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How do I restore to factory defaults?
Hi, I'm having some major computer problems and I hope that there is someone here who can help me get it working again. The computer belongs to my mom and she said that she's been having problems for a while so I decided to take a look to see if I could help but it seems I've just made the problems worse so if you do have any suggestions please give me lots of detailed instructions so I don't mess up again! Thanks :)
Here is what the original problems were:
Windows Explorer was constantly crashing.
You could not get into anything! I tried connecting to the internet but I couldn't get to the network sharing centre because it would crash. I also tried getting into see pictures, videos, documents and music but it would do the same thing.
Error message came up on every reset that something else was no longer working (Sorry I didn't write down what it said and now I can't get back there).
Would not connect to the internet.
I tried connecting both wirelessly and through a wired connection to my internet modem and neither worked. I could not connect wirelessly because windows explorer would crash and when I connected with the ethernet cable it would recognize that it was plugged in but just said “Unidentified Network” and “No Internet Access”.
My original plan was to try to save my mother's personal files (pictures and such) and then restore the computer to factory defaults. Once I realized that I couldn't save her files I tried to do the restore but ended up with more problems. Here's the current situation:
If I reboot and do not press anything then I end up with a completely black screen with the white cursor in the middle. I can move the cursor around but there's nothing on the screen. When I press buttons on the keyboard nothing happens.
If I reboot and press F2 (Setup) it takes me to the setup utility. I have no idea what to do at this screen so I haven't done anything here so far.
If I push F12 (Boot Manager) then it takes me to another menu type screen and again I have no idea what to do here so I haven't changed anything.
If I push (and hold) Alt and F10 then I get a really annoying beeping sound and then “Windows is loading files” followed by a small loading bar and then a black screen with the cursor again.
If I tap the Alt and F10 then it takes me to “Edit Boot Options”. Once again, no idea what to do here and don't want to mess up even more by doing something wrong.
*** For a while I was also getting a black screen that said this: “File possibly corrupt. The file header checksum does not math the computed checksum.”***
Here's what I want to do: I would like to restore the computer to factory defaults in the hopes that it will work like new again. If at all possible I would like to save my mom's pictures and other personal files so that she doesn't lose them all but if she does lose them it would not be the end of the world.
I do not have any sort of recovery disks! All I have is the computer and then my own personal computer that I'm using to post this with. The computer that needs to be restored is an ACER Aspire 5732Z and it is running Windows 7 (although I'm not sure which version or what updates she installed).
If anyone can help me it would be greatly appreciated!!! I would like to get this fixed for her so that I can have my netbook back for school! Thanks in advance for your time :)
Last edited by starsong; 18 Jul 2012 at 17:50. Reason: Checked computer for more information