# acer aspire 3000 reformatting problems



## dustypaulson (Feb 7, 2008)

I am having a ton of problems with my acer aspire 3000 series laptop. I have a dual boot XP SP2 and 2000 on my computer. When I boot XP it restarts before it gets to the windows logo screen. So I boot 2000 and I can only boot into safe mode. Safe mode does not work in xp. So when I originally boot my system it wont boot from any cd. Basically what it comes down to is when I am in safe mode in 2000 I can load SOME original software's but it wont load any burnt cds what so ever. I tried to reformat windows from inside windows off of the hard drive but it only gets to a certain part of transferring files but then it stops. Does any one have any idea of anything that I can do.


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## TriggerFinger (Jan 30, 2008)

Hi...

At first glance it looks like your HDD is shot. But you also say it would not boot on CD (copies or original)?

Booting to safe mode is good indication that it could probably be the drivers. Also if you cannot boot safe mode in XP have you tried reinstalling XP?


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## dustypaulson (Feb 7, 2008)

i have no way of reinstalling any operating system because it wont load manually from the hdd and no cds can be read on it. i believe the registry got all screwed up from some software that got put on for a class it was open source stuff. when i removed it is basically when it all started to happen.


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## TriggerFinger (Jan 30, 2008)

Hi again..

Booting from CD is a BIOS thing and should not be affected by anything like operating system. Have you tried booting from CD and it was a NO GO? This a long shot and could be stupid question on my part :smile:... how many sticks of RAM are you using? Try using one RAM at a time and boot from CD using XP original CDs or a copy of any bootable CD... and let us know.


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## dustypaulson (Feb 7, 2008)

I have 2 sticks of ram 1 factory installed and another that has been installed for about a yr and a half before the computer started acting up. I will try this. I don't have a original cd of xp anymore i just have a burnt one. We had a nifty exchange with microsoft through school and got to download different operating systems so i basically have access to any operating system out. do you think trying to boot a different operating system would work. I do not have a floppy drive on my computer.


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## TriggerFinger (Jan 30, 2008)

Just to clarify...

Booting to BIOS is when you press a function key (ex. F1) during startup to enter into BIOS Setup. If you have tried this, was it successful? Booting to BIOS does not require any HDD or OS activity but it requires some RAM. If booting to BIOS fails (can't go into BIOS Setup).. try removing one stick of RAM at a time.

About the CD or optical drive problem. Have you tried booting XP CDs on it and were you able to reach the part where it asks you to INSTALL or REPAIR? If you have done so went past this, where did the problem start (what part of install or repair)? Try this and observe which part of the activity the problem starts.


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## dustypaulson (Feb 7, 2008)

i can boot to the bios just fine i already had a windows xp setup on my boot menu from trying to load windows xp from a iso through a virtual cd drive on my computer it loads it fine and gets to the install or repair part i go to either of them and then it says insert the cd labeled: windows xp professional service pack 2 cd into your cd-rom drive. press enter when ready...i have the cd in the rom so now i am wondering if it is just the drive any more advice.


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## TriggerFinger (Jan 30, 2008)

Have you gone past the setup part where GUI starts? Have you gone past the part where it asks you for a user name or product ID number?


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## TriggerFinger (Jan 30, 2008)

Hi..

I just want to add...

Unless you have tried another HDD, it is still difficult to say that it is the HDD that is malfunctioning. If you have gone past the entering of details (user, product id, etc.) in Windows XP, it still could be anything (HDD, a failing RAM or video card). 

I had the same experience a few months back when I tried to revive an IBM Thinkpad. I experience the hang/crash only when I get to the GUI part of the install. I thought at first it was overheating but the same thing happened after I cleaned up the insides. Formatting the drive was OK, same with installation of devices until I get to the point where I entered the data (user, product ID, time, etc.) for XP to be able to continue with the install. I replaced HDD but still the same result. I replaced RAM and still the same. I even replaced the processor but to no avail. I came into the conclusion that it was the video card when I tried PCLinuxOS live CD and the laptop just crashed. Display shows the desktop but no keyboard or mouse activity. No HDD activity. Fan stopped spinning. The most that you can do is press the power button.

Oh yes, I also tried running Memtest86 for several hours and yet no hangs or crashes. Crashes only happen when it is in GUI whether XP or Linux.

I hope this info will be of help.


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## dustypaulson (Feb 7, 2008)

ok so here is the new issue i tried to take the ram out and here is what i found out with both sticks of ram in windows 2000 will load but sometimes the mouse does not work sometimes it does. windows xp still restarts at booting even after i disable all of the start up processes in the msconfig through windows 2000. with the original stick of ram in the computer it loads exactly the same way. with the new stick of ram their is no hdd function and will not even boot to the bios. either way the cd rom still does not work and is not possible to reformat the computer. the plus is i can boot to a regular operating system without being in safe mode (windows 2000) still no xp. i also tried to do a boot to diagnostics repair in windows xp on startup and it said that the hdd was clean and then just restarted like it usually does. hope someone can give me more information. thanks


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## TriggerFinger (Jan 30, 2008)

Yup... looks like you are just back to where you started. I believe you run Memtest86 already and there were no errors on your RAM. If you have run Memtest86, I assume you did Memtest86 by booting from a USB Flash drive because you said you cannot boot from CDROM.

The above gives us this:
booting from HDD = NO GO
booting from CDROM to run MEMTEST86 = NO GO
booting from USB flash drive to run MEMTEST86 = OK
MEMTEST86 diagnostic results on RAM Sticks = OK

Without any errors in the RAM as proven by Memtest86 diags, there are 4 possible hardware devices that could have caused your problems (mobo,video card, HDD, CDROM). Among the 4, it is easy work on HDD and CD ROM. 

So if you have spares which you can use to isolate or test then have them ready. If you do not have spares or another laptop to work with, stop now and bring it to a repair shop. 

If you think HDD is shot, try using it on another computer and try formatting there. Or if you have a spare HDD try to format it in your laptop. Both ways you will know if it is the HDD or the laptop.

Same is true for CDROM. If you can try it on another laptop or use a spare or another from a working laptop, then you can narrow down if it is really the CDROM or other things in your laptop that causes the hang.

If the you suspect that the CDROM and the HDD are both shot, try a mix and match with your spares. This is the easiest way you can figure out what's causing all these problems. 

If these still would lead to the same problems (HDD and CDROM are both working when tested in another laptop) then you know you are down to the other 2 hardware devices in your laptop (mobo and/or video card). At this point I suggest you bring it to a repair shop already....


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