Missing System Files

[Guest Wolfeymole]

"The system has not been fully installed"?

 

I have installed XP more times than I care to remember and have never seen that message.

 

The initial first user input will ask for location and time information.

 

We seem to be going round in circles her Tricey and I am unsure of just exactly what the hell is going on mate.

 

You may think you are telling us everything but this cannot be the case, please tell us EXACTLY what happens when you boot from the recovery disk.

[tricey]

Right........

My dad thinks that my harddrive is broken.

Because it is finding all different system file errors.

I think that it is broken aswell.

But I have a external hard drive and are trying to install xp on there and run my laptop off that.

I am going to partition the external hard drive.

And then install XP onto the hardrive.

And run the laptop off that.

Thanks

Adam

[BeeCeeBee]

I have been following this thread and find it very frustrating. When you install XP it does a disc check for errors in advance. Did you receive any warnings during the install?

 

If it turns out that it is a defective hard drive then the entire thread has no meaning although it is "highly unlikely" that your proposed solution will work.

 

What troubles me most is that it does not seem that you have actually followed the advice already given. This solution that you propose is in reply to Wolfey's request for precise information.

 

The better path is to try to eliminate the most probable sources of your problems before you resort to extremes. That means studying what has been proposed and following it. If you have questions along the way, there is no shame in asking. But if you are not going to do that there is no point in keeping this thread open.

[RandyL]

Well this really is a mess isn't it. First of all you're running XP under FAT32 instead of NTSF. Not a great idea and I doubt it came pre-installed that way. Couple that with the fact you say you have a partion manager of some sorts which you have not bothered to tell us what it is.

 

But look at the facts here. You have not read the pdf manual or you would understand the options available to you. The options are:

 

1. Backup an image you might have made.

 

Did you do that before as outlined in the manual. You have to read the manual in order to reply.

 

2. Restore to factory settings from disks you created.

 

It seems you have not created them properly or it would not be asking for disk 2 which you don't have. Again it is outlined in the manual.

 

3. Restore to factory settings by pressing Alt+F10 at startup before it boots into Windows.

 

Had you read the manual you would have seen the correct procedure for doing this.

 

4. Contact Acer for the recovery disks if you have not made them or not properly.

 

This may or may not be an option. That's up to Acer.

 

5. Buy a full version of XP.

 

1 and 2 appear not to be an option. 3 might work if you try it properly. 4 is anybodies guess. 5 is an option.

 

We don't have a clue if it's the drive as you have not fully explored the options or detailed aditional errors or exact steps or exactly what you have done.

 

If it is the drive you will need to replace it and re-install Windows to it by using the Recovery Disks or purchasing XP. Different brands have different options. Contact Acer on this.

 

Installing Windows on an external drive with Recovery disks is not going to work. Especially since you don't have the second disk.

 

Read everything we have supplied including the manual and your options will be clear. The solutions are here. There is nothing more we can add.

 

Sincerely RandyL

[tricey]

fresh start

 

Right, The pc came pre-installed with FAT32. I have : a windows xp disc (that i already owned), i also own 1 backup disc that i had to make when i first got the pc. And i own 3 recovery discs and 1 system disc. Now the problem is that i can turn the pc on, and it loads windows. i then get to the desktop, but no task bar at the bottom, it just has the basic acer background. And then after that it says that system files unreada

[RandyL]

So now you have 3 recovery disks? I thought you said you only had 1.

[Guest Wolfeymole]

This what you said.

 

I used my backup disc, and it said please insert disc 2.

But I only have one disc.

 

and then you said,

 

And i own 3 recovery discs

 

:confused: :confused: :confused:

[RandyL]

We know Acer systems well. We have suggested the options. We have also supplied you with the Acer pdf file manual.

 

These are your only options.

 

Read what we have said to do the reinstall.

 

If your hard drive is bad then we have also given you the options on that.

 

Your additional information is conflicting and leads us to belive that you are

not being sincere. At this point we suggest to buy a full version of XP.

[tricey]

No....

Backup discs and restoration disc are a complete different thing.

I have 3 restoration....

and I have 1 backup disc.

They are different.

[Guest Wolfeymole]

So what's the problem with using the 3 recovery disks?

[tricey]

So what's the problem with using the 3 recovery disks?

There is nothing wrong with them discs.

Its just when I use the recovery service.

It does'nt fix anything.

And when you said that I havent followed your advice...

I have and it hasnt worked.

I have read all of the Acer Manual you told me to read.

It just does'nt fix it.

After I have tryed what you have been telling me I have been doing other things.

Thanks Adam

[tricey]

Also what is the difference with NTFS and FAT32.

Many thanks

Adam

[Tootech]

Hi Adam,

 

We have a problem here at Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Help, we have been trying very hard to get you up and running, with no success.

 

We want your PC up and running as it should be.

 

Can we go through this again from the beginning?

 

The 3 recovery disks you have, can you tell us what is printed on them - so say for example the first one is Acer recovery disk number 1 etc. Let us know what is printed on all 3.

 

At the moment, we have assumed that these 3 disks do install Windows for you - we need to be sure of that.

 

The backup disk you have - I think looking back through the posts that there should have been 2 of them, number 1 and number 2. I think that normally the Acer utility would create them for you. Doesn't matter now, put that one aside, its the other 3 we need to be sure about.

 

It looks as though the whole recovery process has failed each time you have tried it. We are not sure why it has failed.

 

Normally, a recovery process starts, asks for disks 2 and 3 etc and when it has finished, your PC is as new. This hasn't happened and we need some help from you.

 

We think your hard drive is fine, and it is Windows that needs fxing.

 

For us to understand what is happening, we need you to tell us what happens when you boot from the Recovery CD - what information are you asked for, and what do you tell it to do.

 

If you need to start the whole thing, then come and ask for advice while it is running, do that. If you have the right disks, and give the Windows installation the right answers, it will work.

 

Start by telling us about the recovery CD's

[rowal5555]

I haven't studied all the responses here, but found that when I tried reinstalling Vista on my Acer Aspire 5720Z recently from the hidden recovery partition, using ALT+F10 as stated in the manual did nothing. It was only when I tried the right hand ALT button did everything go as planned. FWIW.