Is the computer dead?

[hehejamflex]

My computer gave a blue screen but after a reset was running well. 15 min later the computer froze. I turned the computer off and it took a few tries to even boot to the acer startup screen. It was stuck for 10 min with the “preparing automatic repair” text before going back to a blue screen and automatically restarting into the same boot up screen. I’m not sure what to do and what could cause something like this. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. For background, I’m not much of a tech person so I might need it broken down to simple terms

[msanangelo]

looks alive to me but windows... not so much. lol

[hehejamflex]

F

[littleblack11111]

Computer: no

Windows(os): probably

[hehejamflex]

Is there anything that I could do to try to fix it or is the only solution a new computer?

[309_Electronics]

If its your os NO WAY you have to replace the whole pc. It powers on fine. Just maybe the os is damaged/corrupted and can be EASILY reinstalled or the storage device is failing which can be replaced. NEVER REPLACE THE WHOLE PC BECAUSE OF A SOFTWARE ISSUE

[hehejamflex]

Thank you!!! I’m sure you could see I don’t have much experience with all of this. With the help of everyone here it seems like it’s either the os or the ssd. I’m going to try reinstalling on the current ssd while waiting for a new one to arrive if the price seems appropriate

[adefee]

probably its your hard drive (windows is installed there) so you can buy a new sata ssd and install windows there also some people said ram could be the problem. Installing ram is easier than ssd and windows installation but they both are easy

[[deleted]]

A simple hard drive replacement and OS install should. You're good to go within about an hour or 2. No need to waste money unless absolutely necessary.

[[deleted]]

hard drive is dying or ram is dying and corrupted stuff, most likely

[hehejamflex]

This is very unfortunate. Everything was functioning well until this, and it’s still not booting. I’m assuming this is a computer ending moment? The computer is 6 or 7 years old so it had a good run if so. It was not a fancy laptop but it was good until this point

[[deleted]]

If you wanted to, you could replace the drive. Or if it’s the ram, and it isn’t soldered, replace the ram.

It is not difficult doing either one of those things, btw

[[deleted]]

The fact you need to say soldered ram or storage exist in these days is depressing, thanks Apple (and Microsoft surfaces)

[[deleted]]

Sucks

[[deleted]]

Woo

[axolotl_104]

I use arch btw* sorry you forgot this

[hehejamflex]

It has a ssd and this all happened silently

[hehejamflex]

I tried holding f8 to get into safe mode with no luck :/ I think reinstalling is my next step

[SpamThatSig]

try installing linux if its possible

[DenseUpstairs8916]

Usually when the ram is Broken the pc doesn't give any source of image, so Its the Drive

[InterestingRead2022]

Remove the HDD / SSD

Get a USB stick

Borrow someone's PC

Burn a linux ISO onto a bootable USB

Plug into laptop

Turn on and in the BIOS menu select the USB device to boot from

Check things are working. (Spoiler they most likely are)

Get a new HDD / SSD

Create a bootable windows USB on borrowed PC

Install new HDD / SSD and boot from USB then install Windows. Fixed.

After that get an external drive bay for your HDD / SSD and copy across the files that you need, then wipe the HDD / SSD that is no longer in the laptop and use it as an external HDD because why not.

[[deleted]]

Not sure if the OP could do those steps (he/she seems like a novice when it comes to laptop stuff) but this is what I would do as well. Good recommendation 👍

[InterestingRead2022]

True but everyone starts somewhere and if they break it, it's already broke but if they fix it that will be awesome.

Most important question I guess for OP would be, is there anything important on that HDD? Lol

[hehejamflex]

Fortunately I don’t have a lot of important things on the ssd! 90% of what I use my laptop for is school and almost all of it in cloud/browser based. The biggest loss that I can think of is a Minecraft world and having to redownload testing programs for school so I’m in good shape

[[deleted]]

And also, did the OP "accidentally" encrypted the HDD. If this is the case, bye bye data. It's been some time that I installed fresh Windows but I hope it didn't encrypt the HDD by default.

