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I CAN’T CHANGE THE BOOT SEQUENCE ON MY ACER ASPIRE 5520

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My initial screen says “A disk read error occured “….i tried going into the Bios to change the boot sequence to reformat , but it won’t let me change it .

I’m thinking about getting a new hard drive , since this one is obviously corrupted……but will a new hard drive allow me to reformat ??

Or , is there another way around this without buying a new hard drive ?….It bugs me that i can’t change the boot sequence…

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Clarifications

In reply to I CAN’T CHANGE THE BOOT SEQUENCE ON MY ACER ASPIRE 5520

Clarifications

You won’t be able to change the boot sequence IF….

In reply to I CAN’T CHANGE THE BOOT SEQUENCE ON MY ACER ASPIRE 5520

… IF no other bootable device has been detected.

Go in to the parts where it shows the devices, not the boot sequence, but the devices themselves. Do you see any hard drive detected? Do you see a CD/DVD detected? Do you see a Floppy detected?

What devices are detected? It’s entirely possible your motherboard is toast.

BOTH ARE DETECTED

In reply to You won’t be able to change the boot sequence IF….

THE CD/DVD DRIVE & THE HARD DRIVE ARE BOTH DETECTED…..THERES NO FLOPPY….

HERES THE QUOTE ON THE BOOT SEQUENCE…..ALL ITEMS ON THIS MENU CANNOT BE MODIFIED IN USER MODE . IF ANY ITEMS REQUIRE CHANGES , PLEASE CONSULT YOUR SYSTEM SUPERVISOR “

How did you enter the BIOS screen?

In reply to BOTH ARE DETECTED

You’ve entered in User mode in which case, no you can’t change anything.

What did you press to get into the BIOS and when?

I PRESSED F2

In reply to How did you enter the BIOS screen?

I PRESSED F2…..THATS HOW I GOT IN….NO WINDOWS SCREEN…..

JUST ACER BOOT UP SCREEN , THEN I HIT F2

IF I DONT……I GET THE INITIAL SCREEN AS I EXPLAINED IN THE FIRST POST

IM WONDERING IF A NEW HARD DRIVE WILL FIX ALL OF THIS…

First of all……..

In reply to BOTH ARE DETECTED

TURN OFF THE CAPS LOCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Second, editing your original post nearly 2 hours after you’ve posted it and changing the ‘story’ doesn’t help us to help you. The first time you posted this, you did NOT mention that it said to consult your system supervisor. So now, the TRUE story comes out! ***sigh***

Your BIOS has a supervisor password set on it which prevents any changes being made to them. You will need to enter the BIOS using that password to unlock them before any changes can be made.

And… in your subsequent post, you asked if changing the hard drive would help. At this point, no it will not help. Without entering the BIOS using the supervisor password, it will not be able to auto-detect the new hard drive.

I didn’t change my story…….

In reply to First of all……..

First of all…..I didn’t change my story….. I only corrected three typos consisting of one letter each…..I didn’t notice them until 30 mins after I posted….Not 2 hours…..

The reason I wrote in caps was because. I didn’t have my glasses and I wanted to respond quickly…..

You are wayyy too beside yourself and you obviously can’t afford to look as stupid as you apparently are……

People like you are the main reason why senseless wars exist…..

As for the problem…..I already got a new hard drive and all is well……

And to think I couldn’t wait to thank u for your help…..

I only wish I could thank you in person…..

Well, Im glad the new drive works,

In reply to I didn’t change my story…….

But you did not mention in your first post the most important fact, i.e., that you could not change BIOS settings as you hadn’t entered the supervisor password.

That’s like complaining of a mysterious pain to a doctor over the phone without admitting you’d hit yourself with a hammer.

“People like you are the main reason why senseless wars exist…..”

