Acer Issues

Acer Aspire 3
Win 10 home

Afternoon folks
Starting a couple of weeks ago my laptop has told me it needed to shutdown and restart.
I put this down to updates etc
Today it told me it had ht a problem and needed to restart.
It did shutdown but on restart it opened on the boot manager page telling me to use arrows to select which option.
However, no options were displayed and a message no bootable device.
I hit the power button and shut down but it came back with same message x 3
On 4th restart all was normal.
I came to this site and had to re rerigister (could not find old login)
Installed the windows repair programme and followed all promts etc with that. All been fine since it finished.
One issue was that whilst in safe mode the screen continually flashed throughout.
Any ideas what is going on with my (a) start up bootable msg and (b) the flashing safe mode screen

Thanks in advance

 

Hi my friend , welcome to MG's

Do you try connecting an external monitor checking if it works or not ? There is a combination with ( fn and external monitor bottom ) like this

http://cybernetnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/vistaexternalmonitor1.jpg

give us the exact model of your laptop

http://classroom.synonym.com/out-model-acer-aspire-11605.html

 

Hi
Thank you for the reply
I do not have access to an external monitor at the moment
The model of the laptop is Aspire V3-771G

 

You say it appears to be running fine now except for the screen flashing in Safe Mode. Right click the Start Button and select Command Prompt (Admin) and type sfc /scannow <Enter>.

 

Ok, did the scan, although I had to go through task manager>file>run new task to do so
Scan returned with no issues highlighted

 

You must try connecting an external monitor ensuring that your laptop's monitor is alright or not , open the command prompt writing this

wmic computersystem get model,name,manufacturer,systemtype

in cmd command , this is the exact model of your laptop , even you could take a photo from error message , posting in here

 

Im not sure I understand the need or reason to connect to an external monitor ? I will try and borrow one.

the model of my laptop is as stated in above reply
Acer Aspire V3-771 x64 based pc

 

OK update
I can connect to another monitor using the Fn and F5 combo but not when in safe mode

I have also today encountered anothe rissue of the pc wanting to shutdown having encountered a problem, so looks like my initial concerns still stand.

 

If the monitor is flashing in safe mode , maybe your monitor is faulty , at the bottom of your laptop a sticker is located , there is the exact model , you can remove the hdd connecting to another desktop ensuring that your hdd is alright , win 10 is clean installation or upgrade ?

 

Another BSOD this morning with an error of a critical process has died.
I did install programme Bluescreenview some days ago but this does show any instances of BSOD. ( i posted about this elswhere) depite me having encountered the BSOD
any ideas folks ?

 

BlueScreenView doesn't give you a lot of information but, the .dmp file would be in the C:\Windows\Minidump folder. If you can put the dump file into a .ZIP archive and upload it in your next post, someone like satrow, who has debugging software, may take a look at it.

 

Better still, especially if BSV isn't detecting any crash dumps, run this collection routine and attach the needed zipped folders here and we can work through the logs provided for further clues.

 

I hope I have read all this correctly and supplied the correct file.

 

and another file

 

Okay, I've only looked through parts of the data, more to do, there was a dump file which would have been very useful, unfortunately, it looks like CCleaner deleted it. Please disable CCleaner from Startup during troubleshooting (and let's hope you have another crash soon!), reboot as soon as that's been done, or it will still be there to delete a fresh dump if it crashes again.

If you do get another crash, please re-run the Sysnative app. and attach the fresh data, I'm seeing a lot that needs further investigation but I need more data (pref. a crash dump) to even begin to put the pieces together.

If you're feeling brave , and you can find several hours of PC time that doesn't involve anything vital - you can setup Driver Verifier. This will cause instability and hopefully a verified crash, if that happens, re-run the collection app and attach the data. Read the info carefully, if you don't create a System Restore point before you activate DV, you might need some serious help to get back into Windows!

 

Sounds scary that last paragraph so will give that step a miss if thats ok

 

You could read it first...

