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problems with Acer Ferrari 3000LMi, how to format ? and hidden partition ?

nina - 2007-03-13 22:55:22 - Software

Hi.... I have an Acer Ferrari 3000 LMi for 3 years now. - it's slow, esp when working on photoshop. - notebook's not reacting or taking a long time to react when a new usb device (flashdisk, camera etc) is plugged. - battery only last 30 mins now. (I read somewhere if u're always plugging the laptop, u need to take the battery out, so I did for 1,5 years, and now the battery only last 30 mins, I already asked acer tech support, explained to me dat battery life deteriorate in time even when not in use) Battery conditioning doesn't solve this problem. - i have weird message that pops up 6 times (each time) saying "windows - No Disk. There is no disk in the drive, please insert a disk into drive" everytime I turn my laptop on, after signing in to windows and it also happens from time to time for no particular reason, which I keep on clicking "cancel" 6 times, but it's not a virus. - sometimes I can't burn files on a blank cd, it's fine if there are already files on the cd - losing control on mouse scroll, mouse is in a hideous state where paintjob's flaking, and mouse top cover comes off. - the alphabets on keyboard are disappearing - when i press ctrl-alt-del , it says "Task Manager has been disabled by your administrator" HUH??? i'm the err.. administrator here and i don't recall disabling anything. - LCD screen is still perfect though - notebook shell/outer cover is almost scratch free I've already asked Acer tech support, but answers are unsatisfactory. Thinking of selling it, But somehow i still wanna make it right. (My sis has an Asus notebook for 5 years now, dunno what type, but specs are lower than my Acer Ferrari, battery still last 2 hours although she never ever takes it out of the notebook, alphabets on keyboard still intact, performance still good, only it makes a crazy creaky sound when you close it up) Anyway, for the Acer Ferrari 3000Lmi I have 1 system cd and 2 recovery cd from acer. (i think windows xp home is in the recovery cd.) I've already backed up all data (docs, pics) to an external harddisk. So.................. questions by a computer dummy , aka me 1. Is it easy to format ur notebook ? just follow onscreen instructions rite ? Will formatting my most of these problems go away ? 2. My C: drive holds 30 GB and D: 10 GB, Can I change that ? Would that be difficult ? I was adviced to get a partition magic program ? 3. During my 3 years with Acer, I've never updated any driver, usually I go to windows update and antivirus update, that's it. So basically I don't need to update any specific driver, right ? All initial drivers are in the system cd and recovery cd right, so I don't have to pre-save any drivers that are already in my computer ? 4. called acer tech support again, they mentioned something about saving the image of the hidden partition etc. something like that... and I don't know how to do it, acer hotline don't want to explain it to me because it's too complicated. Anyway... called the acer tech hotline once again, Today, this guy mentioned that I don't have to worry with the hidden partition. and if I format my computer using the Acer system cd and recovery cd , everything would be fine. Because that's what they do at acer service center anyway. they wouldn't do anything to the hidden partition, or saving disk image or anything like that to prevent losing the hidden partition. So... basically I'm lost. I have acer guys telling me different things. So...... help ? Do I have to save disk image of the hidden partition first ? (am i even asking the right question ?) how do I save the hidden partition to prevent losing it after formatiing it ? Do I just go ahead and format it because hidden partition wouldn't be affected at all ? 5. Does this mean that all previous windows update, SP2, virus update will all be erased and after I format, I have to download all the updates from scratch again ? 6. Is there anything else I should know about ? Thank you Nina

Best Answer:

