[xppc]

I have an acer 4810T with win 7 home premium. intel core 2 solo U3500 1.4ghz with 4gb mem and 320 hard drive.

 

easeus partition master shows

320gb... broken down as follows

pqservice.. 11.7gb
acer c........170.3gb
local disk ...112gb (linux ext4)
local disk,,,,,,3.5gb (linux swap)

i have not put linux on this laptop so i find it strange that it is showing (unless its an acer thing and i havent noticed it before)

 

skype chat works fine but the voice and video freezes my pc and i have to power it off and on. I posted elsewhere on gtg and got a link from acer australia saying basically acer vcm doesnt need to be installed (or running)  for skype to work (skype quit supporting this december 2013). skype suggested going to an older version of skype which freezes in voice or video also.  i am back to the current version of skype with tyoe chat working fine but not video or voice. a friend has an acer and has no issues with voice or video on it.

 

the boot time according to wisecare 365 can range from 65 to 135 seconds. the desktop icons reload a total of 3 times before the laptop is fully up. i do have a copy of  a rebuild icon program i was given here  a couple years ago and ran that.

 

yahoo im sometimes opens 2 windows for the same chat and when i go to contacts ot an option.. then menu may show up twice.

 

i have been avoiding but think i need to copy my files and do a fresh install of win 7. the last fresh install i did was about 2 1/2  years ago. i do have a couple geek friends that suggest i do a fresh install every 6 months to avoid problems

 

thoughts?  and thanks in advance for your help

 

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Hello xppc,

 

Having checked various sources I can say that your model of notebook was not shipped with any other OS than Vista Home Premium, this is not to say that at the point of purchase a request was not made to the retailer to install Linux alongside Vista, this would imply that you have not had this notebook from new, is that correct.

 

If you really do not want to keep Linux you are best to do a fresh install of Windows 7 as it will be a lot cleaner than trying to delete Linux and then resize the partitions.

 

Before you do anything can you tell us what type of Windows 7 media you have as in an OEM/full retail disk, downloaded ISO or a burned copy that you have done yourself, I am asking this as I would suggest wiping the HDD with DBan before reinstalling Windows 7 on it`s own 120GB partition on the HDD, Windows 7 does format the HDD as part of the installation process but again using DBan would ensure that the HDD was totally clean and not just the partition where Windows 7 is to be installed.

 

You should also make sure that you have all drivers needed burned to disk or saved to a USB thumbdrive, this will help to make sure that you have internet connection as soon as you need it to update Windows 7, drivers from here make sure that you select the appropriate Windows 7 32 or 64-bit drivers from the dropdown box.

 

As an asides xppc, please avoid using programs such as wisecare 365 as they have the potential to render a computer inoperable, take a look at the article by respected author Miekiemoe here

[phillpower2]

Hello xppc,

 

Having checked various sources I can say that your model of notebook was not shipped with any other OS than Vista Home Premium, this is not to say that at the point of purchase a request was not made to the retailer to install Linux alongside Vista, this would imply that you have not had this notebook from new, is that correct.

 

If you really do not want to keep Linux you are best to do a fresh install of Windows 7 as it will be a lot cleaner than trying to delete Linux and then resize the partitions.

 

Before you do anything can you tell us what type of Windows 7 media you have as in an OEM/full retail disk, downloaded ISO or a burned copy that you have done yourself, I am asking this as I would suggest wiping the HDD with DBan before reinstalling Windows 7 on it`s own 120GB partition on the HDD, Windows 7 does format the HDD as part of the installation process but again using DBan would ensure that the HDD was totally clean and not just the partition where Windows 7 is to be installed.

 

You should also make sure that you have all drivers needed burned to disk or saved to a USB thumbdrive, this will help to make sure that you have internet connection as soon as you need it to update Windows 7, drivers from here make sure that you select the appropriate Windows 7 32 or 64-bit drivers from the dropdown box.

 

As an asides xppc, please avoid using programs such as wisecare 365 as they have the potential to render a computer inoperable, take a look at the article by respected author Miekiemoe here

[xppc]

I purchased this as the last vista floor model that office depot had and got the free anytime upgrade to win 7. I only noticed the partition under easeus partion master a few weeks ago when installed that and was going to put a linux (dual boot) on my laptop since im getting tired of windows issues. I attempted to use the install alongside on my mom desktop and that failed causing problems (see my other post here at gtg). I did do a fresh install about about 2 1/2 years ago. When the laptop boots up.. its default is just windows and nothing about a linux system being on here.. that is strange and i wonder if it has been there since day one.  how do i get a menu or option to dual boot what is on here now and see what linux is there?

 

thanks

[phillpower2]

1. Click on the Start button and then choose Control Panel.

2. Click on the System and Security link.

Note: If you're viewing the Large icons or Small iconsview of Control Panel, you won't see this link so just click on the Administrative Tools icon and skip to Step 4.

3. In the System and Security window, click on the Administrative Tools heading located near the bottom of the window.

4. In the Administrative Tools window, double-click on the Computer Management icon.

5. When Computer Management opens, click on Disk Management on the left side of the window, located under Storage.

After a brief loading period, Disk Management should now appear on the right side of the Computer Management window.

Note: If you don't see Disk Management listed, you may need to click on the |> icon to the left of the Storage icon.

 

Do the following and take an expanded screenshot while the above is open and showing on your desktop.

