My son's acer Aspire V5-132, will turn on then goes to 'Preparing Automatic Repair', then nothing happens after that, it stays

Solution
possibly failing hard drive. in any case you've lost your operating system if automatic repair doesn't automatically fix it.

back up your data if you have any. take out the hard drive and use the cables from the link below to transfer files to another computer:
http://www.amazon.com/StarTech-SATA-Drive-Adapter-Cable/dp/B00HJZJI84/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1452401360&sr=8-1&keywords=hard+drive+transfer+cables

reinstall the drive. next you need to use your operating system reinstall disks or usb to reinstall the os. if you didnt create these when you got the machine, you will need to contact acer and pay for them.

once you have the system up, use wd data lifeguard diagnostics to check if your hard drive is functional. if it fails...

N3rdR4ge

Estimable
Jun 16, 2014
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possibly failing hard drive. in any case you've lost your operating system if automatic repair doesn't automatically fix it.

back up your data if you have any. take out the hard drive and use the cables from the link below to transfer files to another computer:
http://www.amazon.com/StarTech-SATA-Drive-Adapter-Cable/dp/B00HJZJI84/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1452401360&sr=8-1&keywords=hard+drive+transfer+cables

reinstall the drive. next you need to use your operating system reinstall disks or usb to reinstall the os. if you didnt create these when you got the machine, you will need to contact acer and pay for them.

once you have the system up, use wd data lifeguard diagnostics to check if your hard drive is functional. if it fails the drive needs to be replaced and you will have to reinstall the operating system on the new drive. you can get the diag here:
http://download.wdc.com/windlg/WinDlg_v1_29.zip

this is the simplest, cheapest way to fix your issue and avoid bringing it to a tech repair place. if you have problems with any of this you may just want to take it somewhere. i repair machines for a living and most people aren't savvy enough to do this themselves.
 
Solution