A bit complicated...

(I've read all the threads in the forums here, and in countless other sites, but wondered if anyone could help.)
I got a netbook for free, perfect condition, but it had a black screen of death.
After trying to do a clean install of Windows 7, I got a black screen of death again. Tried a couple times and tried switching to Ubuntu, then Linux Mint, and a few others. All have the same problem.
About 2 USB installs in, I could load from the USB and played around with Linux Mint, but again when I went to install on HDD, the black screen froze again.
Now no matter what, it says "Missing Operating System"
I was thinking about buying/trying an SSD to replace the HDD. Do you think this will fix it? Or does this sound more like a motherboard?

Also, is there a way I can install Windows on the new SSD, then just install in the netbook? Maybe a usb caddy? So that way I'll know that the SSD is working, and it must be the motherboard?

Any help is appreciated! Thanks.

Faladu said:

Have you checked that the RAM is seated properly and removed the hard drive and checked the slot it was in for dust/debris, and dirty contacts?

A DVD 7 install does what if attempted?

Install Linux Mint from any desktop with SATA connectors on the SSD or a spare 2.5" sata HD, is how I would handle it for quick testing, I can swap in any SATA drive into my rig in a minute flat, after a bad 7 install recently, I did just that, Linux was sweet on SSD and easily wrote 7 over it again, and been fine since.

Thanks for the response. I did reseat the ram and even switched it to the other slot. I pulled the hard drive and checked everything there too.

It's a netbook so I have to boot windows 7 from usb, so it just goes black.

Your last paragraph I'm lost on. I see you can on your system, but I was asking if there was a way (let's say on my wife's windows 8 computer via usb to sata) to install Linux Mint or Windows 7 onto the SSD, so I would know it was working, before installing it onto the netbook.

In the end, I'm trying to find out if it's the hard drive, the ram, or the motherboard. If it could be any one of those, I'd like to find a way to test each without buying/replacing all three. Thanks again.

If it's an Acer Aspire One, the BIOS may need reflashing. The Aspire Ones were notorious for the Black Screen of Death. I personally feel anything from Acer is suitable only for target practice.

Faladu said:

...and I have a netbook (generic term) that has a DVD drive.

Netbook or notebook? One thing that distinguished netbooks from notebooks was the lack of an optical drive.

So last night I got ubuntu to load from usb and used a smart check to test the drive and there are a ton of errors and it came up FAIL and FAILING.
So I guess that's the thing.
Thanks for everyone's help.
Being that I hate Acer and that 2 people here have said "target practice" too...now I'm trying to figure out if it's even worth fixing...

bobafetthotmail said:

...Carve that in stone bro.

Bro?