Have you thought of getting a replacement 2.5" laptop HDD??
You can pick one up (40G) for about $40 bucks. Put that into your diseased laptop and and insert the Recovery CD (if it came with one) and you are back in business

That's something I had not considered. I do note that the existing HDD does pass the short and long BIOS test, this says the HDD is good, but it will not boot. I suppose this a hardware check, and the fact that the boot sector or some other core OS "firmware" is shot..again, I wonder if a virus can do that, and if so, I hope AVG et al. have come up with a fix.

Thinking along the suggestion, a 40G is a bit small, but may be the size I have, the notebook is over two years old. And, I didn't mention the screen has a vertical line, not a problem most of the time as I use the notebook in desk-top mode most of the time and use a VGA.

It sounds like a corrupt partition, and you'll probably have to fdisk the drive and start over. If you can get to a DOS prompt, with your CD or startup disk in, Try typing the format command...

format C:/

Then, follow the on-screen instructions for NTFS for XP. Then reinstall windows. If the format doesn't work...Go back to the command prompt (dos) and type...

fdisk

Follow the instructions and remove all partitions, then make new partitions, or at least one. Then run the format c:/ command and install windows. It's really easy and all you have to do is follow the instructions given on screen.

You'll lose all of you old data, but most can be restored using programs to restore deleted files, available on cnet...but only with a format, fdisk will destroy the files...I think?

If you can't get to DOS, then you will need to download a small fdisk program a run it from a floppy or CD.

Here is a link that might be useful: Fdisk link

It's hard for me to see what I just typed. It's...

format C : /

without the spaces after C.

Thanks, I have "built" PCs in the past, mother board and up and have done all the steps above, but don't recall them without a look up or great help such as one gets on this forum.

As I mentioned, this notebook went through stages to the will do almost nothing. I was in fact able in the early going to get F8 on boot to give me access to Safe and DOS modes, and in fact was in the DOS mode just to look around, but while that mode did allow me to input "help" and get the list of commands, it would not execute a few commands I tried. Now, after several more attempts to boot the system has degenerated to where it will not even recognize the CD/DVD drive as a boot device. Now, given the disk passes BIOS disk test and given one can (I believe I have) a new unformatted disk, I don't know why this notebook will not access the CD/DVD. I did mention when in the BIOS the first page, the one that lets you set the time, says what the processor is and the like will not allow me to scroll down to anything below the date, which suggests to me that the BIOS may be damaged. All this makes me wonder how a hardware/firmware fault could progressively get worse, acts more like some virus code executing each time I try to boot, regardless of the boot device selected as first, i.e., the CD/DVD.

I would try the fdisk program from a floppy.

You can also look up your mother board model and download the BIOS flash, and install from a floppy. I would try the fdisk first.

HTH

I don't like Acer, they used to be Texas Instruments.

Jerry how much free space do you have on the hard drive? Acrobat professional does not come on a floppy, nor does XP so I am wondering if you even have enough room for a swap file to operate successfully.

I would not flash the BIOS unless you have a reason to. If you know it can improve things then go for it but if you flash just for the sake of flashing that is not worth the risk. A bad flash and goodbye motherboard. That is not intended to frighten you but there is a small element of risk with flashing the BIOS. I lost an Intel board 3 months ago when the power failed during a flash procedure. The board was flaky so it was not a big loss or surprise but it has the ability to dent the ego slightly.

Good advice, there is some risk involved with flashing the BIOS. The fdisk command is actually...

fdisk.exe

Sorry, its been a long time.
:^)

Ok, now we're getting "down and dirty". The BIOS likes the floppy as the first boot device, but I don't have a floppy for this machine, I have a floppy just in case on an old W98 machine, and old Compaq 333Mhz'er. I'd guess from memory the HDD has about 20 GBytes free.

I think the BIOS may not be operating properly, as I mentioned above the machine doesn't transfer data/programs to/from the CD/DVD. When I turn on the power the Windows screen that allows F8 (Safe mode), F10 (BIOS), and F12 (Network), to be selected comes up, then if left alone dies in a black screen, no disk activity displayed. If I have a CD (e.g., restore CD) in the CD/DVD I can hear the drive spin-up after the Windows screen appears, then it goes silent and the black screen appears. Again, the failure didn't get to this low state in one step, the boot up went from works to works with F8, to accesses the Restore disk, I tried once just to see before things got this bad, to the state now where it will not even interact/boot from the CD, very strange. Again, and I don't know what's correct, when I boot to F10, the BIOS I promptly get the BIOS screen in DOS mode. It allows me to walk through the various pages (I can write them down and report but don't recall what they are from memory) one of which allows me to select the boot order, which I used once to put the CD/DVD at the top of the list, and I even turn off the floppy which I do not have. This didn't help. Something I read said turn of shadow memory and uninstall last software update done before problem. The BIOS does not allow me to move down the first page/screen which contains a memory entry, not sure what all that give me access too. So if that first page should provide access to all entries, then there is something wrong at the BIOS level. Again, this is not a crash, the machine moved from operational to this stage through a number of more dysfunctional states.

Put the battery in overnite to charge up the bios battery. If that doesnt fix it - Thump it down ontop of a telephone book to jar the loose connection inside it somewhere.

Here's a link to the Microsoft XP startup disk. Download the file, run the program, and it will make a floppy for you to use in your laptop.

