freeze until I shut it off.
FYI, I removed the HDD to copy a backup of my content into another PC. While connecting to other PC, I did change some setting on the Ownership of some folder to get it accessible. As for the GPU, I just simply removed it to take a look myself and snap some photo of it, then inserted it back as before.
So, I wonder will these techies stuff I did awhile back could corrupted the bios that would make the system halted halfway.
Additional information that I would like to share is that I have decided to replace my GPU with ATi Mobility Radeon HD3650 512MB DDR2 instead of the original and did learn the method to do so. Read on some info regarding flashing the GPU, but was not sure bout it.
I have a Acer Aspire 5315 that has been causing me a lot of problem. It recently started to shutdown with no warning and keept doing it for a while until it died. I have searched the forum for answers but havent been able to find anything good. This whole week it hasnt been able to boot. I tried pulling out the harddrive, switching memory modules, cleaning up the clogged heatshink without any resultats. I think the shutdown problem was due to the clogged heatsink and the computer overheateting. Now it won't boot at all.
When I press the powerbutton the fan spins up and the power led turns green. 4-5 sec after that fan stops and after few more sec the green led turns off but no boot.
The internal IDE port got fried and cannot be recognized by the laptop so I came up with the bright idea of installing an OS on a USB drive and booting from that.
XP appears to be the only OS that will install onto an external drive. But, when booting with XP, I get a BSOD..
VISTA won't install to a USB drive so I installed VISTA on the external drive using a workstation, but then when I tried to boot up with the laptop, it got the solid B/W bar at the bottom and just sat there.
Is there any option to boot an ACER 3680 with an xternal drive?? Or is this laptop now useless?
I finally got my optical drive HDD caddy and installed a perfectly working 320GB HDD pulled from a macbook pro.
after installing it and putting the caddy into where the optical drive was, the computer would start up and display that it found 2 fixed drive and then mouse initialized.
After this... the computer just hangs. Nothing. When i press any key on the keyboard, i get a loud system beep.
I cannot even enter bios setup.
when i press F2 continuously to enter the BIOS only results the "entering setup..." to be displayed for 2 seconds, and then disappear... nothing... computer hangs again
THis do not happen if i pull out the new HDD i added.
computer boots find with or w/o the optical drive.
I purchased this laptop about 2 years ago now via Military Tech Source (online military "discounted" sales for PC's) I loved this thing to death. Played my games on deployment's, watched tons of movies, etc. Up until recently I haven't really had any issues of significant value. I lent it to my GF to use as her household PC and now the errors surface.....
For a series of about 2 weeks, the machine would not boot up properly from a standby mode (no video display, sounded like booting up but no video) forced hard start and would work fine
Then (weeks 4-7) it would be selective as to when it would fully boot up. Most days you could fire it up several times and on the third or fourth attempt it would fully boot (no boot = no video, no sound from HDD turning, lights come on but nothing else)
Now, it wont boot at all ( week 8-* ) No display, no sound of normal boot up, nothing. I still get the LAN/Bluetooth and "HDD" lights to come on and the HDD light blinks a few times like it is starting but nothing ever comes up.
I took everything apart and cleaned it out to see if maybe dust or something became an issue, checked and removed/installed the RAM, HDD, DVD Drive, VoIP phone, etc. Attempted the "remove battery - unplug - hold power button for reset" method and still nothing. I am completely clueless and I am pretty sure my warranty is up by now >.<
I my Acer 5920G, internal hard drive is dead by bad sectors. I can't boot image from my Transcend external hard drive. Just nothing happens, just blink of short line in left up corner of screen. I did everything fine in BIOS and I also tried Alt+F10 and also nothing. Is there any chance to do something before I by new internal hard.
I have an acer aspireone with xp originally installed on it. One day I got an error message and it no longer started up. I installed the acer aspirone one linx operating system on it but I don't like it and don't know how to use it well. I tried installing xp from recovery cd's provided by acer but the comp wouldn't read the usb-cd drive after I tried to boot from it. I looked online on how to delete the partitions and install xp again. However, now it won't even start in acer op (linux) and I get "error 22" message when i start the computer up. It doesn't even go past this message and won't boot from my usb cd drive nor my usb external harddrive.
What can I do? to make it boot from the usb cd drive with the recovery xp cd.
I had installed Windows 7 and it was working fine but it blue screened and now it won't start. Fine, I decided I'd just reinstall it but if I put my flash drive in it will just stick at the Acer Empowering People splash screen and won't move for a while and then just goes to a screen about something being not connected and then it'll boot to the normal start Windows Recovery (Which doesn't work) and start Windows normally. If you try to start it normally it'll either stay on the Windows animation starting or get to login and then i'll input my password but it goes to Blue Screen.
I formatted the flash drive using this guide [url]
I've tried having USB FDD and USB HDD as the first boot option and still nothing.
I have loaded Kaspersky anti virus on my computer, the computer gave me a driver alert and restarted, now the bios screen does not display at start up and the hard drive light does not come on, the only thing that seems to be work is the CPU fan.
Machine is an Aspire 9301AWSMi running XP SP2 rather than Vista.
On boot, the machine shows the ACER BIOS screen but after that the display just goes blank. Have tried to boot from the Windows XP CD and the only difference is that following the BIOS screen I then get a message saying "Windows is inspecting your hardware configuration" and then a second or 2 later, back to a blank screen. No disc or CD activity.
Is this another ACER Motherboard problem or maybe a HDD failure?
After I turn on the power, the harddisk led doesn't turn on, just the CAP and NUM led flash once. The screen doesn't turn on, even the Acer logo doesn't appear. I can hear something is turning inside the notebook, but it's definitely not the harddisk.
I wonder if I had pressed some wrong buttons, and disable the notebook.
1. If I press the on switch, it doesn't turn on the laptop right away. I have to press it twice or three times and then it starts booting up. This occurs whether I am using the AC or just the battery which is fully charged.
2. My next problem is probably connected to problem one. If I try restart, it will not restart and I have to press the on/off button twice and then maybe it will reboot.
All the above just started after I tried increasing the memory of my laptop, 5315 to 4gb. Then I had a problem the screen went black but I realized later that my battery wasn't fully charged and when it was, my laptop was able to boot and work properly.I replaced the memory with original 2gb of ram.
Is the Acer laptop able to turn on with just AC and not the battery ?
