comp. grief rant

[brin]

i have a couple of acer mini computers a few days ago one of them decided to give up it wont even boot so phoned the help desk at acer they said that they would send an e.mail with advice on a system recovery the bloke on the line would not listen or didnt understand you can not do a recovery without the computer booting up as you dont have any means of accessing the system he said he had to go through this procedure first doh.after several attempts to contact them again via phone and email, even the request form for a cost for the repair failed it kept asking for fields to be filled in that where already filled in , gave up in the end and ordered another comp luckily
i have made some recent back ups .this time i have taken out an extended warranty i cant wait weeks to sort this out i need my helliaddicts and phoenix
rant over

[Richard H]

Do custom built computers not come with a copy of an oem windows nowadays? You can then boot up straight from the bios if so.

[Highrisedrifter]

What, if anything, are you seeing on your screen or hearing on boot up?

Is the computer getting to the POST beeps? If so, how many and what frequency and duration? This will tell you what fault code you have. Then you either need to cress-ref it with the mobo manual or search online for the answer if you don't have the mobo manual. This will hopefully tell you what the fault is.

If you can get as far as BIOS, then as above, use a system recovery disk, or OEM copy of windows (assuming it's windows) to boot from the disk and repair/re-install the OS. You may need to set the boot protocols to boot from CD/DVD first. Not always necesary but it can circumvent the system hang in the case of HDD issues.

For instance, if the system gets to the BIOS but can't get any further then it could be a HDD issue. If it can't even get to the BIOS then it could be a PSU, HDD or mobo issue (amongst others).

Of course, these are just a few ideas based on limited information. Anything else I can do to help, just give me a shout.

HRD

[brin]

What, if anything, are you seeing on your screen or hearing on boot up?

Is the computer getting to the POST beeps? If so, how many and what frequency and duration? This will tell you what fault code you have. Then you either need to cress-ref it with the mobo manual or search online for the answer if you don't have the mobo manual. This will hopefully tell you what the fault is.

If you can get as far as BIOS, then as above, use a system recovery disk, or OEM copy of windows (assuming it's windows) to boot from the disk and repair/re-install the OS. You may need to set the boot protocols to boot from CD/DVD first. Not always necesary but it can circumvent the system hang in the case of HDD issues.

For instance, if the system gets to the BIOS but can't get any further then it could be a HDD issue. If it can't even get to the BIOS then it could be a PSU, HDD or mobo issue (amongst others).

Of course, these are just a few ideas based on limited information. Anything else I can do to help, just give me a shout.

HRD

hi highrise thank you for your offer ,basically i get power to the dvd drive ,usb ports, and modem and then it hangs ,no screen,keyboard or mouse, its an acer L320 mini tower i am not sure if its easy to get a new mother board. the hard drive is partitioned with the recovery boot preinstalled also i have the recovery disk but unless i get past the bios i dont think this is an option any help would be appreciated

[Highrisedrifter]

Of course the obvious thing to check first of all is your monitor. Can you connect it to another computer and check to make sure that works first?

If that monitor works fine then the problem could be a motherboard issue as it doesn't get to the bios. Does it make any beeps at all when you start? If so, how many?

If you don't mind getting your hands dirty, you could try disconnecting any optional devices from the mobo to see if that helps (keeping memory and HDD). If you still get the same fault beeps, then it potentially might eliminate them as being the problem.

The motherboard has an onboard Intel 946 graphics chipset, so it's not an external graphics adapter conflict.

I know that model can come with up to 2gig of RAM. See if yours has two long sticks of RAM in there side-by-side. If so, take one out and try it, then put it back and try the other if you still get the error. It could be faulty RAM.

The Intel CPUs do run hotter than their equivalent AMD ones so it's possible though highly unlikely, to be an overheating issue.

it does seem that other users of this model have reported issues with theirs similar to yours and those have turned out to be motherboard problems. Of course, there's no guarantee that it's the case here.

[choppertastic]

Might be worth popping the lid off and reseating the RAM/ CPU and any other cards that may be in there

[cambs flyer]

Oh OB2 that really is a **** off, crazy as it sounds, and I've done things to fix many computers, but RAM chips can become charged with high levels of static and one way to fix them is firmly give them a good tap with the handle of a screwdriver.

I don't know if this is possible with your Acer machine, but from what your describing it sounds simply like the software has a few files gone ape.

Are the machines your talking about those mini lappys that run on Lynx(thingy) OS, and have an Atom Intel CPU?

Has the HDD got a partition Mirror back up to restore your software back to factory spec?

This is of no use to your problem Bro but I used to build my desktop systems but gave up almost four years back when I couldn't build cheaper the Dell machines, and I'm a fussy bugger when it comes to PC's and components and my 5000 system not only ever gave me a days probs, but has excellent components, plus you get the OS disk and driver disks, so I can do a repair on the OS rather then reinstalling it all on the desktop as I undone the partition and loaded everything back how I like it on the 5000, but my lappy is a basic inspiron 1520 and its as good as gold, I've done one mirror reinstall since last December, but they do build a good machine, plus even now at there website you enter your service tag number and even today they supply new drivers to download for my 5000, and I've had at least two update driver downloads for the lappy since I've had it.

I hope you get closure with your problem mate, I bet you was put through to an Indian helpline, not that I've anything against them, only they do tend too round Will's mothers before you get to a problem if you need there help.

As what happened with my phone package with AOL as I had to transfer it to my parents where I am now until I find another Gaff.

Good luck Bro.

[brin]

thanks for all you great addvice i think its looking like the mobo so apart from trying to log a repair request form on the acer web site and getting nowere any other sugestions.
i shall try ringing them again and find out how much it will cost to replace the mobo,i have another one coming tommorow its the L3600 i must be mad but they are a great little machine its a shame thet acer dont make it easy for their coustomers to talk to them 50p per min from a landline talk about a ripoff.

[cambs flyer]

50p a minute! robbing bastards, that's outrageous! when the fault is nothing to do with you, and is a "left the factory" problem, and you've done your level best to cure without success.

I wish I could offer a magic cure, but it sounds more and more like an electrical inner fault if you can't even boot up the bloody thing.

[brin]

my sentiments exactly wayne more and more help lines are just squeezing more money out of us