help me pleeease! acer aspire one problems

mkgirl1981

hi
i dont know whether anyone can help but i thought it was worth a shot
i have also sent a message to acer but i thought someone here might be a bit quicker and more helpful lol

when i start the laptop i get the error message:
windows failed to start. a recent hardware or software change might be the cause. to fix the problem:
1. insert your windows installation disc and restart your computer.
2. choose your language settings and then click next.
3. click 'repair your computer'
if you do not have this disc, contact your system administrator or computer manufacturer for assistance.
file: \windows\system32\winload.exe
status: 0xc000000f
info: the selected entry could not be loaded because the application is missing or corrupt

then at the bottom of the screen there is an option - 'press enter to continue'
when i press enter i get this message:
choose an operating system to start, or press TAB to select a tool:
then it only gives me the option of windows 7
to specify an advanced option press f8
tools:
windows memory diagnostic

if i press f8 it comes up with the first error message again.

sorry that its so longwinded but i wanted to include as much info as possible
what should i do next ?
thanks

robmar0se

Sounds like your bootloader is missing - this is Microsofts info on the error

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-system/0xc000000f-after-reboot/5da88257-837d-4475-ad6e-9ea8968826f4

Assume you're running Vista.

For a non-techie repairing the bootloader os complex - are you in a position to just recover the system, or is there data on there you need to recover? There is another post about Acer Ones running this evening about restoring the system if you take a look.

mkgirl1981

theres nothing on there that i cant live without, if it has to go back to the factory settings its ok

TakeThis

Press and hold Alt and then F10 at the same time as soon as you start up the Netbook.

Full model number?

robmar0se

Just as a precaution you should perhaps also check the problem is not caused by a hdd problem, so when you get the chance run chkdsk c:/R just to cgnfirm on the resulting report that there are no bad sectors (which could have caused the problem). if there are you may need to replace the hdd..........

Good luck

mkgirl1981

TakeThis wrote: »

Press and hold Alt and then F10 at the same time as soon as you start up the Netbook.

Full model number?

acer pretty much said the same to press alt + f10 but so far it just comes up with the same message as before
model number is A0531h

TakeThis

Windows 7?? Surely you only had Windows XP Home on that machine? Not sure why it would give you the option to boot from Windows 7.
Are you sure about this?

Otherwise, if you don't have an external optical drive, you may have to learn how to create a Bootable USB drive in order to repair or reinstall Windows.
Worse still, I stored my ACER XP Home disc on MegaUpload. The US DOJ/FBI closed them down yesterday. So I can't send you a link to the disc nor send you the physical medium, as I'm on holiday.

mkgirl1981

TakeThis wrote: »

Windows 7?? Surely you only had Windows XP Home on that machine? Not sure why it would give you the option to boot from Windows 7.
Are you sure about this?

Otherwise, if you don't have an external optical drive, you may have to learn how to create a Bootable USB drive in order to repair or reinstall Windows.
Worse still, I stored my ACER XP Home disc on MegaUpload. The US DOJ/FBI closed them down yesterday. So I can't send you a link to the disc nor send you the physical medium, as I'm on holiday.

thanks anyway - i'll have to check how long the warranty is, i have a feeling its too late but maybe i can get acer to sort it out

robmar0se

I don't believe that this would be covered by warranty, (assuming it was within the warranty period), unless you have a hdd problem as mentioned before.

Acer are not cheap, especially if you add in the courier costs (they do their repairs in Cornwall I believe).

I would suggest it might be wise to get a good local techie to check the hdd, and if okay get them to re-install for you, if you don't feel comfortable doing it yourself - if we were doing it wouldn't be more than £40 assuming the hdd was okay, and their wasn't some other fault.

Anyone else got some ideas?

TakeThis

Are you pressing Alt + F10 at the right time?

Either way, it's not all that bad. You'll just need to get yourself an external optical drive in order to repair or re-install the OS. They start from around £12. Examples Though better to get a Writer for a little more.
I'm not sure that taking it to a shop is a good idea. Unless they have the ACER XP Home Restore Disc, you can do a better job by yourself.

robmar0se

TakeThis wrote: »

I'm not sure that taking it to a shop is a good idea. Unless they have the ACER XP Home Restore Disc.

Any good local repair store will have copies of all Windows repair disks, plus Take This, if the OP is not comfortable going to the lengths of buying an external DVD/CD drive, they will also be able to install the Acer drivers which, the OP may or may not have. It costs the OP nothing to get a quote anyways.