That is a bit over-the-top. People like ThumbsUp2 are the main reason why other people get their misbehaving technology diagnosed and fixed, for free, no less. Now, she may be mistaken about your editing of your first post, but on the subject of posting in ALL CAPS, she is quite right. This is considered as YELLING everywhere on the internets, regardless as to how much some people prefer it, or the condition of their eyesight. Best bet is to either wear your glasses, or make use of display, browser, or Windows accessibility adjustments so that you are not straining your eyes, and not posting in all caps. You could also type your post in a text editor with a large font and in bold if it helps, then copy & paste it into your browser.

Anyway, if you need to change BIOS settings in the future, best get a hold of that supervisor password.

CHECK THIS OUT……

In reply to Well, Im glad the new drive works,

YOU CAN TAKE MY CAPS ANYWAY YOU WANT…BUT THERE’S NO REASON FOR ME TO YELL AT ANYONE….(try asking a person why before you go ASSUMING….

YOU SAID THIS : But you did not mention in your first post the most important fact, i.e., that you could not change BIOS settings as you hadn’t entered the supervisor password.

THE PASSWORD AS YOU SAY….WAS ALREADY ENTERED….PLUS , YOU NEVER ASKED…..AND I DIDNT OFFER IT BECAUSE I DIDNT KNOW THAT IT WAS THAT IMPORTANT….ESPECIALLY CONSIDERING I ALREADY HAD IT & USED IT( I can’t think ahead of you when im not sure of the problem…..which is why i brought it here to begin with….also , im not a mind reader )

THEN YOU SAID : That’s like complaining of a mysterious pain to a doctor over the phone without admitting you’d hit yourself with a hammer.

THAT RIGHT THERE IS UTTERLY SENSELESS….HOW CAN I OFFER TO TELL YOU ABOUT A SUPERVISOR PASSWORD WHEN IT IS NEW TO ME ???….AGAIN I SAY , I’M NOT A MIND READER….

I JUST NOTICED THAT THERE IS TWO OF YOU THAT I’M REPLYING TO….LET ME SAY THIS THEN , TO THE WOMAN WHO WAS DISTURBED BY MY CAPS…..IF YOU READ MY REPLY CORRECTLY , YOU SHOULD HAVE NOTICED ONE THING ABOVE ALL…..”SINCERITY”……I DIDNT EXPRESS ANGER OR RESENTMENT TOWARDS YOU…..AS FAR AS IM CONCERNED , YOUR REPLY WAS A CLASSIC CASE OF OVER-REACTING…..

AND TO THE GUY WHO IS TAKING UP FOR THAT WOMAN……YOU ARE OBVIOUSLY FOCUSED ON THE WRONG THING….AND YOU ARE WAY TOO QUICK TO JUDGE…..I SUGGEST YOU ASK QUESTIONS BEFORE YOU EVER OFFER ANY KIND OF RULES OF BEHAVIOR TO ANYONE…..ESPECIALLY WHEN IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH YOU….

NONE OF YOU NEED TO WORRY ABOUT ME BEING A TROUBLE-MAKER HERE……IT’S VERY CLEAR TO ME THAT IGNORANCE IS ALIVE AND WELL HERE…..AND I DONT PRACTICE IGNORANCE…..

Check THIS out

In reply to CHECK THIS OUT……

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_caps

or to quote:

“Internet

This form of typography also appears in on-line forums. It was once an inevitable byproduct of using machines with limited support for lowercase text (such as certain dumb terminals, early Apple II models), but as full support of ASCII became standard, it became solely identified with “shouting” or attention-seeking behaviour. As a result, netiquette generally discourages the use of all caps.”

You Sir, are an example of odure, a clinging, self-defecating unit..

In reply to I didn’t change my story…….

You come on here with some half-arsed complaint which you then edit to suit your sh|tty purpose – (AND IT [b]WAS[/b] 2 HOURS LATER!) – then you engage in some form of pathetic “[i]Oh!, I’ve been hard done by”[/i] piece of fiction.

