Restoring your Acer computer to factory condition is easy. Most Aspires will have a second partition that can be used to restore if you do not have CDs. It is recommended that you make those CDs when you first buy the laptop. If you don’t, you run the risk of not being able to install Windows again if that second partition fails.
Keep in mind that running the recovery will restore the computer to the way it was when you first brought it home. Anything you added will be lost, so make sure you have program disks, passwords, favorite websites, photos, documents and anything else you need backed up before proceeding with the recovery of your Acer Aspire.
Hard Disk Recovery should be enabled by default. If it is not, you may need to go into your system’s BIOS by hitting F2 at boot and enable it under the Advanced tab.
Once Hard Disk Recovery is enabled, restart the system and hit ALT+F10. This will begin the Aspire system recovery process. You will be prompted to type six zeros as a security step. Type 000000 to proceed.
You will then see a screen to select your Operating System. Do this and hit enter and the recovery process will begin.
The process for restoring from the second partition is similar with all major brand names. The most improtant thing to remember is to always have backups of your data and take a few minutes to burn recovery DVDs using Acer’s built in utility. If you have more questions regarding this process, be sure to join our free computer forums today!
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{ 34 comments… read them below or add one }
want to factory restore computer
Okay. Let us know if you need help.
My computer has crashed and left with the blue screen of death.
I cannot find my windows XP disk and am affraid to do the system recovery.
I have a burnt copy of windows XP but will my drivers all work like my sound card and whatnot?
What do you recomend.
Also when i try to boot it from the disk and recover the system it asks for an administrator password. I have never had a password and have no clue as to what it might be but this is hindering my recovery process.
Thanks,
Neil
Details of the blue screen could help…Rather than reinstalling, try getting into Safe Mode. Boot the PC and immediately begin tapping the F8 key. Once there, you might be able to undu any recent changes or fix any problems that are causing this problem with your computer.
I purchased a used Acer Aspire 5000 about two years ago. One day I had the brilliant idea of installing Vista on it, which worked fine, except for the fact I had to reformat the drive to an NTFS partition. Unfortunately the Aspire auto restore only recognizes FAT32. Somewhere during the install of Vista, probably due to my not paying attention or own stupidity, I wiped out the virtual D Drive where the restore information was kept and of course I didn’t think to make a restore disk either. Now I am looking to sell the machine because of getting a new MAC Book and have no way of setting the Acer back to factory defaults. I called Acer and was told it would cost me $39 just to talk to someone because I did not have a warranty and I can find no place on their web site to purchase the factory restore disks. Anyone have any ideas or suggestions as to where I can get a restore disk or should I just load Vista on the thing again and given them the Vista CD along with the machine as part of the package?
I don’t see that you have any recourse. You can try and get recovery CDs from Acer, but as you can see it’s going to cost you.
Your third alternative is to put an alternative OS on there–like Ubuntu Linux.
John, the recovery partition only includes the Windows installation CD’s, device drivers and some utilities that I actually had to spend hour uninstalling.
You could re-install Windows XP using any XP installation CD. If you use the registration code at the bottom of the notebook, there should not be any license issues.
Then it should not be too much of a trouble to download all the device drivers from the internet. (The wireless might not work without a driver, but windows XP usually gets the wired ethernet work.)
thanks very much.. i finally solved my problem
my 8′ laptop(had it for a yr) only has the sd momery slots and the usb slot on it. how do i do a recovery? I as well have a virsurs somewhere in my system. which leads me to the reason why i want to reboot it back to where it was in the beggening. thanks, hope you can help,
Stephanie
i just got a acer aspire 7450 notebook w/ window 7 and the day after having it the mouse starts to work funky ok so instead of when you left click and it justs clicks annd when you right click u get a menu so now wen i left click i get menu and when i rite click i get the same menu…i tryed changing the settings for it and nothing ..i called the ppl no help then they saikd maybe its a hard drive problem..to send it in but i dont want to wait the lo0ng to get back my computer and i had to wait that long to get it…my computer has shut off with out proper shutdown 3 times and maybe its somthing to do with the hard drive….if it is how can i get it fixed with out paying any money or do u think it is something else? please please help i am desprite no please !?
hiiii,i just bought acer aspire 4520 with windows vista and i didnt backup my windows,the computer was so heavy so i installed windows 7 but now i wanna reinstall windows vista from OEM how can i do that?
