Question from Sharon A.: Hi Rick. I bought a brand new Acer notebook with Windows 8 on it last month and something went wrong while I was downloading some free software. Now it won’t boot into Windows. It stops at an error screen and instructs me to insert a System Repair Disc.
I’m pretty sure the computer didn’t come with any discs, but if it did I must have lost them. Is there any way to fix this problem without a System Repair Disc (and without having to send the notebook back to Acer)?
Rick’s answer: Sharon, the short answer to your question is yes, but I would recommend a much simpler solution. Simply ask a friend or relative who also has a PC running Windows 8 to create a System Repair Disc for you.
Since your notebook was purchased just last month it is almost certainly running the 64 bit version of Windows 8. You can check by looking at the label on the box the computer came in, or perhaps on the bottom of the PC itself. If your version of Windows 8 is 64 bit, you’ll need to find a friend with a PC running Windows 8 / 64 bit as well since you can’t mix and match the versions.
I hope this helps, but if you simply cannot find a friend who can make a System Repair Disc for you, let me know and I’ll point you in different direction.
By the way, most new PCs ship without recovery discs these days. The manufacturers now expect us to make our own. So no, you probably didn’t lose your System Repair Disc because I’m sure you never received one in the first place.
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