 

To capture and post a screenshot;

 

Click on the ALT key + PRT SCR key..its on the top row..right hand side..now click on start...all programs...accessories...paint....left click in the white area ...press CTRL + V...click on file...click on save...save it to your desktop...name it something related to the screen your capturing... BE SURE TO SAVE IT AS A .JPG ...otherwise it may be to big to upload... then after typing in any response you have... click on browse...desktop...find the screenshot..select it and click on the upload button...then on the lower left...after it says upload successful...click on add reply like you normally would.

 

Screenshot instructions are provided to assist those that may read this topic but are not yet aware of the “how to”.

 

[xppc]

Attached is a copy of the screen shot

Attached Thumbnails

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[phillpower2]

The requested expanded screenshot would have shown us more but not to worry as we can see enough, the HDD has an Acer Recovery partition on it which if used would take you back to Vista, wiping the entire drive with DBan and installing Windows 7 on it`s own 120GB partition is still what I would do personally.

 

What version of Windows 7 do you have installed and do you have the product key for it written down and kept in a safe place.

[xppc]

try this..i had full screen on this time. i have win 7 home premium and i do still have the anytime original upgrade disk with  COA.

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[phillpower2]

 i have win 7 home premium and i do still have the anytime original upgrade disk with  COA.

 

 

If you upgraded from Vista to Windows 7 you would need to reinstall Vista first and then carry out the Windows 7 upgrade again, this is not the case if you have an OEM or full retail Windows 7 disk and appropriate COA, use The Magical Jelly Bean keyfinder to locate the COA that is presently in use on the computer and compare it to what you have with the upgrade disk, are they the same, the following will hopefully avoid the need for a completely fresh install.

 

The expanded screenshot looks better to me and for you as the work that you need to do is not as long winded as it could have been 

 

Of the four partitions only the C: drive has data on it so the other three partitions can be safely deleted.

 

The limited amount of free storage space on the C: drive is what is causing your present issues (see my canned text below) I suggest that you do the following and using Partition Manager (free) which you can obtain from here

 

1: Format the 112.08GB partition

2: Delete the 11.72GB and the 3.93GB partitions.

3: If the space from the deleted partitions is not automatically reallocated, resize the 112.08GB partition so that it includes the space freed up by deleting the two smaller partitions.

4: Rename the second newly created partition something like Data so it is easily recognised.

5: Free up some storage space on the C: drive by moving pictures and music etc across to the newly created Data drive, please note that games and programmes cannot be copied across and they must be reinstalled from source or left where they are until no longer required.

 

I suggest that you print out the instructions above and any available from Partition Manager, use them as a check sheet and tick them off as you go.

 

Please note that in order to avoid data corruption and/or mechanical HDD failure for data only HDDs you must always have a minimum of 10% of the HDDs overall storage capacity available as free space and between 20 and 25% of a HDDs overall storage capacity available as free space if the OS is on it, the free space allows for information to be copied to and from the drive efficiently and it reduces the risk of the OS being overwritten/becoming corrupted by a simple task such as installing a Windows or a third party software update.

Not having the above can render a computer inoperable if the HDD concerned has the OS on it due to the MBR (Master Boot Record) becoming damaged/corrupt, please see information @ http://pcsupport.abo...sterbootrec.htm

 

 

[xppc]

i remember i read something online that acer divided the partition to seperate the data and the os. do you have any idea why these two screen shots have conflicting info on the amount of space use/available on the 117 partition?

 

Attached Thumbnails

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[phillpower2]

Absolutely no idea and in all honesty after looking at the latest screenshots if me I would wipe the drive and start afresh as per my reply #2

 

Before you do anything can you tell us what type of Windows 7 media you have as in an OEM/full retail disk, downloaded ISO or a burned copy that you have done yourself, I am asking this as I would suggest wiping the HDD with DBan before reinstalling Windows 7 on it`s own 120GB partition on the HDD, Windows 7 does format the HDD as part of the installation process but again using DBan would ensure that the HDD was totally clean and not just the partition where Windows 7 is to be installed.

 

You should also make sure that you have all drivers needed burned to disk or saved to a USB thumbdrive, this will help to make sure that you have internet connection as soon as you need it to update Windows 7, drivers from here make sure that you select the appropriate Windows 7 32 or 64-bit drivers from the dropdown box.

 

[xppc]

I have copied all the driver to a usb and all my files to an external. I did not see anything on the dban site as to if it leaves the restore partition intact to I could start the reformat that way. WIll that partition still be there?

 

Thanks

[phillpower2]

DBan has an automatic mode called “autonuke” which should completely erase all data on the HDD, do keep a check for any on screen prompts that you may receive though.

[xppc]

i ran dban in autonuke and allowed it to finish. then i placed in my restore disk (from both vista and win 7) the same message was received for both disks.. no bootable device -- insert boot disk and press any key. i guess i need to find a good iso of vista or win 7 (since i have coa;s for both.

[phillpower2]

Did you double check that the boot sequence was set to DVD drive first and the HDD second.

[xppc]

yes sir that is correct.. bios is set for dvd first.. then i go to boot setup and make sure dvd is first also..2nd is hard drive.. third is network boot: atheros boot agent. i do have several 3 versions of ubuntu (from 9.1 to current), zorin os, my vista and win 7 restore disks and noticed if the cd is not acknowledged by the computer, it will revert to option 3 and that is when the "no bootable device -- insert boot disk and press any key" message appears.  weird thing is of the ubuntu only version 12.10 was i able to use the "try" option and it loaded ok ..the others were not acknowledged by the dvd drive.

 

thanks