Windows 7 - How to re-install Acer Laptop OEM after another OS was installed

Warm Greetings.

I'm re-installing Windows 7 on an Acer Laptop. This is not my laptop but a friend of my friend's laptop. The Windows 7 installed on the PC is a cracked version namely Windows 7 Eternity. It was installed by some other guy I don't know. The usb port are not functioning but are working. I plugged in my flashdrive and there is no sign of life but when I enter the bios it shows the flashdrive meaning that it works fine but when Window boots up it shows no life. Indicating a problem with Windows. I've tried everything to fix the ports but the last option is to re-install the OS.

He has giving me a disc with Windows Eternity which the guy give him to install but I'm going to install the OEM instead of this cracked pirate copy. To check if the OEM partition is still intact I've installed the cracked copy and used Diskpart. The OEM partition is still there. I've used the disc to format the drive and then rebooted pressed ALT & tapped the F10 key but I don't get the options to re-install OS.

What do I do now? other than just installing the cracked copy. I'm guessing when the other guy installed the Eternity he wipe the files need to show the options?

Your help will be appreciated.

Latop Acer Aspire 5332 series
Model No KAWF0
Windows 7 Compatible

Did the notebook come with Windows 7?
Product Key Number for Windows 7 - Find and See



Did you make the OEM manufacturer's Recovery Disks?

Have you tried pressing <Alt+F10> at boot up, to goto the Acer eRecovery Management.
Acer Support: Frequently Asked Questions list for How to use Acer eRecovery

You can Order Acer recovery disks from here:
https://secure.tx.acer.com/RCDB/Main.aspx?brand=acer

Well it's not my laptop so I guess that they didn't make recovery disks and I've tried Alt+F10. It has a Recovery Partition with Windows 7 Home Basic mounted on it with all the laptop software that is included in the package.

Anyhow, I actually fixed it without the recovery disks!!!! It's busy re-installing. ok done now just installing updates... I looked at other post on the net from other laptop manufacturers and other people having similar problems.

Here's what I done if anyone else has the same problem.
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NB: The Recovery Partition must be intact and you need a Windows OS to install, I don't think it matters which Disk you have, XP , Vista or Windows 7.

1. Go to the BIOS console and Disable the D2D Recovery Option. Save and exit.

2. Boot with your Windows OS disk and install Windows (you'll need a working OS to do this). Make sure you DON'T INSTALL WINDOWS ON YOUR RECOVERY PARTITION! The Recovery Partition is labeled PQSERVICE and is 12GB.

3. Once OS is installed click start->run and type:cmd

4. Press enter this launches command prompt then type: Diskpart

5. Press Enter this launches diskpart then in diskpart console type: list volume

6. Press Enter and you'll see a table listing your drives. Now look for PQSERVICE under the label header. Once you find PQSERVICES check which Volume number it is.

7. Now type: Select Volume 3
(3 is the number listed on your table for the PQSERVICE partition)

8. Press enter and you see the volume is selected. Now type: assign letter q

9. Press enter and you see that the letter q is assign to the selected volume.

10.Go to My Computer and you'll see (Q)PQSERVICE. Open the drive by double clicking it. Copy all the FILES (NOT FOLDERS) , only copy the files to your C: drive or whichever drive you want to install Windows on. Once Copied reboot your computer.

11. Boot into your BIOS setup again and Enable D2D Recovery Option. Then save and exit. Once it boots hold ALT and tap F10 on your keyboard, and bingo the Acer eRecovery Management boots. Select your option.

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I'm not sure which files made the Recovery Boot so I copied all the files lol.

Thanks for your assistance theog!

The easiest way when you have Recovery Partition, is to mark the partition ACTIVE.
Partition - Mark as Active

You went through all of this to get the inferior factory recovery install?

You could have booted a Windows 7 installer for the licensed version and gotten the much better clean reinstall using the Product Key on COA sticker: Reinstalling Windows 7

Thanks for your help guys! I'll try that next time.