[b]Well, I’ll tell you pal – if you’re ever in Scotland just let me know the time and the place. I’ll gie ye a Glasgow Kiss !![/b] 😉

You obviously need to put your glasses back on….

In reply to I didn’t change my story…….

… because if you had, you would have seen the TIME THE POST WAS EDITED shows up on each one of them! 😉

I wasn’t watching the board the entire period of time, but this is how I saw it all happen.

(1) Original post:
[b]I CAN’T CHANGE THE BOOT SEQUENCE ON MY ACER ASPIRE 5520[/b]
Posted: 06/28/2009 @ 08:16 AM (PDT)

(2) My first reply:
[b]You won’t be able to change the boot sequence IF….[/b]
Posted: 06/28/2009 @ 08:25 AM (PDT)

(3) Your first reply:
[b]BOTH ARE DETECTED[/b]
Posted: 06/28/2009 @ 08:54 AM (PDT)

Note: At this time, you said nothing about contacting the supervisor, only that it warned you that you were in user mode.

(4) I then replied:
[b]How did you enter the BIOS screen?[/b]
Posted: 06/28/2009 [b]@ 09:55 AM (PDT)[/b]

(5) To which you replied:
[b]I PRESSED F2[/b]
Posted: 06/28/2009 [b]@ 10:42 AM (PDT)[/b]

(6) You then EDITED the post you made in step 3, adding the part about contacting the supervisor……..
[b]BOTH ARE DETECTED[/b]
Posted: 06/28/2009 @ 08:54 AM (PDT) (edited 06/28/2009 [b]@ 10:43 AM (PDT))[/b]

(7) You then edited the post you made in step 5 (I didn’t see the original, so I don’t know what you changed)……
[b]I PRESSED F2[/b]
Posted: 06/28/2009 @ 10:42 AM (PDT) (edited 06/28/2009 [b]@ 10:44 AM (PDT)) [/b]

(8) To which I replied:
[b]First of all……..[/b]
Posted: 06/28/2009 @ 03:50 PM (PDT)

(9) To which YOU replied and claimed that you had only change 3 letters and did it 1/2 hour after the post, not 2 hours as I had stated in #8 above:
[b]I didn’t change my story…….[/b]
Posted: 06/28/2009 @ 04:10 PM (PDT)

——-

Now, since…

(A) I KNOW what I saw the first time I read #3 above and…..
(B) you went back nearly 2 hours after the original post of #3 above…..
(C) which was nearly 1 hour AFTER I had already posted #4 above and nearly 2 hours AFTER you had posted #3 above…..
(D) you lied about the timing of your edits when you made post #9 above…..
(E) since you lied about one thing, the validity of anything else you’ve said in that post is suspect…..

…. you can darned well bet that you will not receive any further help on this matter from anyone who takes the time to read this thread or research your posting history through your profile.

Good luck!

Some Practical Advice

In reply to I CAN’T CHANGE THE BOOT SEQUENCE ON MY ACER ASPIRE 5520

A failed hard drive can be recovered in only a few ways. I assume by your F2 note that you have a Dell. You can only change boot order to be a floppy, CDRom or 1st Hard Drive, BIOS will not let you pick and choose which one. You do that with the cables to the drive itself and always use the small jumpers set to CABLE SELECT. Look that up if you have to.

Disk read errors may be a failed drive and you have only a few options. Put the drive in the freezer for a few hours and, oddly enough, it may come back to life.

Secondly, if you have or can obtain Windows XP Boot BART PE – get it. Boot your system off the CDRom and use this wonderful product to diagnose and copy data from your cold, reinstalled drive to another media. That is most important.

Drives themselves are cheap. Get your data off first and then consider keeping your drive if it does work, reinstallation or just hang it all and buy a larger drive.

Hey Reisen…….

In reply to Some Practical Advice

… Guess you didn’t read carefully. 😉

First, the title says he has an Acer Aspire. It’s NOT a DELL. Many manufacturers us the F2 option, so you can’t go by that.

