Windows XP Installation Problem on Acer Aspire D150-0BW Netbook

[Chrs N]

I have an Acer Aspire D150-0BW netbook (Intel) originally running XP home and later upgraded to XP pro. It started strange behavior and would often crash and the shutdown command would often fail requiring a forced shutdown many times. I tried some system repair tools and Check Disk 3 times but there was only marginal improvement. While it could be hardware related I tried to factory restore using Alt F10 when booting up but the boot screen did not give the option to factory reset. I decided to reinstall XP pro from a CD iso (XP pro upgrade) copied to a USB using Rufus. The installation failed with the error message, "the acpiec.sys file (and some other files) cannot be found". I decided to go ahead with the installation but the installation aborted and now the computer cannot boot into windows. When starting it gives me two options. Boot into XP (which fails) or boot into XP installation which also later aborts and fails. In the meantime I have restored the system to a working condition from a backup I previously made with Farstone Drive Clone. So now back to square one.

Can someone advise me please why I am getting the error message of files not found and how I can perform an XP installation or repair installation from a USB? Or even if there is a way to get the factory reset to work? Your advice would be appreciated.

Kind Regards
Chris

 

[ninaholic37]

Alt-F10 or F10 worked on my XP Acer Netbook (Aspire One ZG5). The entire XP reset/install took like 10 minutes, which was nice (on my Windows 7 Aspire One netbook it took like an hour). What options did it give you, just out of curiosity?

 

[mikeymikec]

memtest86+ for at least one full pass.

 

[Ketchup]

If hardware, it could be:
- A bad flash drive
- Bad memory
- a bad spot on the hard drive

Since your image is running fine, I wonder if that flash drive wasn't up to the challenge. I would try another flash drive and redo the process (Rufus and all).

As far as the factory reset, these are temperamental, but do may sure you are using the right key sequence for your model.

Oh, and don't forget the XP repair install option, instead of a whole new install from scratch.
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/XPrepairinstall.htm

 

[Oyeve]

Check your BIOS settings and the HD controller setting, if any. Sounds like a controller prob so maybe setting BIOS to defaults might help.

 

[Chrs N]

Thank you all for your replies. Here is some further information. Using Alt F10 on startup does not do anything, windows just starts up normally. Alt F8 or F6 does nothing. F12 brings up boot options and F2 brings up the bios settings. I believe the computer has somehow lost the ability to do a factory reset.

I used memtest86+ and it passed the ram test with no errors. Is there a similar utility to test the HD?

My next move is to try an XP repair install using a different USB stick or by copying the files to the HD and running upgrade XP Setup.exe I do not have a bootable version on usb for the XP pro installation. I can only try and run the exe file from the usb. I can try another usb stick to see if I can avoid the apiec.sys and other files not found errors.

The bios is already set to priority boot from the usb so I don't know if I need to adjust anything else in the bios.

I will let you know how I get on.

Kind Regards
Chris

 

[Oyeve]

Thank you all for your replies. Here is some further information. Using Alt F10 on startup does not do anything, windows just starts up normally. Alt F8 or F6 does nothing. F12 brings up boot options and F2 brings up the bios settings. I believe the computer has somehow lost the ability to do a factory reset.

I used memtest86+ and it passed the ram test with no errors. Is there a similar utility to test the HD?

My next move is to try an XP repair install using a different USB stick or by copying the files to the HD and running upgrade XP Setup.exe I do not have a bootable version on usb for the XP pro installation. I can only try and run the exe file from the usb. I can try another usb stick to see if I can avoid the apiec.sys and other files not found errors.

The bios is already set to priority boot from the usb so I don't know if I need to adjust anything else in the bios.

I will let you know how I get on.

Kind Regards
Chris

For the HD, can you switch it to IDE instead of SATA or UEFI or whatever its called?

 

[Chrs N]

Thanks for the suggestion. I reset the bios to factory defaults and I still cannot get into recovery mode using Alt Gr + F10. I also tried changing the SATA mode from AHCI to IDE but then the computer could not load windows so I changed back to AHCI.

