Acer Hidden Recovery Partition

[darkspark88]

Hi,

I made some Acer recovery CD's but have no idea how to use them. I assume you have to set the BIOS to boot from the DVD drive?

So assuming my windows was corrupted beyond the point of booting into Vista, will all be well If I simply boot from the DVD? Does it perform the same function as the hard drive recovery (which I have tried and works) only not in the Windows environment?

THanks. The eRecovery software is pretty nifty. It does what it says without leaving missing drivers etc... I performed it when I first got my notebook, and I claimed back around 2.5gb of space on the C:\ Drive

[MrPink]

New guy, here. Have a problem that isn't quite the same, but it's close. I picked up an open-box Acer 5610-2273 that appeared to be normal, but isn't.

I've discovered that whoever had this before me wiped out Acer's version of Vista and installed an regular retail version of Vista. This version has a few problems, one being that it wants to be activated. Another is the complete lack of Acer tools and drivers.

The OTHER bad news is that this pinhead's install wiped out Acer's MBR. ALT-F10, no go. One would THINK that the geeks at Best Buy would have run across this problem before, but all they do is blink and tell me I should refund this notebook and buy another. But I don't want to.

The restore partition is there. There are, of course, no restore discs.

What to do?

I've unhidden the partition with PTEDIT, but will do nothing else until I come back and see what you folks have posted.

I have found multiple files with MBR in their names. Three versions of MBR.BIN. One is in the root, one is in the RYTOOLS directory, one is in the SYSTEM32 directory.

I have also found an RTMBR.BIN file in the RYTOOLS folder and another one called RTMBR2.BIN in the same folder. All are 512 bytes.

Which one of these do I install with MBRWRWIN.EXE?

I have another week to bring the machine back without penalty- but I really want to keep it.

Suggestions? Much appreciated, and... nice to meet ya'll!

-Pink

[TeeJay 44]

If I was you I would return the machine and ask for a Brand New replacement. In a sealed box.

Why settle for something secondhand when you paid new prices?

[xtrafile]

Yeah I definitely recommend that.

I believe my laptop just went faulty with the hard drive causing nothing to boot up whatsoever except show the BIOS.

It's still under warranty, so why not try to get something better?

[MrPink]

But I didn't pay a brand-new price for it, I paid $269. This Acer series is on clearance at BB. And there aren't any machines in the region, (well, except for a couple of more demos, and they're missing things like keycaps. At least this machine is clean and in good condition), and there aren't any more of the better Acers in this series that aren't open-box, either.

And I don't want to spend more money if I can help it. This was a great deal, and I bought it as a backup laptop.

So... the problem remains. Which MBR file do I use for the restore? After I posted above, I also found a couple of more .BIN files, on the PQSERVICE partition, such as VISTAMBR.BIN and ITMBR.BIN.

I could try them all, but I'm worried that the wrong one will make the machine unbootable, and that complicates things, because I'd have to then get other tools involved to replace the file with one of the other ones.

Can anyone help with which one it should be?

-Pink

[TeeJay 44]

Sorry, I misunderstood you. I thought you had bought a brand new machine with a secondhand feel and look...

Post a new thread with your problems rather than bury them in this old thread. Good luck, I wish I could help more

Regards
Theo

[lloco73]

Hi

can someone say here what files are in the PQservice and if they are the same that we can find in the backup dvds/cds?
I saw in my recover dvd in folder IMAGES a file named ACERBP0X.WSI. what program open wsi files?

br
lloco73

[ArchiGent]

Sorry - I'm new to all this and a real newbie!
I haven't deleted my hidden PQSERVICE partition but somehow I've accidentally made it visible as a separate drive (PQSERVICE (F). Since it has become visible every time I shut down my Acer TravelMate 8200 I get an annoying message about erecovery not responding and I have to end task.
I just want it to close down properly!
Is there a way I can put PQSERVICE back where it came from and will this solve my problem?
A step by step account would be greatly appreciated as I know about diddly squat about computers, DOS or whatever!
Can some kind person help me out please?

[MulMul]

What are you people doing that is causing this? This past weekend I installed vista again (issues ) anyhow went back to XP the very same day. Now my MBR was overwritten and ofcourse ALT+F10 didn't work anymore so I used my backup DVDs to restore windows. Once I got into windows I copied the same 2 files mbrwrwin and rtmbr.bin did the exact same procedure that I outlined a few post back and presto ALT+F10 is working again and I saw no side effects like strange characters or any "scribble" after the POST screen, windows booted up like nothing happened.

Obviously if you guys are doing what I outlined and are getting problems then it is clear to me that either you are not following instructions or you are messing with your computer somehow while this process is going on (restarting too fast maybe). The main fact that ALT+F10 is now working but you can't get into windows means you guys did something you shouldn't have.

can you explain where you get those 2 files because in my PQSERVICE partition there are more than one version of those and is that method work with new laptops with Vista Home Premium pre-installed in them?

[Evolution]

My 5102 came with XP not vista so I know it works with XP computers, I cannot however say if it will work with notebooks that came with vista installed. I only have 1 version of each of those files, so I couldn't even begin to tell you which one of the 2 versions to use when it comes to vista sorry...