Acer Hidden Recovery Partition

i have an acer aspire5600,i have deleted o.s.i cant find my recovery disks,i can enable boot from cd but i can only use my acerone,so can anyone help me to fix my laptop from a 4gb flashdrive

 

Did you delete the hidden recovery partition, if not, then on boot (acer screen), press ALT+F10. This should then start the recovery console.

 

I am having the same problem with my TravelMate 8215WLMi, accidentally erased the hidden partition.
I tried the abovementioned URL and required an Username and Password to login, where can I find that?

Beside, is there anyway to use the recovery dvd to re-install my harddisk to a single partition using ntfs format, instead of fat32? Coz, whenever I tried to reinstall using the recovery disc, it will format as fat32, which I prefer ntfs.

Kindly advise. Many Thanks.

 

Just convert to ntfs with 'convert c: /fs:ntfs' from the comand prompt and restart (it can not be done with the partition been used)

 

my H.d.d was fully formatted my hidden partition gone can i restore it?

 

From my investigations, no without purchasing a dvd from ACER (60$), by the moment.

 

Hi guys,
I bought the recovery disks because I was too stupid to keep the hidden partition on the drive and also I didnt build the disks the first time I booted Xp. Duh.
The laptop is an Extensa 4420.
Anyway, I boot the recovery disk (Xp) but it complains about not finding a valid partition. The message is "No valid partitions found" I think.
Do I have to format the drive a certain way prior to the re-installation or anything else ?

I also received 2 system disks from them, anyone know what they're for ?
Thanks.

 

hi all i see alot of information on this problem here.

so lets test your wits. (i am trying to get this system back to factory defaults)

I am dealing with an acer aspire 5100 system with windows vista home premium loaded. from factory.

everything crashed, could not run erecovery from alt+f10, never made back up. (not my system)

tried all the trick about unhiding the partition and copying all the data to disc. ha!, nero essentials tells me i am making and illegal disc and fails to burn.

tried the whole thing of trying to restore the mbr well that did not work either
everytime i try it gives me something, it boots to a black screen and i see(u2=531rwr) => not actual code becasue it looks like font webdings symbols. This also made the windows vista completely unbootable.

arg!!!

so since i do not have a full verison of vista.
i used my windows xp pro disk for my desktop to re-install an operating system to use it temporarily but most of the devices do not work properly.

so i broke down, and ordered the recovery disc from acer. got them in about a week. i put the system disc in and it says

loading ram disk image...

then

starting acer erecovery management (briefly flashes on screen)

then

full white bar at the bottom and PLEASE WAIT on top of it
(it hangs here for hours doing nothing)

what do i do?

any way to restore the original acer mbr?
or extract the image from the wsi files. (i know this needs a password and it is not the same as the acer erecover password.

PLEASE HELP I am begging you!

 

vegeta : looks a bit like my problem. I have not seen this scenario explained in this thread where we DO paid for the recovery discs but still can't restore the system. Mainly because of the hidden partition I think. Stay tuned...

How Acer can be so ********* ? Lenovo doesnt charge for their recovery discs and they actually work.

 

i found out recently that losing/deleting your recovery partition will void the warrenty and acer will charge for all repairs even if they do not involve the recovery partition. i would advise caution if you are playing with the recovery partition as even changing it slightly voids your warranty!

 

For example: How One is supposed to recover the system if he has to buy a brand new drive in the future and he has the recovery cd set ?

 

ok people this will help those who have deleted their partition by accident and want it back. The only proviso is you need to have created a set of recovery discs in the first place to be able to use this tool.

The link below is for something called the acer NAPP CD but is generally used by engineers only and therefore the site is passworded. Well after 2 hours of searching i can happily tell you i have found exactly what i was looking for and have decided to share it!!

First off head over to - http://csd.acer.com.tw/SI/Download2.nsf/0/83f45555e8e5ddb148256e99002bf13f?OpenDocument

Then click on the "Acer Service Partner" option

when faced with the login request enter the following

Username - axvi

Password - acer11


BANG you now have access to the NAPP CD.

Please dont ask me how to use it, i am trying to figure it out for myself

Have fun

 

glad to see the link to the nappcd, however that is for a travelmate system, i have an aspire 5100 will it still work, and is that not the same thing as stcdboot.iso on the recovery partition (servicetechcdboot.iso) inside the iso you will find the file napp32.exe, but it will not run from dos, i tried that.

if it will work, does anybody know what files to run.?

please i really need help.

 

ok, according to a acer service technician, this should work no matter what, as i say, i am trying to work the bloody thing out. currently backing up all my data just in case it goes up. 74gb to go

 

anybody know where to find the password for the wsi image files on the recovery discs from acer?

 

try AIM1R8

 

Well, i think i have figured it out.

