Acer Hidden Recovery Partition

Here's my recommended way of upgrading to a larger HD.
Purchase larger drive and an external drive case.
Install new drive into external case.
Use Acronics True Image to image existing (all partitions including hidden partition) drive to new external drive.
When imaging complete - swap new drive into laptop and place old drive into external case.
If all works as required, (check that Alt f10 works on the new drive) you can then:
1/ Repartition to make use of any free space on the new drive.
2/ clear external and use for additional backup/storage. But keep the hidden partition on it also as a fail save option in case new drive ever fails.

 

nope I never made any backup disc, I hate any softwares that came pre-installed.. therefore at the point I bought this notebook, I immediately uninstalled every Acer softwares / trialwares except for gridvista and orbicam

by using windows disk management, I saw the 7GB of healthy partition (EISA config) unnamed- but I dont have any idea if it's empty or filled with recovery files

I'm downloading ubuntu right now- any other solutions re-enable the alt+f10 key?

thanks hkeyzer^^

 

I've just wiped out my entire 5920G 250 Gb HDD...all partitions...everything...including those two hidden partitions...i've done this using the bootable xp 64 sp2 cd with sata driver included...
And nothing gone wrong...i've started the vista x64 instalation...the system booted from dvd...no errors, no problems at all...made 3 partitions using vista x64 bootable dvd...and everything worked like a charm...
also made recovery discs...just to have something from acer...not using them...

 

Some info - but depends on what you have in the way of backup:

http://ezinearticles.com/?How-to-Repair-the-Acer-D2D-Recovery&id=794500

Alt f10 - assumes D2D option in bios enabled ... but you probably know that.

Also Acronis True Image provides ability to have a hidden partition of "any" installed OS (ie. non ACER config) and use Alt -F11 or (F10?) to restore on boot.

 

Hello there..

I have an out of date aspire 1360 with a new HDD and i have no PQservice.. so alt+f10 won't work.. does anyone know how to help me to recover PQservice again? I read somewhere that i can do something similar by using alt+f11 instead, with acronis disk director.. Is that right? Can anyone help me with the prosedure? I have the recovery disks...

AND..

I want to upgrade my ram.. What RAM is compatible with this aspire?? Any help will be really appreciated...

 

Hi,

I've recently screwed up my pre-installed windows vista home premium on my Acer Aspire 5630, I decided that it would be better if installing Vista Ultimate and formatting C: (only C I later booted up my computer to find the mouse was 'jittery' I narrowed this down in my msconfig to be the "windows event log",(if anyone has a fix for this instead I would be most appreciative)

Now, to my question. I have roughly 8gig in a hidden partition, i never actually used eRecovery, but it is there none-the-less a partition, now if in POST I press ALT+F10, I come to a page with an editable region containing this:

[NOEXECUTE=OPTIN ]

If i press enter my laptop continues to load windows, no matter what i type (or erase) does this mean my Pqservice is missing due to never using eRecovery? I was under the impression that this partition was recovery discs, containing ALL the required information to reload windows...

 

Hi all. Some time ago i've wrote manual about Acer Aspire 5920. There are some material about backuping hidden partitions and restoring them(with the working ALT+F10 function). Manual have been written in russian, but there are many screenshots
You can download it here http://rapidshare.com/files/79824368/ACER_MANUAL_FINAL_2.5.pdf

P.S. Sorry for my english

 

I did make a huge mistake
i set active partition to hidden partition before format my pc(i used fdisk for this).i mean normally active partition is default selected c, if you format c this trick works good.but i install new os when hidden partition become active partition and this trick not work anymore for my pc.
can you understand what i say? (because, i can't speak english.just litte bit)
what can i do for fix this?

 

Hi, I have an Aspire 5920G with Vista HP.

When I first got it I was unable to create the restore discs due to a DVD fault. Acer were supposed to send me some (I sent my laptop back to them for nearly 3 working weeks) when returning my laptop but they didnt. They also returned the laptop with some of the same issues it was sent away for.

SInce then I've tried doing a clean install of Vista (using the 'upgrade DVD' they did supply) and I still have various issues - including the failing video driver, usb issues and some problem with Host Process failing.

