Hi guys. First of all, i would like to say hello to everyone. And thankyou for reading my post. I feel bad for simply signing up here, just because i need a problem fixed. But this is really annoying me and i didn't know where else to go.
I'm interested in restoring my Acer Aspire 5738G to factory settings. (I've done it before and i never seemed to have a problem).
I know it should be simple to do this, by simply pressing "Alt" and "F10" at the Acer Splashpage when you bootup, and going to the acer eRecovery page. But when i do this i get the error message,
"HDD RECOVERY VALIDATION FAILED"
I've tried my hardest, searched all over google for a solution, but every problem seems to be different.. And i can't figure out what is particularly wrong with my computer.
I am only an amateur when it comes to computers, and disks, partitions, locating partitions, etc etc is not my strong suit.
Is there anyway i can check if the hidden partition "PQservice" is still in my drives?
If it helps in anyway, i though i might mention that the previous time i restored back to factory settings… When i completed it, i didn't fully complete the windows installation process, and now whenever i log into my computer, it mentions that my "windows is not yet genuine, click here to register it blah blah blah". I didn't bother doing it because i assumed it wasn't vital, i was and have still been able to use my computer fine for the past year or so without having to do it. But i thought i would mention it anyway.
If anyone could give me any information at all to accessing the Acer eRecovery page, i would be extremely appreciative. I do not have a recovery disc or anything.
Thanks in advance.
what did you do to stop it working in the first place? did you install another os or re-partition the drive?
forgot to say welcome to wtt, and don't feel bad that's how most people first find such sites, when they have a problem to solve.
I think the problem was caused when i reformatted it about a year ago. After reformatting it, it told me my copy of windows was not genuine, or not registered, something like that. That i may be a victim of counterfeit software. (It still tells me these things each time i startup my computer).
It also never reinstalled any of the original Acer software, for example… The Fingerprint recognition, Acer webcam, etc etc. So i dunno if that maybe is the cause of eRecovery not working? Maybe there is still one more step i still need to do? I really am not sure.
I'll check out that Linux boot disc now. I'm a little bit inexperienced when it comes to all that though.
I've attached a picture of the Computer Management > Disk Management page. Maybe it might tell you something? To me, i've no idea what its supposed to look like.
from my understanding that pic should show 2 partitions, ACER C: Drive and DATA D: Drive. if those partitions are not there then the Alt+F10 doesn't work.
not sure if the hidden restore partition would show up there but that's named PQSERVICE
you should be able to tell if the recovery partition is still there when you boot the live cd.
now if the recovery partition is still there, you need to manually repartition your current C drive and add the DATA partition, then you'll need to boot the recovery image on the hidden partition somehow to restore to an as new condition.
booting the image can be accomplished but it's not going to be an easy 1 click process, i've only done it once so won't be able to give you a step by step guide because it's complicated and i can't remember the details.
to be totally and brutally honest the easiest and best way for an inexperienced person to restore everything, and my recommended suggestion to you, is to get in touch with the seller/maker of the laptop and buy the recovery cds that you should of made when it was new from them and use those to restore everything to an as new condition.
also you ALWAYS need to register your copy of windows if it asks, to confirm it's genuine, so it will carry on working.
it should be one of the first things everyone does.
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