please don't laugh...

[mypcbroke]

Ok, I don't really have an short explanation of how I got to where I am, but here is the gist. Windows prompted me to restart or postpone for an update -I clicked restart and all heck broke loose. Being as I'm a girl in my early 20s, my knowledge of computer leaves much to be desired. Anyways, I'm also cheap and I HAVE to fix my laptop on my own. It's barely a year old and I am not about to give Acer $200 to possibly fix it. So I called Microsoft and they led me through a bunch of steps that led to no fixes, and in the end they told me to reinstall but that led to more problems. For example, when I booted, it told me I was "missing operating system" and all my partitions disappeared (whatever that means).

So after much googling and trying to figure out my pc and super layman's terms, I stumbled on you post (God send!). Before, Windows 7 would stop and give me error code 0x80fe0000
I followed your instructions to the T. I was ready to lose all the information I didn't back up, but anything so I could get my computer life back. But then, it didn't Windows didn't start. I got all the way through Step 9. And it said it completed installation, but Step 10 never came. It just says "no bootable disk --insert disk and press any key"

So I googled some more and people said to go into my BIOS and change the boot order so HDD is first. Well, I don't have HDD listed. The only two with populated options is IDE0 and CD/DVD. I think Windows 7 is installed in there but it's not booting.
When I booted via DVD again, I can get to the repair part and it does list Windows 7 -which before, it didn't list anything.

Help!
I have been 6 days without a pc (aside from this one which I temporarily swiped from a friend) and I have grad school applications I need to work on.

Sorry this is long, but I hope you can help me!

 

[gregrocker]

Boot into the DVD, on second screen select "Repair My Computer," see if it offers a repair. If it does, accept it and allow to restart. If it doesn't start, boot back into Repair console, see if it finds an installation to repair, click through to Recovery TOols list to run Startup Repair repeatedly with reboots until it starts. http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/105541-startup-repair-run-3-separate-times.html

If it doesnt start within 3 reboots, press Shift F10 at first screen to open a Command Line and make sure Win7 partition is marked Active using Diskpart commands given here: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/71432-partition-mark-active.html Now try Startup Repair x3 again.

Or download free Partition Wizard bootable CD, boot it to take a camera snap of your drive map with listings to post back here. While there double-check that your Win7 partition is marked System Active, and Explore partion to see if files are there. If not Active, rightclick on it to Modify>Set to Active and again run Startup Repair x3. http://www.partitionwizard.com/download.html

If the repair utility finds an installation to repair, it should start up if it is marked Active and you run Startup Repair three times. If not, copy out your files using this method and we will help you get installed properly: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/93347-copy-paste-windows-recovery-console.html

 

[karlsnooks]

MyPCBroke,

Welcome to SevenForums even if under unpleasant circumstances.

I know that it sounds like a lots of work and some of you fellow students will debunk his advice, but

GREG'S ADVICE IS TO BE FOLLOWED COMPLETELY!

Looking forward to hearing your elated reply.

 

[karlsnooks]

A couple more questions for you in the meantime.

Did you drop this laptop?

Did you give it a bath?

Do you maybe have the habit of strangling you laptop by sitting in on top of the carrying case? A LAPTOP MUST BREATHE!

 

[kodi]

Well, I don't have HDD listed. The only two with populated options is IDE0 and CD/DVD. I think Windows 7 is installed in there but it's not booting.

IDE0 should be your hard drive unless you have more than one installed

 

[mypcbroke]

A couple more questions for you in the meantime.

Did you drop this laptop?

Did you give it a bath?

Do you maybe have the habit of strangling you laptop by sitting in on top of the carrying case? A LAPTOP MUST BREATHE!

Haha, my laptop is currently being harrassed by me, but otherwise it has lived a healthy life. I haven't dropped it, given it a bath, or sit on it... that would have really broken it.

 

[DocBrown]

We may be a little crazy here at SevenForums, but I believe we have a 999.9% rate of helping users

 

[karlsnooks]

doc,
I like the new avatar. One of these days I'll have to learn how to do those fancy things. Recognize that mine is from the Arizona Haunted House?

 

[kword88]

i agree with kodi. set IDE0 as your first boot device in the BIOS. try that first, since its the easiest solution.

 

[karlsnooks]

if cd is listed first and there isn't a cd in the drive, then the hard disk is next in line. No change needed there.

 

[gregrocker]

If you set HD first to boot in BIOS setup, you'll have to use the one-time BIOS Boot Menu key to boot the DVD, which on Acer is normally F2

 

[mypcbroke]

I have done the Startup Repair with a reboot between each one... I currently have a black screen with a white blinking cursor. I'm assuming it didn't fix it and will go onto the next step

 

[mypcbroke]

Also, guys, IDE0 is listed as the first boot device. Haha
Clueless, but maybe not that clueless.

 

[mypcbroke]

ok, maybe clueless. I did marked the partition with windows "active" and ran "Repair my computer"
It found a something to repair. I selected "repair and restart"
it restarted and I got the black screen that I am getting getting all to familiar with. It said something like:
Press any key to boot from CD/DVD.
when I didn't, it said: Error booting operating system
Ctrl+Alt+Del to restart
(this isn't verbatim because I don't remember perfectly)

Does this mean that it didn't repair? I'm currently rerunning "Startup repair"
Also, this time after hitting "Repair My Computer" it had (recovered) listed instead of "Windows 7" like before... am I on the right track?

 

[karlsnooks]

Boot into the DVD, on second screen select "Repair My Computer," see if it offers a repair. If it does, accept it and allow to restart. If it doesn't start, boot back into Repair console, see if it finds an installation to repair,

Now my question is: Did it offer to repair?

If no, then did it find an installation to repair?

 

[gregrocker]

Sounds like you have an installation there to repair. It will run many tests and fixes on it to try to get it started. Only if it tells you flat out it cannot repair it would I quit before 3 repairs w/reboots.

Have you marked it Active using Diskpart or booted Partition Wizard CD to confirm it is marked Active?

Do you have files you need to rescue as you can do that if they are still intact using the DVD at any time:

If not, copy out your files using this method and we will help you get installed properly: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/93347-copy-paste-windows-recovery-console.html

 

[karlsnooks]

sorry greg and mypcbroke,
I was replying without benefit of latest posts.

 

[mypcbroke]

I marked it active via command prompt. And I was under the assumption I couldn't retreive files because Microsoft phone guy told me to do certain command (not sure what they were for, I think he heard the desperation in my voice)
if I remember correctly it was: clean, format fs=ntfs
does that mean anything to anyone?

 

[mypcbroke]

Again, question: Will I be asked to "hit any key to load CD/DVD" after each repair/restart? because I feel like I'm going in circles. If it's repairing, I'll keep doing it, but I was assuming the pc would take action on its own (which it doesn't at the beginning)

 

[kodi]

Also, this time after hitting "Repair My Computer" it had (recovered) listed instead of "Windows 7" like before... am I on the right track?

Did it have windows seven and Windows seven recovered listed and you had to make a choice?
If it did chose recovered and see if it loads.