 

OK, tried to create a restore point and immediately encountered BSOD with an error message
" stop code SYSTEM_SERVICE_EXCEPTION "
Have just rebooted from there.
tried to attach the minidump log but unable to do so

 

more logs

 

I can't see details from the logs (that make much sense to me) but there are scores, maybe hundreds, of inpageerrors reported (might be a hard disk problem, unable to read from the paging file), as well as signs of a BSOD (very similar to this one): ACCESS_VIOLATION_csrss.exe_BUGCHECK_CRITICAL_PROCESS_c0000005_BAD_IP

csrss.exe is the main Windows security exe, there might be a fault in a driver, possibly malware, amongst other things.

Hard disk tests needed (Seatools). You can try disabling the paging file during troubleshooting, if the fault is there but restricted to that area of the drive, the machine might then be able to run as normal, at least for a few hours at a time.

You do need to backup any vital files/data to an external drive and research/buy a new HDD/SSD in case this one is about to die. Also ensure you have made the Recovery disk set, and/or have a working clone/image of the drive ready to use on a replacement.

Uninstall Rapport during testing, that can be a real pain, it's might even be part of the main problem.

 

Thank you so much for thorough and informative reply
I have now uninstalled rapport and are in process of finding my way around seatools.
Can you tell me how to make a working clone/image. ?

 

Hmm, not my strength, I'm afraid, hopefully mdonah or one of the other regular helpers will chip in with a howto for that - and point out the method of recovery. I'm having connection issues as it is, digging out details (after a reboot/logs/router checkup) might take some time.

 

Little update and a rant
Have connected to an external drive and started a back up using the windows feature.
All fine for 6.5hrs and when I last looked was at 97% and creating an image of c drive (iirc the wording)
Looked 5 mins later an noticed the machine was rebooting after a BSOD crash.
Not sure if all that should have been created on the back up is as it should be.
Is there a way to tell ?
I have tried to attach the BSOD log file for perusal but it aint in the minidump folder despite shoowing in the bs prog

 

It might be that the bugcheck type prevents an on the fly dump creation and it's created during the following session, or that the crashing driver(s) were needed for dump creation.

The best way to image/backup an ailing Windows installation or failing drive is to do so from the bootable media for your image/backup software, which you might need to create from within Windows but can often be done from a different PC that has a very similar chipset/USB chip. Many will fail to access the SS/HDD or USB if there's an odd chipset combo on the target system, so it's always best to test these things out before there's a problem, you then know that your intended solution actually works.

 

OK thank you
Looks like its time to buy another lap top and try and move some important folders across manually.
What you describe above looks to be outside of my depth
I have no bootable discs etc, everything came pre installed as new on W8.1 then an upgrade to 10.
Cheers

 

You could still call on a friend, colleague, local library etc. perhaps and get a couple of different image/backup software bootable USB sticks created. There's a high chance that if your machine uses common chipset/USB controllers, that they would work to pull off the data in 'offline' (outside of Windows) mode, providing the data damage isn't too bad or related to a physically damaged drive.

You might then 'only' need to buy a suitable retail HDD/SSD replacement/upgrade plus a Recovery DVD (set) from the notebook maker to get the current machine up and running again, ready to upgrade once more to W10 and then import your recovered data into.

 

The only times I've cloned my drives is when I wanted to replace the hard drive with a solid state drive (I've done that on two of my laptops). Otherwise, I've imaged the drives for backup purposes. For both operations, I've used AOMEI Backupper because it works (for me) and has the simplest interface of all the backup programs.

 

Thanks again but as I said i think im now in above my head with the terminology never mind the theory and practicable. -lol
Im sure when I bought this machine I was prompted to make a recovery disc or image on a usb stick ?
Will have a look through some old stuff and do some reading up on next steps

 

Sure, do whatever you're comfortable with and have the disposable income for, you're the one best placed to know where your limits are.

Yes, I hope you did see the Recovery set prompts and window soon after you'd booted it for the first time, that's what I'd expect to be confronted with on a new machine.

