The stupid thing I did ... and how I want to fix it!

Okay, so, this is what I did:

I just received an Aspire 5040 for an early Christmas present (because I really need it for school) but didn't like the Media Center OS that came with it. So, in a fit of me being "productive," I installed my own copy of XP Home. However, when it came to choose what partition to install it on I erased the D:, and merged it with the C: (because I thought the D: was useless ...), although I DID NOT touch the PQSERVICE partition because "it looked mysteriously important!"

So, after a while with having XP Home as my OS I decided to pop in the recovery DVD that came with my laptop (the person I got the notebook from created them for me) to get everything back to factory default ... and I wanted to fiddle around with Media Center.

Anyway, long story short, I still only have the PQSERVICE partition and the large C: but no D: even though my lappy is back to "factory default". I was wondering:

Is there a way to get that D: back so that I can properly use the Recovery tools that came with Acer? I know that a lot of people don't want to use them, or think that they're useless ... but I just got this thing and want to get it back to the way it was.

I still have the PQSERVICE partition, and it and my C: are formatted in FAT32.

Any help on this subject would be greatly appreciated (is there some sort of Windows program that I can use that will partition the C: for me and create a D: and then everything will be magically fixed? I ask this because it seems that the D: is the easy thing to get back, whereas the PQSERVICE partition is not).

Thanks!

 

Download Gparted ISO Live CD....... Burn it to CD or DVD .... Set Bios to boot from Disc Drive first ....


Now with Gparted, select C: Partition and resize it. (Basically subtract the GB's from C: that you would want the size for D: to be).

After that, Create new Partition with Free space.

^^^^^You should have done this before reinstall, but it should leave C: intact^^^^^

Gparted is almost fool proof to use.

DO NOT EVER TOUCH PQSERVICE, UNLESS YOU DON"T WANT YOU DEFAULT BACKUP.

 

Perfect, thanks for the quick reply!

The only thing is that I currently have my OS installed; does this mean that I'd have to unistall it before using GPARTED? or, can I simply run it with my OS installed and it will just create a partition using space that I haven't already used? (yes, I'm a newbie! )

Also, when I do select the size of the D: partition, what size should I use? is there a way to find out how much was allocated to it before I formatted it; depending on the size of the HDD ... or does Acer simply set aside the same amount for all of their D: regardless of the total size of the HDD? ... for example, my HDD is 60GB.

Also, should this new partition have a specific name/label so that the Empowering software can recognize it? and are there suppossed to be certain tools/files on the D: so I can properly use eRecovery?

I know, I know ... so many questions. I just want to make sure that I have all of the answers before I go fiddling around with my lapy again!

Once again, thanks!

 

Most of the time it won't affect anything, but there is a slight danger for a crash or the c: partition.

 

Hmmmm ... okay, I'll give it a try ... LATER, when I've done my research (jumping head first into unknown territory is what got me into this mess in the first place)!

The question I want to ask is:
Can someone (who has not fudged up their partition(s), like I have) go into their "disk management" option and tell me what the name and size of their partitions are; so that I know what to properly name and size my D: when I create it? So far I'm guessing that it will look like this:

- PQSERVICE, FAT32 (4.89GB) *I STILL HAVE THIS
C: ACER, FAT32 (?) *since I formatted it it's currently 51.00GB
D: ACERDATA, FAT32 (?) *should this be the same size as the PQSERVICE?

Thanks in advance!

 

Okay ...
I downloaded and ran the Live CD of Gparted (thanks to the advice of SSX, and LIVEFRMNYC) and everything worked! I resized my C:, and created a D:. I named it ACERDATA (as this is what I remember it being before I wiped it), and it's only 6GB ... but I can resize this later on if I feel the need.

Since I did this I can now use my eRecovery tools in Windows; I can burn the factory default settings (found on the PQSERVICE partition) to a DVD, and I can now even create a backup image of my C: and save it to my D: (although my D: is too small to do this as of yet). These are all things that I was not able to do before I created the D: partition (as they were greyed out).

However, I still cannot use Alt-F10 during post in order to use D2D Recovery. Is this because I have to re-install Windows using my Recovery DVD so that this new installation can recognize that a D: partition actually exists?

Also, my D: partition is currently "flagless" ... do I need to asign specific "flags" to it by using Gparted?

Thanks!

 

the Alt F10 uses your PQSERVICE to recover C: i think, i have never used it though so i am not to sure.

my disks(60gb) are labeled ACER(C @ 26.2gb and ACERDATA(D @ 26.6gb... hope that helps

 

Hey yuio,

Thanks for the reply. I figured that my partitions should be matched close to each other (so that I can actually create a backup image of my C: ).

Thanks!

 

I also did a stupid thing but mine is more stupid than yours,I deleted the PQSERVICE partition also.My question is can I use recovery DVD that I got with my lappy to reinstall Windows,will it work without PQSERVICE partition and eRecovery software installed???

