Acer Aspire 7540

[cozy63]

I have an old Acer laptop that I bought back in 2010, it started getting sluggish and becoming a pain to boot into windows 7 around 2012. After that I bought a desktop and pretty much had no need for a laptop so I set it aside. I went to get it and bring it back out to use it for some programming and now it refuses to boot into windows at all.

Problem-
When I hit the power button it brings up the "windows error recovery" only giving me the option to either "Launch Startup Repair (recommended)" or "start normally". Either option I choose it goes from there to launch windows and will either give me a black screen, or occasionally it will give me the windows 7 blue background with a cursor but no login accounts to click and login on. I can access the BIOS and the HDD is showing.

That being said, the laptop is way outside the warranty date, so I can't even contact Acer directly for support on solving the issue. I went to the windows site to download the ISO for win 7 to completely reformat it as when I bought it (rent to own) it came with no disks, however when I put in my SNID it said it was a publishers software or something like that and wouldn't let me download the ISO.

I'm completely lost on how to proceed on getting this issue fixed.

 

[webworkings]

Have you tried running/loading in "Safe Mode" to see if it will go past this? The instructions on how to to it are below. Also, to get a copy of the OS try here... https/www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download

How to enter "Safe Mode" when booting the computer.

In Windows 8 and 10...

As your computer restarts, press F8 (possibly a few times) to enter "Safe Mode"

a. Press the "F4" key to Enable "Safe Mode".
(The computer will then start in "Safe Mode" with a minimal set of drivers and services.)

b. Press the "F5" key to Enable "Safe Mode" with Networking.
( Once "Safe Mode" with Networking starts, Windows is in Safe Mode, with additional network and services for accessing the Internet and other computers on your network.)

c. Press the "F6" key to Enable "Safe Mode" with Command Prompt.
(In "Safe Mode" with "Command Prompt" starts Windows in Safe Mode, with a Command Prompt window instead of the Windows interface. This option is mostly only used by IT professionals.)

Now sign in to the computer with your account name and password. (If you have one set.) When you are finished troubleshooting, you can exit "Safe Mode" restarting your computer.


In Windows 7/Vista/XP...

1. Immediately after turning on the computer, or restarting it (usually after you hear your computer beep), tap the F8 key, repeatedly, in 1 second intervals.

2. The computer will then display hardware information and run a memory test.

3. Next the "Advanced Boot Options" menu will appear.

4. In the "Advanced Boot Options" menu use the arrow keys to select "Safe Mode" or "Safe Mode with Networking" and press ENTER.

 

[cozy63]

Have you tried running/loading in "Safe Mode" to see if it will go past this? The instructions on how to to it are below. Also, to get a copy of the OS try here... https/www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download

How to enter "Safe Mode" when booting the computer.

In Windows 8 and 10...

As your computer restarts, press F8 (possibly a few times) to enter "Safe Mode"

a. Press the "F4" key to Enable "Safe Mode".
(The computer will then start in "Safe Mode" with a minimal set of drivers and services.)

b. Press the "F5" key to Enable "Safe Mode" with Networking.
( Once "Safe Mode" with Networking starts, Windows is in Safe Mode, with additional network and services for accessing the Internet and other computers on your network.)

c. Press the "F6" key to Enable "Safe Mode" with Command Prompt.
(In "Safe Mode" with "Command Prompt" starts Windows in Safe Mode, with a Command Prompt window instead of the Windows interface. This option is mostly only used by IT professionals.)

Now sign in to the computer with your account name and password. (If you have one set.) When you are finished troubleshooting, you can exit "Safe Mode" restarting your computer.


In Windows 7/Vista/XP...

1. Immediately after turning on the computer, or restarting it (usually after you hear your computer beep), tap the F8 key, repeatedly, in 1 second intervals.

2. The computer will then display hardware information and run a memory test.

3. Next the "Advanced Boot Options" menu will appear.

4. In the "Advanced Boot Options" menu use the arrow keys to select "Safe Mode" or "Safe Mode with Networking" and press ENTER.

I tried all the available safe mode options on the advanced boot options, they all act like they start to boot then take me back to the windows error recovery. However when I hit F8 it goes straight to the ABO, it doesn't show that its running any memory test.

I tried getting the ISO from that windows website and it comes up with this - Error - The product key you entered appears to be for software pre-installed by the device manufacturer. Please contact the device manufacturer for software recovery options. Thats when I went to the Acer site and tried to "contact them" but all it did was tell me my device was out of warranty. I posted on their "community forums" but I doubt i'll get any help from Acer since its past warranty.

I tried Acer recover manager with alt+f10. It tried to load it but just sat at the "please wait a moment...." screen.

 

[webworkings]

I wonder then if the hard drive has gone. Also, even if out of warranty, they should be able to give you the needed files to try and restore the system.