Acer upgrade failure - looping reboot

[JMD]

I bought my Acer Aspire 6930G in July, which made me eligible for Acer's free upgrade to windows 7 upon release. It arrived today so I backed up my Vista files (Vista Home Premium 64-bit) and put in the first acer disk (as instructed)

Everything went well until it said completing install. At that point, my laptop shut itself off and rebooted saying windows unexpectedly shut down, and to restart to resume the upgrade.

So, I restarted it, and now it will get a couple seconds past the "Starting Windows" screen, and then reboot itself automatically.


Since I cannot acess the desktop or anything, I am unsure what to do. Fsome reason, Acer requires you to use a program to restore to factory condition, instead of from the F8 screen during bootup like my last computer. Im lost, hopefully someone here can help. Thanks in advance.

 

[Jonathan_King]

Does it give you a boot menu to choose from? Setup will make a temporary entry in the boot loader. If the answer is no, you may need to do a clean install.

 

[JMD]

Sorry, but do you mean if I press F8?

I can get to that menu, but I tried last known working config and the repair, but they just cause it to go back to the restarting loop.


Would a clean install work? This is my first time installing an OS (outside of reformatting) so I am not sure if this upgrade disk would work from a clean install, or only when upgrading from Vista. I do not have the vista disks by the way, Acer did not give them to me when I bought the laptop.

 

[Jonathan_King]

Yes, an upgrade disk will work. Hit the link.
http://www.sevenforums.com/installa...-clean-install-upgrade-windows-7-version.html

 

[gregrocker]

From what others have reported with Acer Upgrades, it might be best to hold off on the second disk, since the first one is a clean copy of Win7 Upgrade which has all the drivers you should need (followed by a few in Windows Updates).

Try booting from the Upgrade disk and doing a clean Custom install after deleting the partitions you don't want. One partition might be a recovery partition which can be used to make Vista recovery disks first, but then can be deleted since it will be disabled with Win7 anyway.

The second Acer upgrade disk is apparently apps and drivers with the bloatware bundled in. Try to find a way to pluck the apps you want (Works, adobe, java) off of there while forgoing the rest. As stated, the Win7 installer and Windows updates will provide all but the most obscure drivers (which you can find on the manufacturer's download page), even Adobe reader/flash and Java are easily gotten on the web.

Do anything you can to keep the dreaded bloatware off your system.

 

[JMD]

Alright, I will attempt that (will have to figure out how to access BIOs (f2?) and set the CD to boot first.

However before I do that, I want to make sure of something. Will this void my valid windows activation number? I do not know where to find that other than in my PC info, and since I cannot get past the boot screen I cannot access it. So.... I cant write it down to put in when I install 7, if that is needed.

 

[gregrocker]

Is it MS branded Win7 install disk, or have Acer branding on it? What else does it say? Put it in your DVD drive and explore the folders to see if it has anything extra added.

Was there an Upgrade key included in the package, perhaps on a card insert?

If not, then it is probably tied to the underlying Vista OEM and will auto-activate like an OEM version when installed from boot or run from the Vista desktop. Try it and see.

 

[JMD]

Is it MS branded Win7 install disk, or have Acer branding on it. What else does it say. Put it in your DVD drive and explore the folders to see if it has anything extra added.

Was there an Upgrade key included in the package, perhaps on a card insert?

If not, then it is probably tied to the underlying Vista OEM and will auto-activate like an OEM when installed from boot. Try it and see.

It is Acer branded.

Also, I cannot explore the folders, since I cannot access anything past the "Starting Windows" screen.

I will try and figure out how to boot from the CD, will post my success/failure in a moment.

 

[gregrocker]

Is it MS branded Win7 install disk, or have Acer branding on it. What else does it say. Put it in your DVD drive and explore the folders to see if it has anything extra added.

Was there an Upgrade key included in the package, perhaps on a card insert?

If not, then it is probably tied to the underlying Vista OEM and will auto-activate like an OEM when installed from boot. Try it and see.

It is Acer branded.

Also, I cannot explore the folders, since I cannot access anything past the "Starting Windows" screen.

I will try and figure out how to boot from the CD, will post my success/failure in a moment.