If not how can I reinstall Windows when time for that comes without bying new copy of Windows offcours?

 

Your recovery DVD (assuming you burned one) does NOT require the PQService Partition to exist (at least it didn't on my 8204).

However, it does seem to have some 'quirks', when it comes time to reinstall I suggest using Live CD or something similar to remove all partitions from your hard drive and then run the recovery DVD. It seems that it can recreate the partitions if none exist, however seems to struggle if partitions already exist.

 

That PQService is mainly to allow you to burn to Disc or Run from partition.

The Disc will just recreate the Partition back.

Thats what I've experienced.

 

I accidentally deleted the PQ service too. I installed Media Center from an old Dell cd though. What can I be missing from the ACer install? I called acer and they want $50 for the reinstallation cd.

 

Did you not create the Recovery DVD when first turning the machine on?

If you did you really don't actually need the PQ Service partition (I don't have one anymore, and haven't ever thought back to needing it).

What I did was

1. Create Backup DVD immediately upon turning on PC
2. Create .ISO file of said backup DVD using Norton
3. Store .ISO in a number of safe places so if my backup DVD ever goes bad I can always just create a new one using the .ISO.

TO restore I just blank the entire drive using GParted or some other partition manager and then pop in the backup DVD, it creates one large C partition (FAT32) which I can then use GParted to partition as required.

 

If you installed Windows MCE 2005 with a dell recovery cd it wiped the entire drive clean and installed a single C: partition. You can check this by looking in your disk management to do this do the following.

1. Start
2. Run
3. compmgmt.msc
4. Click on Disk Management

If you see only one drive then you indeed did wipe the pqservice.

I have stated previously that if you do not use the D2D (PQSERVICE) restore partition that you have several options left.

1. Send the laptop back to acer and have them re-image the hard drive (for a cost)

2. Purchase the restore cd's from acer for a cost (probably less then sending it to them) and restore the image yourself.

3. Go to a brick and mortar store and ask for a copy of the windows xp oem media. You currently own a license for that software so legally you should be able acquire a replacement copy under the DMCA.

4. Talk to me on acquiring an oem disk if you need help I might have a few more suggestions for you.

Basically you don't "need" to have pqservice or the restore dvd that you can create with your laptop. If you simple have a Windows XP Home / Pro / MCE 2005 OEM disk you can reinstall xp legally with the key on the bottom of your laptop.

If need be you have access to all needed drivers and applications as well if you look here - http://www.acerpanam.com/synapse/fo...m/us&siteid=7293&areaid=7&formid=3394#results

If you need any more help in reinstalling xp let us know, but honestly I would say this to sum it up.

1. you don't need the pqservice to reinstall xp, you have the restore dvd (if you made one) and you also have the option to reinstal xp with a true oem disk that will remove the FAT32 partitions and all of the unneeded bloat.

2. By reinstalling xp with a true oem disk you get a better xp install plus you get more hard drive space and improved performance.

Hope this helps

--ssx--

 

What I did:

1. Burnt the backup DVD's
2. Check if it worked.
3. Delete all partitions in my drive.
2. Made 2 NTFS Partitions in my drive.
3. Try to install the software from the backed up disk. Didn't work. I think is beacuse of the partitions.
4. Went NUTS!!!!!
5. Called Acer and they want $50 for the backup disks.
6. Asked Acer's customer service if it will take another copy of Media Center and they said "NO because the authorization code is embedded in the software" What????? Yes sure, come ooooonnnnnn.
7. Hanged up, open Bitcomet ... and then I remembered that I have an installation CD from Dell.
8. Installed it, downloaded the Acer drivers. Everything is smooth, and of course the machine flies .
9. I questioned myself what am I missing form their isntallation

 

Not technically legal, but I guess it worked for you? (assuming you ran wpa_kill.exe or some other oobefix too dork with the registry).

As far as the authorization code goes check out the MSFN forums here - http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?act=ST&f=70&t=82638 . Basically it scans your hardware for an OEM bios with the correct hash and flags it as not needing activation. This is how the restore disks work and this is what they were going to need / ask of you.

--ssx--

 

Why is this not legal?????? I technically own the software. The only thing I did was installing it from an OEM CD. I did not have to run any of those fixes like wpa_kill.exe that you just mentioned. Just activated windows online online and it worked.

 

In theory, from this point, if you wipe the two NTFS partitions and then try to use the backup DVD it should work.

I ran into a similar problem to you (going Nuts because restore doesn't seem to work) but found that if I just wiped all partitions from the Drive and then use the backup DVD it worked perfectly.

 

Hmmm interesting, but did you convert later the FAT32 to NTFS partition?