If you have the disk, you should be able to boot from it and run it. During install, you will see the Windows 7 partition and will have the ability to wipe the drive. backup first, as you will lose everything. Also, it you still have the original recovery partition on there, you might just be able to launch that. Look for opportunities to press a function key when first booting (like F10) to access that partition.
You are awesome for posting this recovery info. i thought all was lost. Bought it, set it up and played with it less than an hour before I had a Vundo Virus. This saved my investment.
My acer aspire 5000 won’t start. When I hit the power button the yellow battery light on the front comes on for about 8 blinks and then goes dead. Can’t get past that point. Please help!
Okay, I have really big problem here so please bear with me…
I have an Acer Aspire AST-180-UD400B desktop with (such as it is!) Windows Home Premium. I tried to install SP1 yesterday, but something apparently went wrong on the restart. Here’s what’s happened so far…
Safe modes (all options) Runs a list of files that ends in something called crcdisk. The first couple of times, it would freeze but then it was try to resume, only to wind up restarting every single time.
Run Windows normally: Gets to the Microsoft Corp boot screen, then flashes a blue screen (too quickly to tell what it says) and then restarts.
Run last good config: Same as running normally
Running recovery CD: BSOD with error STOP: 0x0000C1F5 (0×00000000, 0×00000000, 0×00000000, 0×00000000)
I’ve looked everywhere for a solution, but without safemode and/or ability to use recovery CD, I’m out of options. But then I recalled that I might have a partition on my HD, and sure enough, it’s there! I can switch it to bootable through linux (which is what I’m using now, btw). Should I do so that way, or should I do what the above instructions say?
If you have any USB devices plugged in, try unplugging those. It might be getting snagged on a driver. Also, does Acer give you the option to do a system restore? You might have to boot and tap the F10 key to get to that men–just read the screen and see what key to press for recovery options. Restore to a point prior to the update.
I have acer 5715z which i bought about 2 years back. I installed windows 7 on it. I want to go back to my original vista but nothing happens when i press alt+f10 at boot up menu. I have checked and the recovery is still there in hidden partition. Also i cant install xp. There is error saying that you have newer version of windows and cannot proceed.
Thanks to all your posts I was able to fix my aspire x1200 desktop. Keep posting it may help someone! Thanks to all.
Hi,
Thanks so much… I so much appreciate it…. I followed you advice,,, alt+F10 worked and my system is restoring as I am typing this… It seems like its going to work. This means that I wont have to share my new computer with the wife.
thanks
Math_tcher
i have problems my acer aspire one d250-1042 is showing a error stating that my tcp/ip network is not installed, i can’t connect to the internet at all through wifi or ethernet i tried using the partition function keys but nothing pops up, it just continue boot the original way, please help it would be greatly appreciated
To install TCP / IP open the control panel and click network connection. Right-click the network adapter and select Properties, then you will see an install button. Click install, then protocol, then TCP/IP.
hi Dave..
a pleasant day to you..i bought an aspire one notebook model ZG8,having a windows7 starter edition,with some reasons,i upgraded it to windows7 ultimate edition with a friend..it was successfully installed and properly working except the wireless connection..how could i restore the wireless connectivity of my pc?
thanks in advance..hope you could reply me through my email add..
You should check the Acer website for an updated Windows 7 driver for your laptop. You will then update the driver via the control panel>system>hardware>device manager. Good luck.
how to recover acer eData security management?please help,thank you.
Hello here is what I did to get around the system restore… it works but if your wanting to actually go back to your original OS I would do as it instructs in the directions on the opening of this Page…
(1.) Download a good clean working copy of Windows XP Pro Media Center OEM, Do not get a cracked or Activated copy as you have your own key already.
(2.) Now go to the Acer Site and locate your laptop indicating the OS you plan to use and download all the drivers your laptop will need…
(3.) Burn all the drivers you get to a 700mb CD-R Disc and make sure that all the drivers have been extracted to their own folders before you burn them otherwise you will swear at yourself for not unpacking them before going through all that work.
