Irritating problem with laptop re-install

[Guardsman Bass]

My mom's notebook (Acer Aspire One) got a nasty bug from a corrupted email that I couldn't get rid of even with virus and malware scans in Safe Mode, so I had to do a re-install from factory defaults using the recovery program under Alt-F10.

There's only one problem - the fucking thing keeps on getting stuck in the middle of re-installing programs, specifically the Office 2010 free starter thing any Windows system always seems to come with. It'll get to something like "Item 29/46" and then just stall forever - I even left it on all night and nothing moved. I shut it off and it booted up normally in Safe Mode, but a normal boot just takes you back to that. Anyone know how to get around that issue?

[Borgholio]

And this is with the factory restore disc, yes?

[Guardsman Bass]

Nah, it's a notebook. It doesn't have a drive to run a disk - it draws it from somewhere on the computer itself when doing the re-install.

[TheFeniX]

Ugh, Acer. I had (still have actually) one of the original 10" (I think) models. The XP install got corrupted somehow and the recovery drive was trashed, I assume from the factory because Acer sucks, but they are cheap as Hell and it worked for what I wanted it for. I ended up having to purchase one of those $30 USB CD-ROMs and re-install using an ISO of XP Home and the key that came with the PC.

[Zaune]

Nah, it's a notebook. It doesn't have a drive to run a disk - it draws it from somewhere on the computer itself when doing the re-install.

That would be a separate partition on the hard drive, usually inaccessible from within Windows but I suppose it's just barely possible that whatever you got nailed with in that email managed to mess it up somehow.

Try TheFeniX's solution, or alternatively get a thumb drive and one of the smaller and lighter Linux distros. If it's still playing you up after that, you might have a faulty SSD.

[Guardsman Bass]

Ugh, Acer. I had (still have actually) one of the original 10" (I think) models. The XP install got corrupted somehow and the recovery drive was trashed, I assume from the factory because Acer sucks, but they are cheap as Hell and it worked for what I wanted it for. I ended up having to purchase one of those $30 USB CD-ROMs and re-install using an ISO of XP Home and the key that came with the PC.

That's what I'm going to have to do. The laptop has the Windows 7 Home Premium key on the bottom of it, and I have the re-install disc for my PC. I'm going to have to get a USB CD-ROM and reinstall it from disc, since recovery mode is apparently fucked to hell and gone - it still keeps on fucking freezing on the Office 2010 install during recovery no matter what I do.

[Forgothrax]

Ugh, Acer. I had (still have actually) one of the original 10" (I think) models. The XP install got corrupted somehow and the recovery drive was trashed, I assume from the factory because Acer sucks, but they are cheap as Hell and it worked for what I wanted it for. I ended up having to purchase one of those $30 USB CD-ROMs and re-install using an ISO of XP Home and the key that came with the PC.

That's what I'm going to have to do. The laptop has the Windows 7 Home Premium key on the bottom of it, and I have the re-install disc for my PC. I'm going to have to get a USB CD-ROM and reinstall it from disc, since recovery mode is apparently fucked to hell and gone - it still keeps on fucking freezing on the Office 2010 install during recovery no matter what I do.

There are tools for allowing you to install Windows from a flash drive. This is one of them, IIRC. http://www.pendrivelinux.com/yumi-multi ... b-creator/

[TheFeniX]

I don't know about the new models, but my Acer notebook refused to boot of any kind of USB flash drive or HDD. I have no idea why because the BIOS supports flash booting. However, it had no issues booting off the after-market USB CD-ROM drive I purchased.

Whatever, it's Acer.

[Guardsman Bass]

I know. Still, it would suck to lose that laptop - I got it for her for Christmas, and it set me back about $350.

I'm just grateful it's not her only computer. She has a PC, so it's an inconvenience instead of a loss of her ability to access the internet at home.

[Zaune]

On re-reading the first post, I realised we might be overlooking something. Is it just the bundled software that's locking the machine up? Can you still install third-party software like Firefox or VLC Player or whatever?

[Guardsman Bass]

I could put it in Safe Mode, but in normal mode I couldn't do anything after the first frozen attempt in recovery mode - it would just go to the login screen and wouldn't let me in, or take me back into the middle of recovery mode where it was frozen.

[Vendetta]

It sounds like the recovery partition has a problem. You will probably be able to get a replacement copy of that on a USB stick from Acer but they'll charge you for it.

[Guardsman Bass]

It's $20, and only comes in CD format. Still, I'll order it and give it a go.