 

I haven't bothered, since FAT32 doesn't bother me that much (I did repartition using GParted however because the recovery DVD run against a blank drive (no partitions) leaves it as one giant FAT32 partition)

So for me, it was this

1. Clear drive
2. Boot from Backup DVD and let run (created on 120MB FAT32 partition with the OS on it)
3. Run GParted, reduce the 120MB partition to 30MB and then create a 90MB NTFS partition
4. Backup using Ghost.

 

So you are saying that my Image should work if I don't have any partitions defined in my drive?

Well so far the only thing I lost and I care about is PowerDVD.

 

if you activated then you are ok. but typically you will NOT be able to do so under normal circumstances.

--ssx--

 

Oh, ok you've got me worried.

 

I do believe so, mine worked when I blanked the drive completely (no partitions at all) but didn't work properly when I had a partition (it seemed to end up leaving garbage on the drive)

 

So, can anyone help me with my problem? I re-created the D: but still can't get Alt-F10 to work during POST although it is "enabled" in my bios.

 

Not 100% positive on this one, but I do believe that the reason you can't boot after the bios screen is because the second partition might not be flagged properly as far as an active or passive partition? Not positive but read up some more and see if that could be why.

--ssx--

 

So ... should I experiment with the different flags using gparted? Are there any that I should avoid?

 

My BackUp Image DVD is not working at all,it comes to 50-60% and then starts looking for DOTNET FX file and then back up proces fails because it can't find this file.
I remember installing Norton AV that I got with my lappy and it recognized this file as spyware and I removed it.After that I removed that peace of c... Norton AV and it's backup files alltogether with DOTNET FX and now I have this situation.

What can I do now,is there any help for this problem ???

 

Your problem is unrelated to this thread on the fourms. Please start a new one with your problem and we will help you there. Lets try to stay on topic with the current problem and not add to an existing thread

Thanks

--ssx--

 

Sorry,I saw that you are talking about hidden partition and back up DVD's and I also did a stupid thing and deleted this partition and now I stuck with this DVD...

 

Just to make shure,this back up DVD that you burn when you start your lapy for the first time will reinstall XP and you get default factory settings,you just have to format complete drive first???It is not like Norton Ghost back up that you use AFTER you reinstall Windows,or it is???

 

the restore dvd that you created the first time you turned your pc on basically takes the pqservice partition and burns it to a DVD for you. This DVD is bootable and essentially will wipe your drive clean and image it back to how it was prevously.

Now if you deleted the PQService partition off of your HDD it will not restore it, it will just restore the main OS for you. This is why I suggested you run acronis true image 7 (which is free) and backup your entire hard drive partition table. this way if your hdd dies you have a 3rd and more complete system of backing up your files.


--ssx--

 

That is all I need,I don't need PQService partition on my HDD if I have it on a DVD,it will just occupy my HDD for nothing.
Thanks SSX4life,now I just have to make that DVD of mine to work .

 

Acronis is awesome, but it's not free. They do have a trial period, so if you need a quick image and backup, you can do it for free. Also you can image your drive and store away the image for when/if you need it and then pay the $50 down the road if you need to restore it.

 

Please look to my links provided. Version 7 is now free - http://www.acronis.com/mag/vnu-ati7 no trial period no limited offer no gimmicks.

--ssx--

 

I have been futzing around all weekend with this and have been thoroughly flummoxed. I still have the PQSERVICE parition as well. I had sent the laptop to acer when it failed to boot up in either Windows or Fedora 7 (linux), as the store I bought it from thought it was a hardware issue. When I got it back it was working decently, I even burned the recovery DVD's. However, a crash during Windows Update (thanks to Acer's screensaver!) caused a crash that clobbered the windows partition.

I've tried the following courses of action, none of which seem to work:

1) Restore off the recovery DVD's I burned: This works (as in the process completes) and I get to the Windows Setup. However one of two things go wrong: either the trackpad and keyboard are both unresponsive, and I end up having to use external ones OR the setup craps out after I'm asked the computer name and workgroup.

2) Use an XPMCE OEM install disc set to install plain vanilla Windows XP MCE. This somewhat works, in that I get windows that I can start up and use. The problems with this are that either the mouse and keyboard don't work initially, or the trackpad and keyboard crap out eventually after install all the latest Windows Updates. If the trackpad and keyboard survive to that point (or if I stick it out with externals), I eventually run into trouble when trying to install the drivers for extra hardware (ethernet, wireless, graphics/sound card).

3) Give up on Windows and just try Fedora 7: Fedora 7 itself install fine, except that the ethernet device stops working. Its detected by the install media, but but can't use it and doesn't install the drivers for it. Getting drivers for it after the install requires the kernel to be recompiled.

I have a Knoppix Live DVD, so I can use the tools there to repartition. If the problem was only with how the partitions are laid out to get the Windows working, I would love for that to work.

In short, I'm getting nowhere fast. Is there a way out of this mess, besides shelling out $30 for the ACER restore DVD, or paying for the Fedex to get my laptop out to them?