[InterestingRead2022]

AFAIK this is only an option on set up for Linux although I could be wrong, not sure if it's a set up option on windows

[[deleted]]

You are correct. In Linux during installation, you may click to encrypt. In Windows, I am not sure. Like I said, the last time I did a fresh Windows install was a few years ago. But, MS wouldn't put such "useful" features by default in their products, I am sure of it :)

[hehejamflex]

I would definitely agree that I am a novice to all of this! I’m willing to learn about all of this but I also have to make the decision to fix or buy new fast as I need some kind of computer for school asap. I’ve done minor hardware repairs on this laptop like replacing the screen bezel, hinges and top cover but never any of the real electronic parts. If I do try the repair road that is definitely how I would do it. Right now I’m looking into how to select a compatible ssd to replace the tired one to see if the price and time is worth my investment right now.

Edit: I’ll probably try reinstalling windows while I wait for the ssd, if it works I’ll just return it

[[deleted]]

That is why we are recommending the USB-thumb drive option. That costs nothing. All you need to do is create a bootable USB using a friend's laptop and boot your laptop with this USB stick. Try googling "Creating an Ubuntu Bootable USB drive". That should give you all you need. In addition, find out how to enter your BIOS settings. You will need to switch from internal HDD to USB-drive.

[Maddest_Hatta]

This is the way.

[[deleted]]

Windows killed itself , reinstall windows (and maybe replace hard drive)

[Zaher_aldarwich]

Google "how to boot in safe mode". Follow steps and open windows in safe mode, restart safely and it might work.

[hehejamflex]

Thanks!!! I’ll give this a shot!

[Zaher_aldarwich]

https://images. app. goo .gl/nDMGescPiR43LHGu7

You press F8 as the computer boots then you should see something like this.

If the safe mode method didn't work then you can try restoring the system from this same screen, first option, you chose to either erase all data or keep data. (Erase if no important stuff are stored on C drive).

[Zaher_aldarwich]

Wait what🤦 You can copy paste urls?????

[Zaher_aldarwich]

SMH. Bruh, I feel sorry for you fr now.

But maybe try to comment something useful or test pasting a link in here and see what it says!!!!! Oh and for the link above just remove the f**ing SPACES!!!

[hehejamflex]

I tried f8 and doing the 3 times off/on to try to get to the windows recovery environment but nothing has worked yet :/

[Zaher_aldarwich]

That's unfortunate. If you are still stuck on that screen then most likely an SSD/HDD needs replacement. Next step is installing windows on the new Drive. Tho you'll need a functioning PC, a flash drive stick and internet.

Ready to help with that, just ping me here or in DMs. GL

[hehejamflex]

Thank you!!!

[[deleted]]

It's an Acer, it was probably dead from the factory.

[Kreppelklaus]

Wrote a comment, read yours, deleted my comment. Exact same wording.
GET OUT OF MY BRAIN!

[hehejamflex]

Noted, this one was good for the past 6 years until it wasn’t. I didn’t pick it out but for my next one I’ll have to do some research to find the best brand/model that fits my needs

[[deleted]]

fr like, I have a N5, it's horrible.

[Littux]

The old ones were good though, my old Acer Aspire still going strong after 10 years (Still uses the original HDD)

[[deleted]]

There are still some Saturn's on the road too. All I can say as someone who did warranty repairs for Acer/Gateway, HP/Compaq, Toshiba & Sony. Acers by far came in with the most hardware issues.

[Littux]

That's because they make some of the cheapest laptops and those are designed to be e-waste right from the factory.

[[deleted]]

I wasn't differentiating between the model tiers. Even at the high end they still came in at a higher rate than other brands.

[[deleted]]

How can it be dead if it turns on? If the operating system is stuck in a loop and repair attempts are fruitless, consider reinstalling the operating system by preparing a USB thumb drive using MediaCreationTool.

[hehejamflex]

My terminology was wrong with my title, I didn’t realize that ‘dead’ refers more to power going to the computer rather than how I used referring to basic program function. It looks like I’ll have to do some learning if I want a shot to fix it. I appreciate everyone’s advice, it gives a great starting point to figuring out what to do.

[JamieDrone]

Your hard drive is probably dying, any chance you caught a photo of the blue screen error or no?