(4.) Next Format your Computer as you would normally BUT!! MAKE SURE YOU LEAVE YOUR PQSERVICE ALONE DO NOT TOUCH THAT PARTITION, Leave it Alone!! Do a clean install by deleting your C:drive Partition then locate the deleted partition in the list of partitions it will show up as a non active partition, now recreate the partition and then choose the drive you wish to install your windows on. Just Leave your PQSERVICE (EISA) Partition alone, That partition holds your factory OS and programs that should you decide to go back to your factory settings, they will all be there for you go refer back to when you want to by using the instructions on the opening introduction on this web page.
(5.) Now select The C:Drive and do a full format not a quick format because you want to make sure you do a clean install right..?? so do a full format, it takes longer but your sure to get a very clean install.
(6.) After your Done with the format, your pc will go through the steps of install at which point your going to eventually need to type in your OS key thats on the sticker usually on the sticker under your laptop, make sure you write this key down before you go through the steps of install, you dont want to be messing around by having to pick up and fliping your laptop upside down as that may cause your laptop to become corrupted… then you’ll really be swearing…lol helpful hint: Take a picture of it with your cell phone if you have a cell then you can have easy access to it when ever you want. Now Insert your Key.
(7.) if by chance your key does not work, that could mean you downloaded a bad copy of that OS, you have to make sure that you get a good copy of Windows XP Pro MEDIA CENTER… Also note that when you go through all these steps your actually installing Media Center in NTFS and not FAT32 which is what your Factory OS would normally use “(FAT32)” dont worry NTFS is just as good and it will accept all the drivers you downloaded…
(8.) Now when you get to your desktop, pop in the driver CD that you burnt and start installing all your drivers that you downloaded.
(9.) To make things easier to work with at this point I would take the time to make my desktop look like the original windows which is what you should do if your to follow my instructions here. Now to find out if you have installed your drivers all you need to do is to Right Click on the My Computer Icon on your Desktop and then click on PROPERTIES when your system properties pops open click on the tab marked HARDWARE, Next click on the DEVICE MANAGER button.
(10.) As you install all your drivers, check back in your DEVICE MANAGER interface to see if the DEVICES with the YELLOW Question Marks (“??”) are disappearing after each install of the drivers you install. once all the drivers are installed there should be no Yellow Question Marks in that list of Devices. DONE!! Easy as Pie.
Anthony
<<>>
On Step (4.) that is the point where you would put in your Good Copy of Windows XP Pro Media Center to do your install of system files and then do the Format Steps.
Anthony
hi there,
I have an Acer Aspire ZG5 and wanted to install Ubuntu as the Main OS, buuut i dont have a USB CD/DVD Drive, so some how i go to install KUbuntu and hit skip for some un necessary checks and it gave me a “Live CD” test, so i attempt installing it by formatting the Virtual partition, it failed, then i try to install it normally and now the netbook has NO OS what so ever, is there a way to install Ubuntu with no OS’s and no CD/DVD drive, or any cheap way of installing it, oh and when i tryed installing Ubuntu to the virtual drive it got formatted and doesnt have anything on it
I have an acer aspire 9300 and I need to set my computer back to the factory settings, but it says I need an empowering technology password. I don’t remember what it is. What can I do?
My man! you just saved me 50 bucks. My OS crashed , so i call acer tech support. They tell me its going to be 50 dollars to get this problem fixed, i politely declined their offer and googled it. You were the first website i clicked, and you tutorial helped me out. Thank you.
That’s what we do here. Glad you got it working again!
I have an Acer Aspire X1700 that it freezes up after it enters the window recovery screen. The screen just goes black, the fans are still on, and the lights are still on. I was told that I need to use a recovery disk but would loose all my data. Is there a way to recover the data? Or is there another way to start up the computer with out having to use the recovery disk?
Thanks
@Anthony,
The only difference between a full format and a quick format is that a full format runs a check disk before deleting all of the files. No difference in terms of “getting a completely clean install”.
Hey I am trying to locate the hard disk recovery on the Bios menu, My bios menu say CMOS, which i believe is the Bios. Or some form of it.
I am not able to find the function that will help me to enable the Hard Disk Recovery.
When i hit Alt + f10 nothing happens, could you help me out?
Not all models will have the recovery partition. If your model does, you should see the option flash on the screen when you are booting up. Did you get recovery disks when you bought the PC? If you did, then your machine might not have the recovery partition.