Burn napp cd as iso.

Then get instructions from http://www.informatico.eti.br/forum/manualtecnico/notebook/acer/aspire1690e_3510.pdf

Look for pages 95-101 and print.

Follow instructions.

 

ok used AIM1r8 and it worked to unlock image file now i mounted the virtual drive and extracted everything to there on this pc, so how do i get it to the notebooks main partition (c: drive) not the pqservice?

 

ok, i tried to us the nappcd but get message no valid cd rom drive was found?

how do i make it work

 

just a reminder i am trying to reload and aspire 5100 i know have the drive image for the operating system drive extracted but i have no idea how to get it to the notebooks hard drive.

 

ok, got it fixed and vista working a little tired though almost 1 a.m here so i will post details tomorrow, thank you all for all your help, the only problem now is it keeps telling me usb device not recognized when i plug something into usb port, was doing this before the reload. any ideas on that? i will post more details next time.

 

Hi all, I do hope you can help!

I have a TravelMate 5520 which still has the recovery partition intact however I cannot boot from it (inc. Alt-F10), I have no other operating system on the laptop (a blank NTFS partition of 102gb)

I have tried running the MBRwrWin install with both rtmbr.bin and rtmbrold.bin to which nothing happens.

From what i can see the pqservice partition is an install of windows PE\RE, does anyone know if its possible to write a new boot BCD for it & if so what are the settings & does it leed to be located on the pqservice partition or the NTFS partition

 

Hello All,

I have been facing this problems lately and searching for resolution all around the web while I am on vacation, and is still working on it, but still not successfully.

To make it simple, I draft out again the problems I am facing.

My notebook is "Acer TravelMate 8215 WLMi", default system running on Windows XP Pro SP2, harddisk size 160GB (Actual 149.5GB), default partitions: "PQSERVICE - hidden", "ACER - C: Drive FAT32", and "ACERDATA - D: Drive FAT32".

Due to the free upgrade to Windows Vista promo event, I have tried upgraded to Windows Vista Business. However, realize that several of my existing softwares and applications not compatible with Vista yet. So, I still prefer using Windows XP. But during the upgrading of the Vista, my "PQSERVICE" hidden partition was been deleted as well, left with now one single partition 149.5GB.

I have called Acer Helpdesk for help, and they said there's no other way to recreate or restore the "PQSERVICE" hidden partition, back to factory default system by doing ourselves, and only way is to send in to their service center to repartition the default system image. Furthermore, there will be charges of around $80++, and is not immediate. (Poor Service)

I have tried searching the web, and initially my hope of by doing myself was highly motivated, but now getting tired and also need my system back to normal to do my work.

Now, I managed to recreate the "PQSERVICE" hidden partition, and do a recovery, but when recovery done, error prompted that "Burning X Image Size Error". However, at the Disk Management Console, it does show the "PQSERVICE" hidden partition as "EISA Configuration", but is empty, Free Space is 100%. I would like to list out the steps that I have done, but too confused on how to get that.





I would like to know any kind soul out there have the contents of the data stored inside the "PQSERVICE" hidden partition for TM8215?

Or, anybody have encountered my abovementioned problems, i.e. "PQSERVICE" hidden partition deleted, and need to recreate again. I have the Recovery DVD left only, did not do any special backup of the "PQSERVICE" hidden partition initially.

Any advise on this. Is it possible to just recreate with only 2 FAT32 partitions, C and D Drive without the "PQSERVICE" hidden partition?

Need you guys help.

Many Thanks.

 

Hello All,

Due to time contrainst, I went down to Acer Service Center to reload the factory default o/s and partitions, and got charged for $50+.

On the Service Invoice, they (ACER) stated that:

Reported Symptoms:
Q: 1083
Line 1: Symptom Sub Code = SI03 - FAIL to SETUP OS.


Repair Actions:
reloaded OS
system able to boot to windows
function test - ok
Line 1: FRU Sub Code = SI03 - FAIL TO SETUP OS, Action Code = SE07 - RECOVERY SYSTEM


Immediate after the reloading completed, I burnt another copy of the Recovery DVD, and copied down all the important informations of my system, and backup the "PQSERVICE" hidden partition twice, to be safe.

I seek advise from that nice ACER technican, and he asked me to try use "Macrium Reflect" to backup the "PQSERVICE" hidden partition, but no guarantee, and did not wish to dispose much further.

There's 2 versions of "Macrium Reflect", Free and Full (paid) Edition. I tried the Free Edition, and excellence!

I would like to share with you guys with this great backup freeware "Macrium Reflect". You may download it at:
http://www.macrium.com/ReflectFree.asp

Hope this help.

My posts with regards to the PQSERVICE problems:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=361336
http://www.notebookforums.com/thread225744.html

 

Only if you try to restore your image , and works .... you can promote the idea.

