The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    Acer Aspire won't boot from DVD/CD or USB key

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by techman41973, Apr 2, 2011.

  1. techman41973

    techman41973 Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    119
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    A friend is asking for help with his 3-year old Acer Aspire.
    In general, it works fine, boots to Windows Vista. However, he wants to wipe the machine and install Windows 7. When he puts the Windows 7 disc in the integrated optical drive and reboots, the machine will not boot from the optical drive/Windows 7 disc. It just hangs. The optical drive works fine inside Windows Vista - plays audio discs and allows access to files on data discs.
    I also tried copying the files from the Windows 7 disc to a USB key and tried a boot from USB key. The machine boots, but goes right to Windows Vista - apparently ignoring the USB key.
    I went into the BIOS and confirmed the boot order. The bios is set to boot from the optical drive and USB key before the hard drive.
    I don't know what I else I can try to fix this issue.
    Thanks
     
    techman41973, Apr 2, 2011
    #1
  2. Jack

    Jack Guest

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    0
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Just a note: Directly copying the files from the CD will not copy the boot sector, therefore not booting. Try using the boot menu from the CD, it is the key, ex. F12 that allows you to select the specific boot device for that boot.
     
    Jack, Apr 2, 2011
    #2