New computers that come preinstalled with Windows 7 often have what is called a recovery partition. This is used to reinstall the operating system in the event of a system crash. To access it, you will need to boot into when you start your computer by pressing a function key. This can be either F1, F2, F9, F10, F11, F12 or even DEL or Tab key. Consult the owners manual that came with your PC for instructions about how to reinstall Windows.
This is how the recovery partition is accessed for the most popular makes.
For Acer, press and hold ALT + F10 as soon as you see the logo
Of course manufacturers should include a recovery partition, but sometimes what can happen is, they don’t work or get corrupted. So what are you suppose to do if you encounter such a situation and you need to reinstall Windows 7 Starter? The first option is to try contacting the OEM to send you a recovery media. Considering that I have never done such a thing and it’s a mystery to me how OEM’s replace recovery media for Netbooks considering they don’t have a optical drive, I decided to look for an alternative method.
When Microsoft released Windows Vista a few years ago, they included the option of selecting any edition of Windows Vista you wanted to install during setup, this was possible with all retail versions of Windows Vista such as Home Basic, Premium, Business and Ultimate. Unfortunately, with the release of Windows 7, this option was removed. Fortunately, there are work arounds.
Tools you will need for this task:
- eicfg_removal_utility.zip – is a simple tool that will remove the ei.cfg from any Windows ISO disc image, thereby converting the image into a “universal disc” that will prompt the user to select an edition during setup. It’s a free download here
- Genuine Retail Windows 7 32 bit Installation DVD – this will be used to reinstall Windows 7 Starter 32 bit, any retail edition of Windows 7 32 bit will do, this includes Home Premium, Professional or Ultimate, doesn’t matter if its upgrade or full version. You cannot use a 64 bit DVD because there is no 64 bit version of Windows 7 Starter. You will need to create an image of the disc, please refer to our Notebooks.com tutorial about how to create a digital backup of your software here
After you have created the image of the Windows 7 32 bit DVD, we will edit the image and remove the ei.cfg file so we can reveal all editions of Windows 7 during the installation and select Windows 7 Starter. Lets take a look at doing it step by step.
After downloading the eicfg removal utility, you need to extract it, since its in a .zip file. Just right click it and click Extract All.
Double click the eicfg_remover.exe file to launch it.
Browse to where the Windows 7 Image (.ISO file) is stored, select it and click Open.
That’s it! the ei.cfg file is now removed. The next step now is to reinstall Windows 7 Starter. Because most Netbooks do not include a DVD drive, you will have to use a tool such as the Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool (http://store.microsoft.com/Help/ISO-Tool)
This simple tool will help you convert the same image file you just created to a USB thumb drive. For installation purposes, you should get a thumb drive that’s at least 4 GBs in size to store the installation files. Browse to where the Windows 7 Image is stored, open it.
Select the USB device where you want to have the backup stored to for installation.
Once the USB device has been identified, click the Begin copying button.
And that’s it, the next step now is to boot your Netbook from the thumb drive, make sure the thumb drive you will be installing Windows 7 from is plugged into the USB port. This might vary by manufacturer, but the usual one to try is F12, start your Netbook and press F12 repeatedly until a screen is displayed giving you the option to boot from a USB Memory device, select that and press Enter on your keyboard. The screen should look something like the following:
BIOS boot screen
Check out our Notebooks.com article: How To Load BIOS and Change Boot Configuration
Windows 7 will boot as it normally does into the setup environment, the only difference this time is, you will be given a choice to select the edition of Windows 7 you want to reinstall.
Select Windows 7 Starter and proceed with the installation as normal. I suggest that you create a backup once the installation is complete.
Torrent Iso Aspire One D250 Drivers
One thing to note, you will need a 32 bit Windows 7 installation media to do this, any edition of Windows 7 such as Home Premium, Professional or Ultimate will do. If you can find a disc, you can download a copy from the following link and use that to create the all in one disc:
• Windows 7 Ultimate (x86)* – X17-59463
That’s it!
I have an Acer Aspire One D250 netbook which came with Windows XP (but no CD) on which I have since installed Xubuntu 9.10. Now I am trying to sell it, but I cannot find a way to recover XP.
I have read in a lot of different places that holding Alt+F10 during boot should send me to a recovery menu (which will allow me to restore XP from a 'secret partition'), but I have tried many times to no avail.
The best I can do is get the BIOS setup screen by holding F2, but there doesn't seem to be any recovery option there.
After the initial option to go into the BIOS setup GRUB starts loading and there don't seem to be any more opportunities to enter a system setup screen. Please help!
studiohack♦
11.3k18 gold badges80 silver badges114 bronze badges
ImranImran
5 Answers
My recovery button is F4, so you could try holding that when your BIOS screen comes up.
WesleyWesley6686 gold badges26 silver badges49 bronze badges
Ver real madrid ajax acestream. Check out this article. I've been able to get the Alt-F10 shortcut working. Now, the Acer is recovering.
slhck167k48 gold badges466 silver badges482 bronze badges
BopsBops
You can buy recovery disks from Acer Support. You probably wiped out the XP recovery partition when you installed Ubuntu
JimJim
Most computers these days come with a hidden partition from which to restore the factory software configuration. I don't know how Ubuntu handles that partition - maybe it left it alone, maybe it overwrote the partition. If the latter, you may be out of luck.
Grant PalinGrant Palin8924 gold badges12 silver badges31 bronze badges
As it is said here, you need to press Alt+F10 buttons while bios is loading. But, you could delete recovery partition using XUbuntu installer (Use entire disk option). This way you need to search through Internet your recovery partition image and put it on USB drive, or take an external CD/DVD drive and put there CD/DVD that came with your netbook. Also look at this topic at superuser.com
Community♦
Mikhail ChernykhMikhail Chernykh2,2211 gold badge12 silver badges9 bronze badges
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RECOMMENDED: Click here to fix Windows errors and improve PC performance
The much awaited Windows 7 RC has come out with added features such as the Windows XP Mode (XPM). Though Windows 7 Beta was very stable for primary use, many users hesitated to install it. But with Windows 7 RC, you can now install Windows 7 on your primary machines including Netbooks.
Installing Windows 7 on a Netbook isn’t as easy as installing on Laptops or desktops that come with in-built DVD drive. Since we can’t use DVD media to install on Netbook, we need to use an USB (Pen drive or Flash drive) to make it happen. IntoWindows has already covered how to install Windows 7 from USB/Pen drive in the past.
This guide is exclusively for Acer Aspire One Netbook users, who like to install the brand new Windows 7 on their Acer Aspire One.
Requirements:
1. Windows 7 DVD or ISO
2. A USB Drive with 2.5+ GB (4GB)
3. Windows Vista or windows 7 running machine to create bootable USB stick.
4. Lastly, your Acer Aspire One with 100% charged battery or connected to power supply.
Install Windows 7 on Acer Aspire One netbook
1. We need to create a bootable USB stick of Windows 7 first. To make it happen insert your USB stick and then copy or move all your contents (if any) to a drive.