Long story short, before I return my laptop to acer for the 2nd time (I've limped on with it until I could find a suitable time to send it back) I want to restore it to the factory settings.

It is now I find out that I no longer have the hidden partition. It's either corrupted or deleted (I dont recall doing the latter personally).

Am I completely screwed?

Laptop display stays permanently on the lowest brightness level and the function keys dont work. I managed to get it to work with a 2nd monitor so I can back up my files.

I've had a total of 7 laptops over the years and this acer one is by far and away the worst laptop I've ever owned.

 

Is there any methode to obtain NAPP CD,????
if any one has acer as1645 or as1690 , with hidden prtition intacte can he ghost only the hidden partition and send it on any server???

 

You can order from Acer's web site the recovery DVD for a nominal charge. There is also for free, a download for creating a PDQ partition from there website. You will have to supply the serial number of your laptop and see if you qualify to buy the Restore DVD's from ACER.
If you have erased the hidden partition, you can start over fresh with these 2 items.

 

The NAPP CDs are different for each model. What is the exact model of the machine. I have a number of NAPP cds here what I can send. If its the same as the Aspire 1360 then I should be able to help you. If you already have the required CD then you will need to completely get rid of norton ghost (if you have it installed, best way is to reformat everything) as it messes up the installation and nothing will change. I also suggest that you backup all of your data as it will be lost

 

Hey matey, have you got the acer 3680 NAPP CD??? i need it badly..

[email protected]

Much appreciated

 

Hello

I cannot recover using the hidden partition. My laptop model is Acer 5050-4968.


When I press "Alt-F10", I get the following screen message:


Edit:Boot Options

Edit Windows boot options for : Microsoft Windows Vista

Path: \windows\system32\winload.exe

Partition: 2
Hard Disk: f31d941b

[ /NOEXECUTE=OPTIN
]


Please send me message ASAP if you know how to fix! I want to restore to original factory settings. I had NO problems with my previous Acer laptops.

PS. If you have a copy of the recovery disk can you please upload to

http://rapidshare.com/


Thanks,

Elite88

 

PenrynTech
I also deleted my hidden partition and reformated my hard drive trying to get rid of bad os install that i was trying to double boot with vista. I did not realize that the info was prob. still there. i have an acer 5100-3357 and i would like to know if you have NAPP CD that i could use to reinstall it. i have read a lot of the posts on this site and i think that is what i need.

thank you,

Kurtis

 

Hi Guys,

I have spent the last few days browsing some posts on this forum with some great info in trying to recover my cousins acer laptop.

My situation is:

1)Windows xp on the laptop crashed, couldn't even log on into safe mode. Something to do with a Kodak program.

2)No recovery disk was ever created, and i just figured that my cousin had lost his xp home rescue disk. However as you are all well aware acer does not send out discs anymore.

3)Not knowing about how difficult acers reinstallation policies i installed another version xp home on the c: drive which has now turned out to be my biggest mistake.

4)I left pqservice and acer data partitions exactly as they were. I can see pqservice is still there in partition magic 8.

5)I followed "exactly" a great guide which Creatz created (and i am very thankful for) stating the following:

For a moment i was loving life. I restarted the laptop after the following directions hit alt+f10 and the recovery console started.

Awesome, until please wait screen changed to a dos format and a whole heap of weird characters popped up. About ten or so. Everytime i then hit the key those ten characters would duplicate.


I turned off the pc and try to reboot just into xp home. once again these characters popped up.
I decided to keep trying the alt + f10 key about 10 times to no avail. Each time it seemed to stop at a different point, dropping into the dos mode with those weird characters.


With no more options i decided to re-install the only windows xp rescue home disc i had which is for another pc and it loaded up okay. However finding drivers seems impossible for this laptop being and acer travelmate 4280.


I am thinking to give Creatz method another shot. Any thoughts?



I am thinking i have 3 options at this point.

i) Keep trying Creatz method, hopefully somewhere along the line it will work and then i can do a factory reset.

ii) Install windows xp home (the recovery disc that i have for another computer) and go through the massive task of finding all the drivers.

iii) Contact acer and try to get an original cd.