I tried installing Windows XP pro from a different USB stick but got the same errors. I tried a repair install and also a clean install but the setup was aborted due to some files not being found or due to insufficient resources. I checked and the missing files were there on the usb stick. I also booted up from Ubuntu and copied all the XP installation files onto the HD and then booted into Windows and ran setup but the XP installation was aborted due to insufficient resources.

It could be a HD issue but my guess is The problem seems to be that the existing Windows XP is so badly damaged I cannot install XP in a Windows environment. The factory recovery method seems totally damaged. My next step will be to try and install by first booting into a DOS environment and running the setup files from the USB. The XP installation iso file I used to make the usb does not seem to be a truly bootable version for some reason.

Can someone please suggest what I can use to make my usb truly bootable or else what programe I can use to boot up the computer and then run the XP installation from the usb? I tried Ubuntu but it does not seem to work because it is Linux based. Your thoughts and suggestions would be appreciated.

Kind regards
Chris

 

[Ketchup]

The insufficient resources message is interesting. Check in the BIOS and make sure it is detecting the correct amount of RAM.

 

[Chrs N]

I checked the bios and the memory is showing correctly (only 1 Gbt).

I think have found out why the XP installation is aborting with setuporg.exe and presetup.cmd etc. files not found It seems there is a syntax error in the XP setup file that makes the installation look in the wrong place but this does not happen with a CD installation.

http://forum.driverpacks.net/viewtopic.php?pid=14224#p14224
See post 26.

I am not a programmer and the solution suggested there sounds complicated. However I would like to try another method of making a new install of XP by using a programe to boot into first. Any other suggestions are welcome.

Kind Regards

Chris

 

[ninaholic37]

Can someone please suggest what I can use to make my usb truly bootable or else what programe I can use to boot up the computer and then run the XP installation from the usb? I tried Ubuntu but it does not seem to work because it is Linux based. Your thoughts and suggestions would be appreciated.

Linux should work, and be more up to date and secure than XP. Ubuntu might be too heavy for your old netbook though. Here's what I would try on usb first.

 

[XLer8or]

Grab a good copy of windows XP ISO with whichever Key you have for the netbook. Your netbook originally came with home. (home OEM) The key should be on a sticker on the bottom of Netbook. Use nlite to add SATA drivers and then create a custom ISO. You can use options in nlite to do other things too. Then use rufus to create the USB bootable of winXP setup.

afterwards go to acer and download xp drivers from their support page.

 

[nemesismk2]

Grab a good copy of windows XP ISO with whichever Key you have for the netbook. Your netbook originally came with home. (home OEM) The key should be on a sticker on the bottom of Netbook. Use nlite to add SATA drivers and then create a custom ISO. You can use options in nlite to do other things too. Then use rufus to create the USB bootable of winXP setup.

afterwards go to acer and download xp drivers from their support page.

that is some good advice

 

[Mushkins]

Installing XP from a USB was sketchy at best, there were so many different versions of the media and it wasn't really designed with anything but optical media and images pushed via network in mind.

Can you get your hands on an external CD/DVD Rom drive? They're pretty cheap these days and are a godsend when trying to repair/reimage Windows on older systems that ditched the optical drive before they should have.

 

[Chrs N]

Thanks for all the suggestions. Just to answer a few questions. I believe the XP iso upgrade I have is good but cannot be installed on a USB due to the problems mentioned here:

http://forum.driverpacks.net/viewtopic.php?pid=14224#p14224
See post 26

Basically the installation code was designed to run from a CD not a USB and so it stalls with errors. Switching the bios for the SATA to IDE mode did not work so I reverted back to AHCI mode.

The built in factory restore is corrupt and does not work.

I could not copy the installation files to the C drive using copy and paste within windows due to insufficient resources errors. I ran Ubuntu and I used it to copy the 7000 installation files to the C drive to try and run the upgrade but the upgrade would not launch - I suppose windows exe files don't run on Ubuntu?

