I've actually cried all over a computer. That I think I broke.

[CarpeVinum]

Or maybe windows 8 hates me.

I need a fecking drink.

I'm 46 years old, allegedly not technologically incompetant (I used to repartition and reinstall and everything when I had windows XP, just haven't needed to do it for years) and I've cried all over this virtually new computer and I think I am about to cry again. Like actually plopping tears and everything.

If I can't fix it my son gets two crap Christmasses in a row. ( Mil was dying in hospital last year, so not so grave, but his most wanted xams pressies are totally redundant without his 'puter.

Due to a FURBAR during a.... "go back to factory settings you laggy git faced computer" session ....things went horribly wrong. Mainly cos the computer was speaking in Italian and I was tired. Probably.

So I had amazon UK rush a proper full copy of windows 8.1 in Bloody ENGLISH to Italy. DHL finally found me after a tense 48 hours of increasingly heated phone calls with me yelling "how can I always be "customer out" if you have kept me trapped in the house for TWO DAYS!"

I got into BIOS (whatever that is) I changed the boot thingie to CD-rom drive as first choice (gingerly, never been in BIOS before) All went swimmingly, but then it hung for hours and It couldn't finish the last bit of a clean install.

So a youtubber siad delete partitions.

So I did. Well some of them. 2. ACER and USER

And then I clicked next and the fecking computer complained something was missing so it couldn't run the cd-rom drive. Or something like that.

I have spent 113 euros. And all I have managed to do is kill the computer more.

And christmas is ruined cos the computer shop is not taking any repairs in till he comes back in the New Year.

Dos anybody have any ideas what has gone so horribly wrong and how to put it right ?

And if you don't. Can you please start sticking pins in an effigy of the Windows 8 wholly annoyingly displeasuring start screen of pissingoffness.

Or pass a hanky.

Is this peri menopause making me an emotional wreck due to poxy software ?

Wine. I wish I had wine.

oh they are very very blank. Actually says so on them. Think they were there to make a back up. But the computer spat them out in disgust complaining it wanted a flash drive thank you very much. And then spat flashdrive after flashdrive out. Still whinging.

Whining, whinging bastard computer.

Yeah, just give the UK number a go - worst they can do is transfer you the Italian one!

Might not be open on a Sunday though.

Right - you're bringing up some quite significant points here.

Your clean installation with a full retail copy of 8.1 fails with an error that should not occur. I would understand the need to download a driver that is "missing" from the install, were it not for the fact that your machine was shipped with Win8 originally and Acer are a huge, mainstream manufacturer that Microsoft will have been well aware of when they decided what to bundle into their iso. I find it very hard to believe that the Win8.1 installation media doesn't already have the right hard drive controller... However, if you did choose to download it, you could at least point the PC to it when you're offered the option to locate it and hope that's all that it has issue with...

However, the second "red flag" is your mention of the fact that the PC would not burn recovery disks when you tried, either.

The error you're getting most commonly occurs with poorly burnt installation disks and because you bought genuine/sealed, we've decided that's unlikely (although worth a check to see if it's dirty/scratched?) so the next logical suspect, from those two combined issues (failed install, failed creation of recovery disks) is a problem with your optical (cd/dvd) drive...

This is all a bugger to diagnose remotely. If you call Acer (and yes, the UK one is probably fine - they'll all re-route to India anyway) just tell them that your computer kept freezing/crashing, a factory restore has failed and windows now won't load and trying a full, retail disk doesn't help.

If you start telling them about the deleting partitions or having turned your security software off repeatedly and stuff like that you'll confuse their simple minds. Keep it very simple and try to sway your responses to their questions to keep pointing at a hardware failure because it sounds like you really got a "lemon" with this one.

A lemon computer, or a lemon cd-rom drive ?

I could tell you if I had the computer here in Canada - Sorry!

Unfortunately it doesn't sound like just the optical drive...if that's even what's at fault... I bad dvd drive is unlikely to have been causing enough issues while running Windows to make you feel that you need to keep doing factory restores.

I bad? Should say "A bad"

Can you describe what happened when you tried the 32bit installation, please? There is no PC that cannot take a 32bit version of Windows if it is capable of the corresponding 64bit version.

It wouldn't boot from it.

There was a HORREDNDOUS noise, much noiser than the other one, and it just wouldn't boot.

It didn't burp when ai gave in and took it out. But you could tell it wanted to.

The dicks are clean and non scratched. I have been ever so careful. And they obviously aren't ones that were used then returned as unwated gifts or something, then repackaged and sold again.

"There was a HORREDNDOUS noise, much noiser than the other one"

??

What sort of noise? Whirring/grinding from the dvd drive, or beeping from the PC? If from the dvd drive, just sounds like it perhaps wasn't seated in the tray centrally... I'd try that again...

A really angey whizzy noise. Deffo the cd-rom drive.

Should I try it again when I get back from the bar ?

LOL! Yes, you should definitely try it again. The 32 bit disk might be better - could be a manufacturing defect on the other one - and there's no logical reason why it would be noisier just because it has different files on it, so I reckon you just didn't have it in the drive properly. Do you know how much RAM the PC has? You might "lose" some RAM (not able to access it all) by running a 32bit OS instead of the 64bit, but may be worth it if you have the possibility of a working PC for Xmas?

I am no help at all, but pmsl at the dicks being clean and non scratched

Noooooo

Not dkik disc

Ohhhhh!

dicksand that was before you hit the hard stuff.

not hard. Winr. Justwine.

I'm thinking my idea of the coffee spillage over the hard drive and insurance claim is looking better with each glass

The dicks are clean and non scratched. I have been ever so careful. And they obviously aren't ones that were used then returned as unwated gifts ,its even funnier when you read the whole sentence

yes.

I am plarstered

dislecsick and plarsterd

heh!

I am sober. With head ache. Owwwwwwww

I was on facebook last night (oh god)

Saw message from ComputerDude. Computer to be hauled away this morning for good telling off by him.

AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGG !

It's deffo MIL haunting me.

Was driving up road to take puter to church so computerdude could collect it..... fucking fan belt sheared off.

Computerdude v. nice. coming here stright after the blessing of the Christmas shed thingie.

Shit Carpe you aint having much luck.Will you be able to get the fan belt replaced today?We are down to one car atm as a belt snapped on dh,s last week(something to do with the cam belt but not quite so major,still expecting a hefty repair bill though),its a pain as our only acess road gets flooded and we need the 4wd to get through,my little car will go through as long as the water,s not too high,if it is were stuffed.