You are entitled to Acer tech support for doing this, but will have to deal with the bloatware they have probably packaged into the second disk, although you will learn for sure how it activates and whether that second disk is even needed if you want to reinstall without it to get a cleaner unbloaty install.

Once you get it up and runnning as you like, just use Win7 imaging to create a backup image stored externally and you'll never have to reinstall either again.

 

[JMD]

Well I cannot figure out how to load the disk from the bootup area. I pressed F2 and went to the boot option, and set the CDROM to load first. I then saved changed and exited, and it asked me what version to run (Windows 7, Windows startup rollback, and Windows Vista) all of which take me to the "starting windows" screen.

After that it has a screen that says "Setup is starting services" and then the screen goes back to the boot area.

Am I setting it to load the CD wrong?

I do not care about bloatware right now, I just need my laptop running.

 

[Jonathan_King]

Something is wrong. Press F12 (or whatever the popup menu key is) and manually tell it to boot from the DVD drive.

 

[gregrocker]

If that disk can be booted, and you double check you have DVD drive set to boot first and try the boot order shortcut key (usually f10 or f12), then it should give you a prompt to hit any key to boot DVD before offering any kind of boot menu.

That Acer Upgrade disk may not be bootable as being Acer-branded they may have slipstreamed the Upgrade installer with their programs, so you probably had best call them to get supported on troubleshooting this Acer-hybrid upgrade to completion.

My roommate had his Acer upgrade arrive today but I am down in Baja Mexico so won't be able to deal with it for another week. But in your situation, I would call them right now just to find out how they want the Upgrade run and troubleshot so I can figure out a way in the long run to get it cleaner-installed.

Acer is required by MS to support these Upgrades, although they get to require their bloatware as a condition. Getting around that is an art, the first step is to find out exactly how they have packaged it all. During the process, ask them outright how you can avoid the bloatware and get a cleaner install - sometimes they slip and are honest.

 

[theog]

Well I cannot figure out how to load the disk from the bootup area. I pressed F2 and went to the boot option, and set the CDROM to load first. I then saved changed and exited, and it asked me what version to run (Windows 7, Windows startup rollback, and Windows Vista) all of which take me to the "starting windows" screen.

After that it has a screen that says "Setup is starting services" and then the screen goes back to the boot area.

Am I setting it to load the CD wrong?

I do not care about bloatware right now, I just need my laptop running.

Try pressing F12.

 

[JMD]

Thanks, apparently my computer had the F12 menu disabled by default, but I enabled it and that worked. I got to the install area and I have it running now, currently it is in the copying windows file stage or w.e (the first one)

I appreciate the help guys, been trying to figure this out for an hour now, its had me a bit stressed. Hopefully this works, I think this was all caused by the crashing of my laptop last time (no clue why it happened, I suspect my young brother hit the power button while I was away but he says he didnt...)

 

[Jonathan_King]

Great. Post back if you need more help. We have a whole community ready and willing to assist you.

 

[gregrocker]

This is great, it means it is a bootable (probably) clean copy of Win7 Upgrade disk. It should provide all of the drivers you need, followed by a few in Windows Updates.

If you notice anything major missing that you need, like Works, let us know for workarounds. You might be able to pluck them off that apps disk without taking the whole package. And your Adobe reader and flashplayer and Java runtime are easily gotten via googling from their websites.

 

[JMD]

Thanks

Anyone know appx. how long it hangs up on the completing instal stage? Its been there for a few minutes, not sure if it froze or typically takes that long.

 

[gregrocker]

It takes as long as needed to start services, test hardware and troubleshoot problem drivers.

Are you getting a progress bar? Place your cursor on it to see if it is moving.

 

[JMD]

The cursor wasnt moving for a good minute of it, thats why I asked. But, it worked again, and finalized. Its preparing for first time use, so I think we are done here.

Thanks again everyone that helped, its much appreciated

 

[gregrocker]

You may need help with missing apps if you want to avoid running that second Acer disk that prob contains bloatware.

What office suite do you rely on? Works? Java has free Open Office that's good.

You'll also need Adobe reader/flashplayer easily downloaded from their site, and Java runtime.