Good luck with with it

 

Thanks plodr
I did not know that function existed on this laptop.
I will give that a coat of looking at this week.
Cheers

 

Well after experiencing yet another bsod ( this one called unexpeced store exception) I tried the Acer back up system mentioned above.
Firstly it tells me to make an image of my drive I need at least 78 blank dvds to carry on.
Then when trying to make a bootable disc/usb/dvd it tells me there is no supported cd recorder installed .
No idea what or why Im getting this

 

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Acer-Aspire-V3-771G-Notebook.74597.0.html -says that Upon inquiry, Acer states a warranty period of 2 years (24 months) for all V3-771G configurations including pick-up & return service - I assume yours has an expired warranty ?
If you cannot create them because of some fault-hard drive/ram/etc:
If you cannot find, or create your recovery discs-- If the hard drive is suspected ---Then I would copy all my important data to a usb sticks ----
This method will copy and ignore the bad sectors without losing the original,
I find that the free version of Partition Wizard copies any size hard drive to any size hard drive , using two caddies- on another machine https://www.partitionwizard.com/free-partition-manager.html
Caddy- Like this one-- https://www.amazon.co.uk/DIGIFLEX-Drive-Caddy-Enclosure-Laptop/dp/B002UZO07C There is a cable with the caddy that has a double connection on one end to attach two hard drives, and the other end goes to a usb slot on a laptop , or, computer
This would mean that you would have to remove the hard drive to insert it into a caddy.
This site shows how simple that is -BUT - NOTE : The author does not remind you about static electricity - - you should only hold the harddrive by the sides when handling, at all - https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Acer+Aspire+V3-771G+Hard+Drive+Replacement/31720 --after removing the screws holding the hard drive in the laptop, and carefully lifting it out, you then need to remove the 4 screws on the hard drive carrier that hold the hard drive in the carrier.
You can buy a different size, and make of hard drive, so, it can be worth looking around to suit your pocket
-examples https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_s...VC3NPTCI26&rh=i:aps,k:2.5+sata+hard+drive+1tb
I keep copies of my system on spare hard drives, this way .

 

I am totally confused now. Had a few more BSOD issues.
Spoken to Acer re new installation/recovery disc etc and they have had me doing some more testing.
Now they saying it COULD be my memory that is causing problems and to swap the sticks over IF accessible.
The logs I looked in event viewer say no issues found after scanning (althought thorough scan did not work and stuck at 21% on pass 1 of 8 )

 

Going by the number of "Me too"s on MS Answers for the unexpected store exception, I'd guess at a bad Windows upgrade/update as being behind your issues.

 

Thanks, a few more spanner thrown in over there then
Even more confused and still no where near solving then.
Ive gone from needing new hard drive, new memory, new fan, incompatible software, bad updates to drivers etc, malware, old bios setings.
Where next I wonder ?
At least Ive not spent any cash yet on drives or memory as it looks like it may have been wasted if I had done so. (or would it? lol)

 

You may well have wasted money purchasing anything until running enough tests
Step 4 , shows where the (memory ) ram is situated -to change over follow directions -remove battery first ram is held in by two clips (one each side) use finger/thumb nail to unclip the memory, and again, only hold by the ends-do not touch the "teeth" --- https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Acer+Aspire+V3-771G+Hard+Drive+Replacement/31720
Still no cost - so why not try.

 

I have now switched the memory sticks over.
Everything has booted as expected
One thing I did find in one of the memory slot bays was a loose piece of metallic matter(copper coloured and grey) It looks like it could be a part of a screw retaining housing ? I do have one spare case screw which no longer bites.
Could this bit of debris cause issues as it moves around the memory bays ?

 

It pays to check in as many ways s possible to find the fault.
The piece you found could well have been causing the problem -the copper could have been making it short out, as it moved around with lifting and putting laptop down..
It could well be the screw housing for the screw that will not bite.
I have seen many laptops with missing bits, and screws, and unless the housing cover will not hold sufficiently, it will not give a problem.
You have now started to learn, and I learned so much through majorgeeks, over the years to supplement my knowledge, and the way to learn is to ask the question, and also, to look around the web to find things like, A workshop manual ( to see what is involved, and how the experts do it)- and , of course, majorgeeks.
Monitor your system, and if it gives further trouble, come back here. There are some exceptionally good "geeks", and Microsoft verified people on here who will always do there best to help, and it is free.
Save those links on this problem as favourites, on your browser.

 

Thanks for all your help guys.
I have already bookmarked all the links etc.
In fact just used the tools etc to work on a Toshiba W7 machine which someone gave me in case mine went T.U.
Have confidently backed up, created restores and took the machine back to factory settings and it is fine so far.

My Acer is still running ok since the memory swaps. Fingers crossed it remains that way.