[daniclov]

My son purchased an Acer laptop with Win XP from a seller on ebay who only owned it for a short time. It keeps shutting down during certain processes like converting files and things that run on their own like virus scans and SpySearch and Destroy. We also cannot get his e-mail to receive. It did for a couple days, but now won't work and our broadn band tech support tried all suggestions and said something else is wrong. We figure at this point the best thing to do is reformat the harddrive. This will also get rid of some unwanted files that were already on the harddrive that we can't delete.

The issue: how do we do this. The only disk we have is the Acer recovery disks.

Appreciate any help.

[etaf]

you should be able to put the acer recovery disks onto the laptop and boot into a recovery menu
you may need to go into bios and change boot order to boot CD first
as the PC boots - it should tell you how to get to settings or bios or cmos
its could be using del or f2 or f10 as it boots up

NOTE - this will take the laptop back to how it was purchased from acer

you should also get a choice of repair or re-install - make sure you reformat

also you may need to save some drivers off the website - so make sure you know things like
video card
sound card
modem etcetc

run www.belarc.com
and it should tell you the kit

also goto the acer site and download all the drivers
http://support.acer-euro.com/drivers/index.html

[daniclov]

Thanks for the advice! When you get to the repair/reinstall option will there be a reformat option? If not how do i reformat the hard drive?

[DaveBurnett]

Yes there will be an option to reformat.

[daniclov]

Well, we seemed to have run into a road block. After running disk one of the recovery disks, the computer shuts down when disk two is put in. We started it up again and did disk one again, got to the point where it said insert disk 2 and it shut down again when we put it in.

Now when we try to turn on the computer it keeps restarting any time we try to start windows up again. Any suggestions?

[etaf]

have you checked its really clean and no scratches on the CD

[Rich-M]

Also check and perhaps run a cleaner through the cd drive as well.

[daniclov]

The computer is only 3 months old, but we'll try anything, We'll have to purchase a cleaner. However, tonight my son is going to take the computer to his uncle's house who is a programmer. We'll see if he has any more luck with it. I'll let you know. Thanks!

[Rich-M]

Originally Posted by daniclov

The computer is only 3 months old, but we'll try anything, We'll have to purchase a cleaner. However, tonight my son is going to take the computer to his uncle's house who is a programmer. We'll see if he has any more luck with it. I'll let you know. Thanks!

Well if it is monthly 3 months old a cleaner isn't the issue but it could also be defective. A cd drive can play everything well until it comes to XP install and then balk at it because it cannot take that stress.

[daniclov]

My son seems to think it might be over heating. Virus scans are clean and it shuts down even when the CD drive isn't being used, such as during long scans or downloads. He set it on top of a box fan in our living room and was able complete the XP recovery disk installation. The computer is now reformatted but continues to shut down during automatic processes such as virus scans, dvd burning, etc.

He is thinking about buying a laptop cooling stand.

[DoubleHelix]

A 3 month old laptop should not be overheating. Rather than look for a cooling stand, he should demand a refund from the seller or have it serviced under warranty.

[daniclov]

OK, thank you very much. We'll investigate the warranty. Since he bought it from someone on ebay, I doubt he'll have much luck with the seller.

[ozrom1e]

On a repair-install I do not believe that the install process includes a format option. It is rerpairing not loosing any data. like it is non-destructive. Format is for Full Install types only.

[etaf]

do you know how old it really is ???
if its overheating - it coukd be dirt and dust
you will see some vents at the side/bottom of the machine - give them a really good clean/blow out - you should be able to determine the airflow direction

I have used a vacuum cleaner to clean out laptops.

does the laptop have all its feet - often the fan is on the bottom of the unit - is there a clear space at the bootom for airflow.

does the air that is being blown out appear very hot - i had a compaq laptop that would give me an overheating warning and that was very hot..