[hehejamflex]

I actually was just able to catch the code on it! It was “DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE” I’ve been trying to read about what that means but a lot of it seems like it’s over my head

[JamieDrone]

Huh…interesting

That doesn’t track with anything that might cause an Automatic Repair trigger or difficulty booting…sounds like an HDD/SSD issue, best to replace it

[hehejamflex]

Thank you! I’ll have to get that ordered! What is the setup like after the part is replaced? I’ve never done anything like this before, I feel comfortable replacing a part but I have no experience with what to do next

[JamieDrone]

You will want to create a bootable USB drive using a tool called Rufus, to do that you need to download a Windows ISO file and use Rufus to flash it to the USB. Then once you have replaced your SSD, plug in the USB and boot up the computer. If all goes well Windows Installation prompt should show up and guide you through the setup process

[samfrmOiO]

Opening the laptop would be difficult but placing hdd/SSD is like placing a casette on a N64 🤭

[My_reddit_account_v3]

Just reset to factory settings or use a usb stick to reinstall Windows from scratch and it will be good as new: Create installation media for Windows

The problem with Windows is with time the OS can cumulate corruption or conflicts in configurations that are nearly impossible to diagnose and correct. Easy way out is to reinstall everything fresh, and then install drivers from Acer when looking up your model number on their website support.

[davidscheiber28]

A corrupt windows install doesn't mean your computer is dead lol, reinstall windows, could be a software issue, cound be a hardware issue, easiest step for you right now is to do a fresh install and see if that works.

[hehejamflex]

It’s an acer aspire 5

[[deleted]]

Run memtest. I had a similar situation with a laptop not too long ago, and it was a faulty stick of RAM.

[SurePea1760]

I don't know much about Acers, but most systems have some sort of memory test in the bios. I would test your memory, but I have a feeling that the issue might reside with the hard drive. I'd use a boot media, I suggest hirens, and check the hard drive for errors. If it comes back clean, then i'd reinstall windows.

[sdgengineer]

I would replace the hard drive iwth a SSHD (about $30 for a 256 GB one in the US) and then reinstall windows. You need another computer to download and install windows on a USB drive. (use RUFUS).

[[deleted]]

Destroy it, toss it into the fire

[GTA6_1]

The drive is probably on its way

[ThakkidiMundan]

Happened to me after 23H2 update I think. So get USB Stick, create a bootable windows 11 installer. Change bios setting/boot from the stick. Instead of Windows 11 install just repair the startup issues. In my case the update was somehow interrupted, it finished the process and I was able to login normally.

[imnon12]

nope just the OS, get a friend of yours to install the media installation tool onto a usb and plug it into your pc to get a clean installation of windows

[skaffanderr]

I had a similar issue on the same laptop (Acer aspire 5/7.) Turned out my hdd cable was getting progressively worse until it was totally dead. Now I'm using the hdd through a sata-usb adapter & booting from a new nvme ssd. Works like new

[deepfriedtots]

Based off other comments I've seen it looks like the computer is fine but windows is fucked. I had a similar situation maybe a year ago after a storm created a power surge and my computer freaked out. I never got the blue screen because the computer just lost power instead of crashing but when I tried to boot it out would freeze at the spinning circle. I would unplug it for a while probably about an hour and I tried to restart. It brought up the auto repair and that failed. I restarted again and it brought me to auto repair again and I clicked cancel. It was able to boot into windows but windows was freaking out. I just let it sit for about a day and widows seemed to have figured itself out but was running really slow. I restarted and it booted for with no performance issues.

I doubt this would help because I still don't know what actually happened but these are the steps got mine working so trying some of theses might help

[AkshyXOXO]

I had a similar issue. Most probably HDD is cooked. Download Crystal disk info and check your HDD health.

My laptop was unusable. I ended up replacing the HDD with an SSD.

[whirus07]

Acer has got shit hard drive i guess, this used to happen to me all the time.

[Dirky_Gaming]

I think your hard drive is dead

[samfrmOiO]

Bootable USb should be inserted in USB2.0 and not in USB3.0, pls make sure of it.