Basically i have use Acronis and it did worked .
So its possible to restore it by software ... but joy comes only from the full tested methods .

If the hard drive dies , and you have left with the backup and no OS , there the adventure begins ... with out the proper software ... its possible to not be able to start any restoration.

 

I have a Acer Travelmate 2480 and was having problems trying to install the Vista SP1. I now have learned that support for it is past and I can't update to SP2 when it comes out unless I have SP1. The microsoft forum suggested a in-place upgrade using the hidden recovery partition so I won't lose my installed programs. I can't backup because my notebook has only a cd burner and it would probably take 20 some cd to back it up.

How can I do the in-place upgrade? Is there any info on it? Thanks

 

I have the following problem:
I am trying to restore the original MBR from the RTMBR.BIN file and when I type the command "mbrwrdos.exe install rtmbr.bin" although it says that everything was ok, it does NOT restore the mbr (if the mbr was previously wiped, after the command it is still wiped) ! I also tried with many other MBR tools and the same happens.

Does anybody know what am I doing wrong ?

Also I have another question: Is it possible to rebuild the PQSERVICE partition from the recovery dvds ?

Thanks in advance

 

Acer TravelMate 5320 (UK) Vista Home Premium

I installed XP over Vista Home Premium as the laptop ran ridiculously slow, I had tried to create recovery discs beforehand but they kept failing, and Acer want £50 for a set (Robbery!).

Well after installing XP it runs no better so I've decided to sell it before I bounce it, and want to return it to factory spec, thing is, the recovery partition is still present but Alt F10 doesn't acess it, anyone any ideas?

Failing that, can anyone provide me with recovery discs? Costs paid of course.

 

The HDD partitions must be in place with the proper names , so to have success.

And i would really like to have a copy of your "mbrwrdos.exe"
If possible , please email me the file .
Thanks.

 

Read the first link on my signature , about MBR boot loaders.

 

Hello All,

Add me to the list of stupid people that wiped the hardrive clean, hidden partition included. Long story short. I did not burn the backup DvDs, as soon as I got it I wiped it and installed Vista 32 Ultimate. Now I want to restore it to factory condition to sell it and get a better one.

I ordered the restore DvDs from Acer(25$ w/shipping) and they did not work. I first wiped it clean, left only one partition made it ntfs. I installed the first cd (system disc) it seemed fine, asked me for the second disk (recovery 1/2) and thats where it ends. I get this error:
"restore failed - reason 0xa0000002" I then tried to format the partition in fat32 and it did the exact same thing.

I tried using the techniques here but they don't seem to apply to me. My question is, can I restore my Acer back to factory condition, even after I deleted the hidden partition, with the use of just the Acer recovery DvDs or is it a goner? Does anyone know what that error means?

I have emailed Acer to which they said," Unfortunately, we are unable to offer support for this type of issue. Please understand that Acer technicians have not been trained on every possible software title or hardware component. Due to the magnitude of information that would need to be learned, Acer technicians are not trained on all the advanced features of the software or hardware Acer sells."

Then they offered to give me tech support via some number that costs 2.99$ a minute. Now why would I do that if they state so boldy they don't know the problem? =(

My Laptop is:
Acer Aspire 4730z
Dual Core T3200
2 gb ram
160gb HD

Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks so much.

Zorc

 

Read the first link on my signature ..

Plus, recreate the two partitions (FAT 32) ,by adding the right names, and then use the CDs.

Forget the hidden partition completely .

 

Does anyone have the restore discs for an Acer 5310? I cant get into the system to do a restore and I don't have the discs.

 

Read it, and don't understand it

 

I don't have the discs, that's the point, laptop wouldn't finalize them, and acer said tough and asked for £50, as you have seen on my other thread, Acer have no interest in providing warranty back up on their laptops, and you have to pay £69 to return for warranty inspection, but they say only CPU, RAM and HDD are covered, nothing else

 

acer only want to charge huge amounts for support that you may not even need but that is how they conduct business. i would suggest returning the laptop to the shop you got it from as they are legally obliged to provide after sales care(even after 1year). this is nothing to do with the acer warrenty or any bought shop warrenty but it is your statutory rights. this is the case for products bought in the EU. you will have to insist on the shop dealing with this as they do not want to they prefer to let acer deal with it as they most likely get a better deal from acer for passing all issues over to their expensive support.

 

Well i do not like to sound as bad ... but i have to.

First of all, do not hijack this thread with your little problems.

This thread has as target group , advanced users .

Secondly , Its a very irresponsible behavior :
1) To not make any backup
2) To not make recovery discs .
3) To not read the manual of your laptop
4) To format the Laptop .. because you like so .

