Member Avatar for peehanlon

Myself and my uncle has the same model laptop.
He asked me to look at it as it would not boot up properly. This indeed was the case, It seems it was full of virus's and spyware. I managed to save his files/pictures and then load up the recovery console. as it is about to start the format / recovery of the factory setting it comes up with an error of Receovery fail error: 0x9000000e and then tries to reboot. The beginning of the restore must have deleted files as it will not even boot now it says there is a file missing.

I though of an Idea and that was to make recovery disks from my laptop (same model) and get the same error.

I called Acer to see what they suggest (out of warranty) and they said that the recovery disc are specific to the laptop and he must purchase a new set from them for £50!!!!

Does anyone have any ideas of a work around. 1st thing I though of If that surely it should let me use the recovery discs I created on my laptop and use a program to change the windows key to the correct one on the sticker on the laptop???? Or can I not do it that way??

Any help is much appreciated.

Pete

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by Xlphos

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A short, practical plan that follows what and were trying but gives exact, safe steps and checks to finish the job.

Many Acer “Restore Failed – Reason 0xa000000e” reports turn out to be the recovery environment choking on an existing partition table or non-standard layout; deleting all partitions (leaving the drive unallocated) before starting the factory restore commonly fixes the error. (community.acer.com)

Safest, reproducible way to try that (data will be erased — back up first). Boot the machine from a Windows install USB or WinPE, open a command prompt (Shift+F10 on the installer), then use DiskPart to wipe and prepare the drive:

diskpart
list disk
select disk 0     <--- double-check the disk number
clean
convert mbr      <--- or 'convert gpt' only if doing a UEFI install
create partition primary
format fs=ntfs quick
active
exit

Use the official DiskPart docs for details; clean removes all partition metadata which is the exact thing many Acer restores require. (learn.microsoft.com)

If the restore still fails or DiskPart cannot see the drive, test the HDD/SSD with a vendor utility (Seagate SeaTools, WD diagnostics, etc.) — hardware faults or bad sectors will abort a factory restore. Also try switching SATA mode in BIOS (AHCI vs IDE) and disconnecting any non-essential USB devices. (seagate.com)

About using your own recovery image or cloning: you can clone a working drive to get a bootable system, but OEM recovery media and Windows OEM activation are often tied to the original unit (license/BIOS checks and activation issues can follow). For a guaranteed factory image for that exact machine, order the unit-specific eRecovery media from Acer (they request SNID/serial when creating the media). (learn.microsoft.com)

If those steps are done and problems remain, the most likely causes are a failing drive, an incompatible optical/USB drive, or recovery media that expects a pristine/blank disk — replacing the drive and using the correct eRecovery media (or doing a clean retail Windows install + drivers) will be the next pragmatic move.

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Member Avatar for Xlphos

Hello,

If the laptop is the same as yours I see no problem as far as installation wise. You should be able to change the key. Have a look on your laptop, press windows key+Pause/Break see if there is an option to change your product key.

You could try removing the viruses via a bootable cd, http://www.ubcd4win.com/.

- let us know how it goes

Member Avatar for peehanlon

Hello,

If the laptop is the same as yours I see no problem as far as installation wise. You should be able to change the key. Have a look on your laptop, press windows key+Pause/Break see if there is an option to change your product key.

You could try removing the viruses via a bootable cd, http://www.ubcd4win.com/.

- let us know how it goes

I have completely formatted the drive (in FAT32 as some website acer systems require this) and tried a fresh install with the recovery disks. Itt comes up with the recovery start up as just as it is about to start it says. Restore Failed reasn 0xa000000e !!!!!

Any ideas????? Thanks

Member Avatar for Xlphos

Hello,

Have you tried deleting the partition and leaving as deleted?
Try deleting the partition so there is no file system set and then attempt the recovery; some recovery cd/dvds will create the partition.

-Let us know how it goes

Member Avatar for peehanlon

I completely deleted the partition off and tried again. Came up with the same error. When I then looked at the disk afterwards in a HDD dock on my computer it has created a partition but still comes up with the same errors. I have again deleted then. Then re-created then and now trying that option. Is this doesnt work what about using something to copy the whole of my drive onto his drive and then changing the windows key? Anyone know if thet my work???? ( they are the same make and model laptops!!!)

Member Avatar for peehanlon

Just noticed also when I try to do the restore. It asked me to confirm the restore and it says partition name: This is blank and partition size: 0.0GB!!!!!!

Member Avatar for Xlphos

Hello,

You maybe able to image to working hard drive over to the one trying to be restored; you would have all the documents and settings of the person it belongs to though.

Perhaps see if you can use the recovery DVDs from the other machine on yours; it may not work as some manufacturers use a way of checking the hard drive is the same as the computer it belongs too. Usually there is a recovery creation tool on new laptops for restoring factory settings.

If not try looking in backup and restore for an option to create a disc image to restore the system.

- Let us know how it goes.

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