Aspire 1360 won't boot anymore

Hi..

I got a Acer Aspire 1360 with windows xp on it. Since today, it wont boot anymore. It goes as far as the windows xp-screen and that's it. I tried the recovery cd, but I don't want to format my C:. It wont take the windows xp cds, the laptop just doesnt boot from cd. After the acer screen I get the screen that says if I wanna boot in safe mode and stuff. No matter which option I choose, it get the xp-screen again. The place where the blue line normally comes, stays clear and the laptop doesn't do anything further.

Please help! I called the acer hotline but the n00b said if I sent it in to be fixed, they would delete my C: too, and I want to avoid that..

 

I had this problem last month when an attached external drive somehow got unplugged by a careless family member while the laptop was shut down. Laptop sensed the drive plugged into the port, but got no response since it wasn't plugged into the wall, thought the drive was dead and wouldn't start up.

So, it's very likely due to a faulty external device...check what's plugged into your USB ports. Unplug ANY external devices from the laptop port after shutting off the computer. Then restart the computer and see if that helps.

Good luck!

 

Set the boot order in the BIOS, so that the notebook reads the Recovery disc and you have the option of repairing. At startup, enter the BIOS, and find the boot priority. Change it so that the DVD-drive is at the top. Then, when the computer boots up, with the disc in, you are given the option of booting from the disc.

 

Thanks for your replies, but it's not working..

Vicky: I only have a mouse attached. I took it off now, but no change.

Zero: It will take the recovery CD, but it says it will format my first partition (which is C: with all the photos and documents i need to save). It won't take the windows XP CD at all. When I looked in the BIOS for the first time, it already had cd/dvd first. I thought it was weird, but after changing several times, it still won't boot from the HD or from CD.

 

You mentioned "first partition"...do you have more than one disk drive (physical drives, not just assigned drives)? If so, it's possible the second drive is faulty. EVERY TIME my desktop computers failed to boot, it was due to a faulty drive...except for one cheap computer I purchased that had a bad video card. Once I replaced that, it booted up immediately.

Listen for beeps when you try to boot...do you hear any odd tones or beeps? This could be telling you something.

Also, think back to the last time it booted up correctly. Do you recall any error messages or strange things occuring that caught your attention?