Laptop stuck on acer software installation after system restore

Beemusic said:

jcjsmc - Yeah I saw the window, but couldn't keep it active long enough to complete it. Glad you were able to find an easier method. I even did an MSconfig and stopped the program installer from running so I could complete the OOBE and then msconfig to start normal but the install still hung at the Office install. Weird ~ I know.

Even more interesting - after getting everything to install fine, load anti-virus, copy user data back etc. I decided to open that Acer program installer and use it to install a few of the programs that it didn't install, (and hopefully uninstall the ones I didn't want), it started a complete install of all of the programs and once again hung at the Office install. This time there were no windows hidden behind the installer. Not real happy with this Acer program. I was able to finally get the installer stopped and make it quit trying again after every reboot. Handled my installs/uninstalls through Control Panel. Avoid that Acer program if possible just to avoid the irritations.

Trillionsin - Sorry you had trouble getting the restore to function after deleting the 100mb partition. I had no trouble at all getting the restore to function. You could have even deleted the primary partition since the restore is working off the "hidden" D: partition. The restore doesn't care if the partitions are there or not, as long as it has space to create them and restore the image. That's why I was confused as to why the 100mb boot partition was able to fix it. Only surmising that something got written to it that initiated the Acer program install function. I didn't go and detail inspect that as I didn't have time to. Just guessing. I do an extensive amount of system/partition imaging and restoring so I'm well versed in numerous programs as well as the "nuts-and-bolts" of how imaging works. That boot partition for Win7 and above is essentially the "boot.ini" of 2000/XP. Providing more room for more booting options etc. Most programs shouldn't be writing info there, however it is possible to put script there to initiate specific .exe's.
Anyway I digress, again I'm sorry you had trouble getting to the restore after deleting the boot partition. I didn't anticipate that, only posted the info as it worked for me with nothing indicating other potential failures. Here's hoping you were able to resolve the issue. (I'm hoping it wasn't my attitude that you were having issue with).
If you're still having trouble, post here and I'll help anyway I can if you're interested in my help.

~Bee

Thanks Bee, I ended up getting everything taken care of. There was nothing to complain about with you. The laptop had multiple problems, which made it more difficult to diagnose. I appreciate the help. Hopefully I was a special case where the partitions were just messed up. I've seen the 100mb partition as active, the main partition, as well as the restore partition, all at different times. Sometimes I will force the restore partition by making it active, sometimes this doesnt work. Sometimes I'll try for the hell of it, to make the other partition active, sometimes it forces it into the recovery, sometimes it doesnt work. I cant really explain it, if anyone could that would be great.

I just explained other methods to manually boot Recovery partition if marking it Active doesn't help, which it rarely does.

If you wanted to work with instead of insult me then I can tell you that no one who has ever been cooperative here has not gotten their solution. We will keep at it until it gets done no matter what it takes, one of the things that makes this the top tech forums in web history.

Good edit, that reply is more appropriate.

Are you saying that it rarely does help? More often it does seem to help. Less often do I have a problem booting into recovery after marking it active. Maybe this has just been my luck, but...

I was curious on a specific explanation on that. Do your other posts explain that along the way?

Sorry I do not have time to read them tonight.

Edit: Sorry, it's not surprising that you are still around.

trillionsin said:

Good edit, that reply is more appropriate.

When you can approach me with the proper respect and gratitude for volunteer help then I will share with you all that's been learned here in countless cases to boot the Recovery partition.

Glad to hear that you dont think a clean install is a one stop shop fixer upper for all cases. lol

gregrocker said:

trillionsin said:

Good edit, that reply is more appropriate.

When you can approach me with the proper respect and gratitude for volunteer help then I will share with you all that's been learned here in countless cases to boot the Recovery partition.

Even though I havent specifically asked for you help, I want to apologize. After looking over one of your tutorials I realized that it's tutorials like this that have helped me learn some of what I know today. It may have even been YOUR tutorial specifically that I read, too, who knows...

I'm sorry if I offended you on my comment that you try to force a clean installs down people's throats, but when I search these threads, I look for a fix for the problem, not just a clean up job. As superior as it may be. I hate coming across threads where people think they know the best fix for everything, and nobody learns how to fix anything. Can you see my point? If you can, thank you and please accept this apology.

Install or run GRUB on your system and it should detect the recovery partion and enable you to boot into it. You can install Grub2Win from Sourceforge into Windows or use one of the many Linux boot utilities to scan your partitions. I discovered this after installing Linux Lite as a dual boot with Win7 and after the install it showed the Recovery partition which will boot into this. However, I prefer the clean install without bloatware! But this is a simple and immediate option.

Your solution worked perfectly!! Alt + home is the solution!