Yes you will pay the price , because everything caused .. BY YOU .

Or else , all of us , that we do learn about,
how to use properly our ACER laptops, we are fools !!

Now that you got the picture , start behaving properly .

 

I think you should vastly improve your comprehension of the English language before you decide to go down the road of insulting people and apportioning blame when you clearly do not understand what has been said.

If the built in recovery system fails to produce recovery discs as it should, would you kindly explain to me where this amounts to "user error"???

Also, if this forum is only meant to be used by experienced technitions, then do pray tell what exactly is the point of it? Is it simply so that those in the know can show off and pat each other on the back?

I thought the idea of the forum was to help those people who may well not have the knowledge that others posess?

Something tells me our Greek friend here has some sort of affiliation with Acer.

Just to confirm once again, I purchased the laptop, I tried several times to create the recovery discs, each time they failed to finalize, using both -/+ DVD's, I then became fed up with the extremely poor performance of the laptop so installed Windows 7 to see if this would improve, it didn't, so I then tried XP Home, still no improvement, so I decided to see if I could return the system to Vista before I sell it as I'm sick to death of it, contacted Acer, explained that the recovery system failed to create the recover DVD's as it should have, their answer.."software is not covered by the warranty", and they emailed me to use Alt F10, this does not work, so I decided to try and seek help from fellow users, but instead of help, find my self being patronised and insulted, I will also point out, I did not format the HDD only the OS partition, the recovery partition was left in place as was the Data partition. Well my Greek friend, if this makes you feel better about yourself, all power to you.

I hope this is certainly fulfilling as your life must be extremely empty my friend!

 

kiriakost:

I have to agree with sparkybhoy. If you don't feel like answering the questions, just don't answer them. There was no need for your rudeness. I am sure there are others that might like to help.

Your guide is a bit hard to follow. And I don't mean to insult you. I am not a novice to computers. I build my own PCs and have stuck to Dell for laptops. This is my first and last Acer. I had already done exactly as your first link on your thread said before posting. It did not work. Else I wouldn't have posted my own problem here. Acer is just making it very hard to use there software if you indeed changed there partitions, which I believe to be the case with me. I can install any other OS on my Acer HD, its just the recovery disks that will not work. I am sure I just need the exact HD partitions. Thanks for your help.

Zorc

 

Yes i have read both messages ... and i would say that if you are unable to use the tips , that is the treasure of this forum , just blame your selfs.

I had personally study the ACER way of backing up and restore laptops.

And i did that by loosing precious private time ...
The tips from this forum , helped me allot , and because of that , i published for Free ... the results .

No one came to teach me how computers works.
This is material, of other forums.

Take care both.

 

my point was that acer seem to make it impossible to solve even the smallest issue without availing of their expensive support as they seem to tell everyone that their issue is not covered by warranty. my advice to all is next time get a samsung, dell, toshiba, any orther manufacturer except acer or it will end in tears and costly tears at that.

 

Totally agree foggy

 

guys d2d recovery alt+f10 not working

i need MBRwrWin.exe and RTMBR.bin files cos i didnt found it in PQSERVICE Partition .. anyone can upload it plz ...

 

up ....

 

up up

 

Don't know if these will work, but I uploaded this for someone a while ago.

http://www.mediafire.com/?4myhqy2qxlw

The files your looking for are in here.

 

I don't know if people were aware of this already, but I figured I would share my experience for others to use in case it hasn't been known. I hope this is a contribution to the acer community because I know I can be annoying sometimes with just asking for help, so heres to helping others hopefully. So I like many had trouble with my recovery partition. The mbrwrwin.exe install rtmbr.bin didn't seem to work for me. So a method that I decided to try and ended up working was:

1) unhide the recovery drive (instructions can be found in this thread)
2) in the recovery drive look for the file AcerBoot.iso
3) with an image burning program (ex. imgburn) burn the AcerBoot.iso to a cd
4) restart your computer and choose in the bios to boot from cd
5) It should access the erecovery console and just follow the steps to factory install vista.

hope this information is useful to some. take care

 

My case: PQSERVICE deleted but backup DVD working.
Image a PQSERVICE from other Acer (mine was Travelmate, source was Aspire)
Once imaged on target, replace D2D content with the whole backup DVD.
Now I have a woriking D2D partition.

 

Thats an excellent , work around ....

The PQSERVICE root files , are what no one can find , if he loose them.


Still there is an warning .... about the PQSERVICE and the erecovery root files.
The erecovery has versions , so in sort , if you use the files from another laptop , that has the same age like yours , you will end up with a working laptop . :smile:

 

Many thanks, but it wasn't possible without this helpfull post (thanks to you, mainly).
I didn't think on eRecovery versions, but you are righht, both laptop has similar age.
Regards.