You need to a have a copy of Windows XP to reinstall. Your computer probably lost the drivers for your CD drive and that's why it's not recognized.

Here is a link that might be useful: xp startup disk

Here's the one you need for XP home SP-1. Sorry, the other link is for my system.

Here is a link that might be useful: XP home SP-1

Maxter,

Thanks for the follow up advice, by the way I have owned (company provided) a Texas Instrument Travel Mate, back in about 1996, I think they went out of the computer business the next year, and Acer picked up the support for existing product. I don't know what affect that has had on the development of the Acer line of notebooks, I know they have used the name Travel Mate, I've been looking at an Aspire, sold by Walmart and Staples (Circuit City, Best Buy...) and I suppose they can't be "junk", why would the retailers take the chance. We did have an Acer flat bed scanner that held up well for several years, still works was replaced with an All-in-one Office machine. Well, back to the problem. Some interesting ideas, but the battery, save a body slam to check connections, for the BIOS has been powered most of its life, including right now. I'll download a MS Start-up, thanks, and burn a CD rather than a floppy, I assume that's all right, but maybe not as we may be pushing a screwed-up driver for the CD. Is it possible that the notebook would be able to read a floppy (should I find one that plugs into the same bay) and not the CD/DVD? I was lamenting that I had never made up an XP emergency recovery disk, guess you provided link will get me one. Maybe that's all it takes, the factory XP Home SP1 may assume too more help to get started than does the emergency recovery disk.

Maxter,

I see from the MS web site you provided that it is explicitly for the Floppy input, guess the Floppy is so simple it doesn't need a windows driver... must run/interface with just BIOS control Now all I have to do is figure out how to get a HP notebook floppy drive without buying one, if they're still available. This must not work over a USB interface, must be that needs Window driver support too. Still, I wonder how the notebook lost the CD driver along the way to its death. I do have HP provided driver recovery CDs too, but that will not help with the CD drive, unfortunately.

You can always install the drive in your desktop and install windows from there. You will need to purchase a converter like the one in the link below. Make sure you hook it up right or it will fry the drive. Without a floppy drive, I don't know what else to say?

Here is a link that might be useful: converter

Maxter,

Thanks, but I can't say I understand what/how the "converter" works. I can say I do have in my box of old stuff one or two floppy drives and the cables that connect them to a mother board (PC type is all I have experience with), I can even come up with power for the floppy, that's what I see in the converter picture. But, that done, what next? I don't see how that is connected to my notebook, are you suggesting I open it up to expose its mother board and that will provide a connector into which to plug the converter?

I do see "Network" as one of the boot options, and while I have not yet studied it carefully the MS web site suggests that if the CD can't be used that a network boot may be possible if the notebook/computer has the right (simple) network interface capability. I think the HP does, at least I recall seeing "network" on the list of boot devices in the BIOS. I could move it to the top, but then what? I can connect the notebook to my home Ethernet but this doesn't get me to the rescue information in any way that is obvious to me.

This adapter will allow you to hook up your small hard drive to a regular EIDE hard drive cable. Then you can simply install the laptop hard drive into your desktop. You could then install windows, and then install the hard drive back into your laptop. Or, you could get the cable that they offer that allows you to hook up the laptop hard drive to a usb port on you desktop, then install windows.

You could probably connect to your desktop from the network card, but I couldn't tell you how that is done.

Also, check the BIOS to make sure you didn't accidentally turn off the CD drive. :^)

Maxter, Just noticed my "Sprial" should have been "Spiral",
hope the typo didn't turn off any other interested parties.

Thanks, I understand...I think. It seems too that the "adapter" would allow me complete access to the files on the notebook's hard drive. As I said I have all my work/personal data on a back-up, no more than 48 hours out-of-date. I also have a lot of other data backed up, pictures and the like, but not as often, that may be a month old. I also recall that the notebook HDD passes the extended/long BIOS tests.

I did down load the floppy disk help disk and do have the facilities to write a floppy, so that's open still.

I may go out and buy the Ascer Aspire 5050 with a 14.1" screen, at 5.3 pounds it would be agreat travel improvement over the 8 pound (and large) troubled notebook. Just trying to put a positive spin on the problems.

Hum, update but not sure what it all means yet.

After buying a 2.5" external enclosure to run my notebook HDD as an external drive on another computer I was able to recover data that wasn't backed up and was in my Shared Folder, pictures and the like, but I was not able to access anything protected by administrative login requirement. But, emboldened by the recovery of some important information I reinstalled the HDD in the notebook and tried to boot again, noting I had discovered that when one changes the BOIS to boot first from the CD ROM one must input a F1 keystroke to start the boot, and if one waits the process defaults to the HDD, which booted slowly but almost normally. Main surface problem the desktop came up troubled with the white background. This would not allow me to recover my original desktop, but no problem the system worked anyway. I was able to capture my Thunderbird Folder and when I substituted that into my new notebook's TB (subject of another thread on having problems with moving mail from one TB to a TB on another computer) I got a complete recovery of my TB history/file/directory. Message here to me is to backup TB an the TB Folder level, not at the Mail folder level. I did then uninstall Acrobat Professional 7.0.8 which had just been updated before the slow crash, and I noted that both the installation of the Acrobat update and the uninstall requires that my external back-up HDD be connected...this was not intended and may have had something to do with the crash problem. I'm still working on the desktop problem and note that scan disk on the troubled notebook does report the HDD check good, but it does not show the details: number of sectors, uses, unused..