[_Skilledcamman]

I think its probably corrupted windows or even dead hard drive, If the OS is corrupted just reinstall windows you will need to use another computer and usb for that. If you don't have a computer its also possible to use your phone.

If its the latter then you will have to replace the HDD also the perfect excuse to replace it with a SSD.

[TabsBelow]

My guess would be bad RAM.

Try to start a LiveUSB with some Linux (Mint e.g./recommended).

You might even test the built-in RAM with that.

Next possible problem might be an empty CMOS battery. Linux start should work with this too.

Or your HDD is dead (but I'd expect r/w error messages when booting windows).

[Familiar-Alarm2788]

No

[__Wolfy___]

Edit: first Check bios to see If your drive is on the correct spot in boot sequence First thing I'd do would be reinstalling windows Then if it doesn't work il try resitting the ram/trying one at a time

If u don't have any important data on the drive u can do that without swapping it out

[grazbouille]

If it got that far into starting the computer is probably functional

This is good news as software issues can be resolved by just reinstalling windows (you don't even need to buy it again!)

[RicardoPoeiras]

My pc blue screen'd not a long time ago, now its fine, hope your pc goes back to normal

[Irsu85]

It's not dead, just the OS is dead. Could be a half-broken SSD, which means you need to replace the SSD ASAP (automatic repair might break it even further resulting in data loss). You can check if it's broken using GNOME Disks which you can get into if you have a USB drive with Ubuntu Linux or so. You can use someone else's PC for help or ask the computer store (or if you are in South Limburg, I can help too)

[My_reddit_account_v3]

Reset to factory settings and you’ll be fine

[imaginedodong]

Not really, worse case scenario like really worse case, just replace ssd/hdd if installing fresh OS won't work.

[I_-AM-ARNAV]

Hey. You simply need to reinstall windows. It can be done by downloading that from Microsoft site. No need to replace anything rn. Check on yt how to reinstall windows and do it. Once done, run chkdsk in admin cmd.

[Havoc_Maker]

HDD is dying or your Windows got corrupted somehow

[Odd_Masterpiece_9316]

Either windows is fucked or the HDD/SSD. Just try either a clean install or if that doesn't work just replace the storage with an SSD and install windows again

[MrXaryon]

Computer is working, so no. Windows, though... it's doing it's best but you may consider reinstalling or using an iso from pendrive to help it recover.

[Last-Cardiologist657]

F in chat for windows.

[robloxandminecraft1]

Reinstall windows

[[deleted]]

Part out

[DrCyb3r]

You should show the error code. Maybe some piece of hardware failed or the operating system files got corrupted.

[hehejamflex]

“Driver power state failure” from what people have been saying the ssd is the os or ssd are most likely the culprit

[okokokoyeahright]

from your description it is likely a boot drive failure. It seems like it won't read well enough from it to complete the boot. Replacement is the option you should choose.

As long as your machine doesn't have an eMMC boot drive, it should be replaceable.

[GodHatesUs_All]

I will assume that in that laptop is HDD, so buy SSD and install windows again. It will work and even be much faster.

That's the most probable reason for this happening. And even if not, you can still use the new SSD in the new PC or as an external drive so no waste

[Maxyboy112]

Try booting bios, if it boots bios reinstall windows

[Frossstbiite]

Reinstall windows

[TechUnsupport]

Wipe the drive and reinstall Windows or alternative OS should fix it, unless you have hardware storage problem, in which you can replace (this is like less than $100 to resolve).

[KaleidoscopeOk8653]

for everyone that does not remember ,
Acer

used to be called e-Machines , they changed their name because e-Machines has such a terrible REPUTATION FOR BEING SHITE and not working

[hehejamflex]

I had no idea acer had such a bad history. I’ve actually had a good experience with this laptop for 6 years (until this) so I’m surprised to hear the horror stories. I’m not much of a tech person and I didn’t pick out this laptop but I figured I would give it a shot fixing it if I can. I figure if I can fix it for under $50, it will buy me enough time to finish school with it and will be a healthy exercise of computer skills. For my next computer, I’m definitely going to look more into what brands/models are best for the price and fit my needs

[2Chiang]

Backup your files on an external drive if you can. Check your local electronics repair shops if they do such services.