computer shop's messed up my Acer 5630, help

My laptop got into a boot loop a few days ago so I took it to a computer shop to see if there was something easy that I could do to get it to start, which there wasn't. They took it in, which I wasn't overly happy about, but it turned out that they couldn't fix it and could only wipe it, which I really wasn't happy about because I could have done that myself and not paid £60 to do it. Anyway, I've finally got it back today and I'm not happy with it at all.. I don't know how they've restored it but it wasn't using the Acer recovery so come of the programs that originally came with it aren't there, such as the PowerDVD program that I always used as well as the one for the webam. Also, the media keys down the side of the keyboard (the volume, pause/play, stop etc keys, I'm sure there's a proper name for them that I don't know) won't work, as well as not being able to scroll using the right side of the mouse pad, which are probably the most annoying things since I'm so used to using them. Since there's nothing on my laptop anyway I figured that I may as well restore it properly using the ALT+F10 on start up, which has worked for me before, but have now found that I can't and there's nothing on the start menu at all to do with Acer.

I at least want the media keys and the mouse to start working again, if there's any way of doing that but if it's possible I'd like it to be restored back to how it should be. Can anybody help at all? Thanks

 

The media keys are controlled by the Dritek Launch Manager application, and the touchpad with the Synaptics Touchpad driver. Both can be had for your machine from Acer's download page here.
You might also be able to find your webcam application/driver there, but as far as I can tell PowerDVD isn't.
Did you burn the Drivers & Applications disc using Acer eRecovery beforehand?

 

You know Acer Recovery? If so why did you not restore it yourself and save the bucks?

Just wondering...

 

I'm not too fussed about the webcam, it was just something else I noticed was missing, and I'm sure I have something else I can use for DVDs. The main things I was annoyed about were the keys and the mouse which are working now, thank you so much.

 

If I'd known that that was all they'd end up doing then obviously I would have done. I wasn't really happy about letting them have it but my Mom was with me and thought it was for the best and I hoped they'd have some smart, simple way to sort it. I wish I'd done it myself, would have saved a lot of stress as well as time that I can't afford with uni exams coming up, not to mention the money..

 

We could have gathered all our members here and start a repair shop that will beat all others...
Anyway if they reformatted WITHOUT asking for permission you seriously got to complain.

 

They did tell me that they'd gone through all the other options and it was the only thing they could do. I wasn't happy but they were obviously already going to charge me the fee so I thought I may as well let them do it. Should have just gone and got it then and done it myself and it'd have been sorted and had everything put back on it 2 days ago.

 

OK. Is your HDD still intact with the Recovery Partition?

If it is simply punch in Alt+F10 within Windoze. And you are good to get your Acer back as it was the day it left the factory.

Six zero's is the default password.

Edit: My post was too late.

 

I don't really know what the first bit means.. I'm not too good with technology. The Alt+F10 method doesn't work though so I'm assuming not.

 

At least you don't blame Acer for the buggerup. Lot's of people do that.

Kudos to you and +1.

They (the repair shop) probably reformatted your Lappie. Dumb asses.

Sigh..seen this through this soo many times before. That is why you have all the hastles now.

Missing drivers etc...

 

Sorry to revive this thread, but I've now found that I actually can't play DVDs on my laptop because I need a "compatible DVD decoder". I've tried to download one but I can't find anything that will work. Can anyone recommend something that will? I resent paying for something that I should already have.

If this would be better in another area of the board let me know.

 

Lemme guess - you're on Windows XP or Windows Vista Business.
Those operating systems lack the necessary codecs to play DVDs, hence why PowerDVD was pre-installed on your system.
Have you tried the CCCP or MPC-HC? Both are free - one's a codec pack for Windows, the other a stand-alone player that can handle more or less anything.

 

Yeah, I have XP. Thank you so much for that, really appreciate it.

Is there anyway of getting back what was lost when it was reformated it in case I ever need to restore it in the future? I know there's threads about that kind of thing but I'm a bit technologically retarded and don't really follow that much of them.

 

What do you mean?
Getting back your recovery partition, or the files lost due to a formatting?
Try Recuva if it's the latter, or buy recovery DVDs from Acer if it's the former.

 

Apologies again for bringing this back but I've not been happy with my laptop since I had it back and would like to wipe it. If it's a recovery CD I need, where do I get this from? I've looked at sites online but don't know if I'm looking at the right thing so really need someone knowledgable to tell me in simple terms what I need. I found a disc which came with my laptop labelled 'Acer back up disc' which I thought might do the job but I put it in and nothing happened.

edit: http://www.user-guides.co.uk/asp/product.asp?product=101257 this is what I've found before but I don't know if that's right.. also, how would I then get Windows XP back?