I saw some information about an acer napp cd going around. Would this help me in any way?


I am thinking i really buggered it up when i installed xp home from a recovery disk that was for another computer.....

Thanks in advance for any suggestions or advice. Anything would be greatly appreciated.

 

hi guys been awhile since i been on the thread bit busy at the moe , but give me time to read and catch up and ill try and help if i can

post back soon

 

ev8321 do you have the same model laptop as me ?

9300 ?

 

hi - tried the link and it now requires a log on and password - can you let me have that?

Dave

 

Reading the previous threads is quite interesting. I have related problem. I bought an Acer 9301 Laptop with XP pre-installed, the hidden partition works well on that disc. I installed vista on another partition but could never get the hidden partition talking to Vista. I now have upgraded the laptop to a 250GB hard-drive and desperately wanted to get eRecovery Management transferred to the new drive. I copied the hidden partition using Powerquest v2i but cannot get the machine to recognise it. I read somewhere that Acer could supply the boot CD for my machine - looked on their web site but could not find it - any ideas?

 

Thank you so much for this step by step which saved my aspire 1640!!
it's been months I'm working on trying to get back my alt+F10 function that i lost when updating my OS to Vista S). Obviously Vista has its own recovery thingy which disabled any access to the PQ servive partition. With your step by step thing (which was slightly different for me) it got back.
But i must admit i had a few frights with this as well, for instance:

step 11: when i hit alt+F10, it started immediately the restoration to factory settings. when this was finished, my system rebooted and got stuck on a erecovery screen telling me that 'invalid media type reading D, abort, retry, fail'.
from what i could tell, nothing i did changed anything. so i took my old restore cds and tried to reboot the system that way. when the restoration was over, i still had the same screen, and couldn't do anything. i finally tried to type 'A' for "abort", and it worked (maybe for you pros, it was the obvious thing to do from the beginning, but i had no idea...)
i had once again the 'found new hardware, but you might need to reboot your system for it to work properly' screen. so i rebooted and everything was fine.

i could restore my computer back to factory settings and make a new resotre disc.

so thank you so much for you help! it's been great!!!

 

Can anyone help me. My problem is this:

I changed the HDD but this new HDD does not have correct files on PQSERVICE partition. I have made restore DVD from the original HDD. How can I make image file for PQSERVICE partition so that I can boot from that PQSERVICE partition? I tried to just copy the files and folders from restore DVD to PQSERVICE partition but when I use Alt+F10 in startup it says it is not bootable disk...

 

I have gone round (and round) in circles on the various Acer sites trying to find where I can order the DVD , or download the partition image.

Can Walter or someone else post the links please?

thanks in advance

Paul

 

acer should be willing to sell you quick restore disks for $30 last time i checked...

but chances of finding somone who has and is willing to post a link and violate coyrights is gonna be a challange... infact such discussion is prohibited here at NBR

bigO

 

I have no interest in illegal downloads.

I was looking for links to the right places on an Acer website.

I can't find anywhere on any of the Acer sites where I can either get rescue cds or dvds, or any downloads of images of the PQSERVICE partition, which is what I thought WalterColeman was referring to.

As you seem to know where to spend 30 bucks with Acer, can you give me the appropriate links?

tia

Paul

 

that is a price quoted by acer "service reps" when i called the 1800 # for ACER SUPPORT in the USA...

there is no link to buy the disks...
and there is nowhere you will find legitimate downloads of the restore disks.

you may try GOOGLE
other than that,, call acer...

 

Do you need that partition really? I make a back-up from it on 2 DVD's and of course the first DVD has bad sectors (not funny). I delete it too with in mind my 2 DVD's. the burner in it is fine so other DVD's burned with it are fine.

Happely I have an original DVD OEM DVD and I could install Vista fine and activate it fine. Now a laptop without bloatware and far more responsive.

I don't know Acer support appreciate this, but it is my notebook and not one of theirs.

 

i know how you feel Rog... i even went as far as to take VISTA totally off mine.... and now i have a blazing fast XP machine... yeah it's an ACER,, but it's MINE!!

the LAUNCH MANAGER is the only acer software i use other than a few of thier drivers

 

Precisely

What you say. I use only their launchmanager because it is easy software and it don't use much resources.