1. Is it easy to format ur notebook ? just follow onscreen instructions rite ? Formating a hard drive is not hard at all if you have a bit of experience and a good boot disk to boot off of with the necessary tools. 2. My C: drive holds 30 GB and D: 10 GB, Can I change that ? Would that be difficult ? I was adviced to get a partition magic program ? If you intend reloading your machine then you can change the partition sizes when installing windows or using an external program as well 3. During my 3 years with Acer, I've never updated any driver, usually I go to windows update and antivirus update, that's it. So basically I don't need to update any specific driver, right ? All initial drivers are in the system cd and recovery cd right, so I don't have to pre-save any drivers that are already in my computer ? I have a different Ferrari version and in the time I've had it they haven't updated any drivers so don't worry about that. 4. called acer tech support again, they mentioned something about saving the image of the hidden partition etc. something like that... and I don't know how to do it, acer hotline don't want to explain it to me because it's too complicated. The hidden partition they are referring to probably has the default windows installation that came with your laptop Anyway... called the acer tech hotline once again, Today, this guy mentioned that I don't have to worry with the hidden partition. and if I format my computer using the Acer system cd and recovery cd , everything would be fine. Because that's what they do at acer service center anyway. they wouldn't do anything to the hidden partition, or saving disk image or anything like that to prevent losing the hidden partition. So... basically I'm lost. I have acer guys telling me different things. So...... help ? Do I have to save disk image of the hidden partition first ? (am i even asking the right question ?) how do I save the hidden partition to prevent losing it after formatiing it ? Do I just go ahead and format it because hidden partition wouldn't be affected at all ? Personally I would start from scratch with a clean install. I immediately formatted my laptop when I got it....I hate all those unnecessary apps. 5. Does this mean that all previous windows update, SP2, virus update will all be erased and after I format, I have to download all the updates from scratch again ? If you reinstall using the disc you will loose anything you have saved on it up to this point. 6. Is there anything else I should know about ? I had the same problem with the battery and simply had to get a replace it because it could no longer hold a real charge. If you get a new battery make sure you drain it and charge it all the way up. Besides the battery issue, I think would be wise to simply re-install the OS on your laptop using the recover disc you have or if you have a WinXP CD, use it instead.

Answers:

1. Is it easy to format ur notebook ? just follow onscreen instructions rite ? Formating a hard drive is not hard at all if you have a bit of experience and a good boot disk to boot off of with the necessary tools. 2. My C: drive holds 30 GB and D: 10 GB, Can I change that ? Would that be difficult ? I was adviced to get a partition magic program ? If you intend reloading your machine then you can change the partition sizes when installing windows or using an external program as well 3. During my 3 years with Acer, I've never updated any driver, usually I go to windows update and antivirus update, that's it. So basically I don't need to update any specific driver, right ? All initial drivers are in the system cd and recovery cd right, so I don't have to pre-save any drivers that are already in my computer ? I have a different Ferrari version and in the time I've had it they haven't updated any drivers so don't worry about that. 4. called acer tech support again, they mentioned something about saving the image of the hidden partition etc. something like that... and I don't know how to do it, acer hotline don't want to explain it to me because it's too complicated. The hidden partition they are referring to probably has the default windows installation that came with your laptop Anyway... called the acer tech hotline once again, Today, this guy mentioned that I don't have to worry with the hidden partition. and if I format my computer using the Acer system cd and recovery cd , everything would be fine. Because that's what they do at acer service center anyway. they wouldn't do anything to the hidden partition, or saving disk image or anything like that to prevent losing the hidden partition. So... basically I'm lost. I have acer guys telling me different things. So...... help ? Do I have to save disk image of the hidden partition first ? (am i even asking the right question ?) how do I save the hidden partition to prevent losing it after formatiing it ? Do I just go ahead and format it because hidden partition wouldn't be affected at all ? Personally I would start from scratch with a clean install. I immediately formatted my laptop when I got it....I hate all those unnecessary apps. 5. Does this mean that all previous windows update, SP2, virus update will all be erased and after I format, I have to download all the updates from scratch again ? If you reinstall using the disc you will loose anything you have saved on it up to this point. 6. Is there anything else I should know about ? I had the same problem with the battery and simply had to get a replace it because it could no longer hold a real charge. If you get a new battery make sure you drain it and charge it all the way up. Besides the battery issue, I think would be wise to simply re-install the OS on your laptop using the recover disc you have or if you have a WinXP CD, use it instead.