Second, he can’t boot to CD and can’t change the boot order in the BIOS. If you read further, you’ll see that he’s got a supervisor password on the BIOS and can only enter them in user mode.

Third, if you read the entire thread before responding, you will notice that he’s a liar and doesn’t deserve the help of this forum.

FOR THOSE CONCERNED……..

In reply to Hey Reisen…….

First….to Reisen , thank you for your concern and your input….i really do appreciate it .

Second…to Thumbsup2 , you kept claiming that i changed my story , and i just read that you called me a liar . Well…..please understand something here , i had no reason to change my story , nor did i change it……i only went back and corrected three typos :

1) the “A” was missing in ” a disk error occured “….and i added it
2) the ” i ” in ” it bugs me that i cant change the boot sequence “….was also missing…i added the i
3) the ” or ” that starts off the third paragraph…..i added it as well

And i fixed these typos in the exact order listed . I didn’t come here to start trouble , or mislead anyone , or intentionally leave out information that could have been helpful……i came looking for help because i was in a bind .

Now , your initial response to my writing in caps…..thats what set me off , because i wasn’t being offensive towards you in any kind of way…..hell , i was looking for help , not obedience training . Had you given me a chance and put mind over matter , i would have apologized for the caps & explained myself fully in my thank you note to you , because i hold a high regard for consideration .

Anyway , i initially wrote in caps because i was on my out and i didnt want to keep you waiting . I had noticed how quickly you responded to my initial post , so , naturally i wanted to return the gesture as well as fix the problem , but my glasses were in the car , my family was waiting on me , and i wanted to be sure i didnt mispell too many words . That’s why i wrote in caps….not to insult , but to inform , and i know damn well the content wasn’t offensive at all…..so when i picked up on your rudeness , i got pissed , in fact i’m still pissed , but i dont practice ignorance or pettyness…..and i’m man enough to admit my faults…..

Now , this two-hour difference you claim , i thought about it , and i even gave you the benefit of the doubt in the time difference , but i stand against your claim that i changed the whole post & left out important information , because it’s just not true……so , after thinking on it , all i could come up with was that either the site made a mistake , or it took a helluva long time to post…..but i assure you , with every confidence known to man , that i did not make my typo changes two hours later….if i had , i would admit it in a second……i have nothing to gain either way…..so why would i lie ??

Now , you can believe what you want , you can call me what you want , i just know that the truth was spoken here , without hesitation .

You took my writing in caps the wrong way , intentionally too , but now , to me , it’s water on a duck’s back….i apologize to you for whatever you think i did wrong , but know this , i stand by my word .

Third…..to seanferd…..you were right about my comment being over the top , but you were wrong about the most important fact . Either way , i dont owe you an apology , so i wont give one .

Fourth…to older mycroft…..I understand your frustration and your input…..all i can say is hopefully , you & i will not meet under any type of friction i’m in that had nothing to do with you initially and you decide to intervene…..

Ok , now , for thumbsup2 & those who were only concerned with the problem and not the theatrics……here’s what happened….

I went to Fry’s electronics and bought a new hard drive…a sata 160gb , made by Toshiba….after i installed it , i was asked for a password…..i entered it , same as before , and then when i got to the Bios , i was asked again for a password…..i entered it . and same as before , it gave me no access , so , i glanced at the windows decal for the xp home edition registration key , and in very small letters below the key it read : pw-leslie,cathy…..

Before this happened , i had been just using ” leslie ” as the password , because when i obtained the laptop , thats the password i was given . ( i bought the laptop from a guy who bought his daughter a new one because this one ” stopped working “….i paid 40 bucks for it )……..so , i go into into the Bios and try ” cathy “…….and boom…..i was in….right away i changed the boot sequence and started reformatting……by that time the drama in here was in full bloom…….

I want to say thank you to everyone……its been a helluva experience and im putting this behind me…..

thanks again

POINTMAN

[Author]

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