The CD installation option seems promising but how should I set it up? Are we talking about a portable USB interface CD drive? If I plug it into the laptop would it be actually be recognized as a usb or a DVD/CD drive? I don't think it will work in my Windows environment its highly unstable with insufficient resource errors. The CD I have is XP Pro upgrade and I don't think its bootable but I can try. Even if I can get hold of a bootable CD will the bios recognize a portable usb interface CD?

Kind Regards
Chris

 

[ninaholic37]

I could not copy the installation files to the C drive using copy and paste within windows due to insufficient resources errors. I ran Ubuntu and I used it to copy the 7000 installation files to the C drive to try and run the upgrade but the upgrade would not launch - I suppose windows exe files don't run on Ubuntu?

Ah sorry, I misinterpreted your post. I thought you were saying that you couldn't get Ubuntu itself to run. That's good news that Ubuntu works on your netbook.

 

[XLer8or]

Thanks for all the suggestions. Just to answer a few questions. I believe the XP iso upgrade I have is good but cannot be installed on a USB due to the problems mentioned here:

http://forum.driverpacks.net/viewtopic.php?pid=14224#p14224
See post 26

Basically the installation code was designed to run from a CD not a USB and so it stalls with errors. Switching the bios for the SATA to IDE mode did not work so I reverted back to AHCI mode.

The built in factory restore is corrupt and does not work.

I could not copy the installation files to the C drive using copy and paste within windows due to insufficient resources errors. I ran Ubuntu and I used it to copy the 7000 installation files to the C drive to try and run the upgrade but the upgrade would not launch - I suppose windows exe files don't run on Ubuntu?

The CD installation option seems promising but how should I set it up? Are we talking about a portable USB interface CD drive? If I plug it into the laptop would it be actually be recognized as a usb or a DVD/CD drive? I don't think it will work in my Windows environment its highly unstable with insufficient resource errors. The CD I have is XP Pro upgrade and I don't think its bootable but I can try. Even if I can get hold of a bootable CD will the bios recognize a portable usb interface CD?

Kind Regards
Chris

I have a Asus netbook that I have fiddled around with XP. Trust me you need the SATA drivers. My unsuccessful attempts and past experiences shows same symptoms. YOU need the intel sata drivers to do it successfully. Just do all 3 (SATA IDE AHCI), its all in one set.

That XP copy you have may be good. Since its an upgrade you may need a 2nd disk so windows knows its an UPGRADE. You may not need a 2nd as it may count you fubar setup on the HDD. It will let you know. Use nlite and do a clean install by erasing all partitions in windows setup upgrade. Download Acer driver to USB and install them afterwords too.

On another note and I dont mean to derail but Win10 brought back life to my netbook. Runs great on it. If you go Win 10 add max ram too.

 

[ninaholic37]

Thanks for all the suggestions. Just to answer a few questions. I believe the XP iso upgrade I have is good but cannot be installed on a USB due to the problems mentioned here:

http://forum.driverpacks.net/viewtopic.php?pid=14224#p14224
See post 26

I've done a zillion xp installs by making two partitions and copying I386 to the second partition and installing from there. It's much faster! I've also copied the entire CD into a particular folder (i.e.: D:\XP_CD) quite a few times. Never had a peep from windows.

That's pretty much exactly how I installed Windows 98SE as well without needing a CD drive. I had a feeling it would work for XP too, but never bothered to try because I don't want XP on my laptop, and I actually removed XP (that came with it) because I'm much happier dual-booting Linux and FreeDos on it. It's good to know someone else has tried this method with XP (many times) and had success though.

 

[Chrs N]

I have installed Win 98 on a desktop using a bootable floppy and a CD drive connected to the mother board. So if I wanted to install XP or another OS on a laptop without a built in CD drive how would I do it? I tried copying an XP iso to a usb using Rufus and the installation failed. What programme should I use to boot up the system and how would I copy and run the XP setup files to the HD? Can I connect a USB operated CD? What is the recommended method?

Kind Regards
Chris

Kind Regards
Chris