I can't install XP om my notebook and I've done this twice. In both situations a notice after a few reboots that XP is horrible slow, really at least 10 times slower and this is not a joke. I don't know why, but the software I use is absolute spyware free and virus free, guaranteed, but I got twice this problem. Do you maybe know a solution?
The installation runs fine and XP runs fine, only for a few hours and then, over. I can't fix this and safe mode runs fine so it is due to a driver or something?

 

i've had no issues with OS slowdown running XP on the 5315... what software are you running??? all i can think is that maybe its a software problem...

after re-reading your post.. the thing about SAFE-MODE running fine might be a clue.... do you remember what BIOS version you were running back when you tried XP

if your BIOS was PRIOR to Ver 1.33 the laptop could have been slowing the CPU due to overheating.... PRIOR to ver 1.33 we had to run a DELL fan contorl prog so the BIOS would recognize the temps comming from the CPU sensors... without the fan control prog running many people had machines that were getting so hot they shut-down...

 

Probably because you install third-party drivers..ACER don't have xp drivers for your laptop right?

Maybe one(or more) of the drivers is not compatible with the ACER's stuff..

 

his problem does sound like DIRVER or APPLICATION related... the fact that SAFE MODE works fine makes me think it's DRIVERs the more i think about it


BTW most of my drivers are from the actual part manufactures.. but i did orginally use the ACER drivers from other ACER models that had XP drivers for similuar hardware....

 

Run verifier in windows to see if there's any conflicts with drivers. Verifier is a program that came with windows. Not sure if Vista has it but XP does.

 

I have just realised that the reason I lost access to PQSERVICE on boot using Alt-F10 was that I had overwritten the Acer MBR with a regular WinXP MBR.

I'd installed Linux GRUB bootloader at some stage (which itself will overwrite the Acer MBR) and then reinstalled the MBR using fixmbr (or maybe it was fixboot) without realising what effect it would have.

I'll be willing to bet there's a few people who have lost Alt-F10 access for similar reasons.

Hope this helps someone ...

paul

 

Yes, that's one reason. Another would be they disabled D2D in their bios.

 

I have the Acer Aspire 1360 and need to recover the hidden partition, can you help?

 

hello guys...i have an acer desktop t180..........yes unfortunately deleted the mbr file...partition still there..can comeone kind enough put that file in zip or winrar..post to it...or link


NEED THIS FILE MBRwrWin.exe PLEASE HELP

 

Can Anyone Copy It And Upload It ..its A Small Files Thanks

 

great link... if it were translated it would be worth a REP

 

Yeah, it's too bad that Google doesn't support Slovak for page translation..nevertheless great link.

 

i guess you would have to wait until we can make a 17GB email attachments!
lol

 

here is a link to acer mbr

acer_mbr.zip

cheers

 

i guess my virus scanner reported it because it was obviously a BOOT RECORD being transfered??

 

I just scanned it with NOD32, Avira and Malwarebytes and all reported it clean. Thanks for posting this, btw. I was looking for an MBR to revive an old Travelmate.

 

my virus scanner must be hyper sensitive... and noticed an MBR floating around in a zip file..... and not liking that kinda stuff it threw a fit????

here is a screenshot i just took..

 

lol 2 years on the forum and 2 posts

 

ok guys, I managed to recover my Alt+F10 option !!!!! Now when the recovery starts near the end, I get these messages

Fail in creating or opening a file

Cannot find file C:\preload.tag


Cannot find file D:\preload.tag

Cannot find file X:\preload.tag


How do I fix this to restore my original factory settings ?

 

Thanks for the file ... scanned with Avast .. clean too .


This files look just a bit fresher than my , i will try them and see.
Testing ACER MBR's had become my latest hobby ..






.

 

Unfortunately my problem did not solved ...

Every time that i install the ACER MBR , the Alt-F10 works , but i have 30 seconds delay on its XP boot .

After bios boot i have a dash flashing for 30 seconds at the top left corner, after that the XP screen starts and the operating system loads normally .

 

i wonder what it's trying to find durring that 30 seconds....