Last summer my son wanted a small laptop - the kind that fits into a knapsack. They were on special, so I bought him an Acer mini for his birthday. I was surprised at how much laptops had come down in price over the years. It didn't have a CD/DVD drive - features I look for. But he was happy with it.
Then a week or so ago, the computer stopped working: an automatic update from Microsoft requested he restart his computer, which he did ... and Windows XP simply refused to load. He couldn't get the computer to work, whatever he tried to do. With a Windows CD, he could have restored the computer - but the computer had no CD drive.
It sat on his desk, gathering dust...
Do you want me to get it fixed? I asked him.
It might cost more than the computer cost, he replied.
Well, it's not doing any good sitting there. I'll go back to Best Buy - where we purchased it. Maybe they can help us restore Windows.
To cut a long story short, I went to the Best Buy "Geek Squad" (the guys that fix computers) and one insisted it was probably a virus problem. For $55 (plus tax) they would do a scan and see what the problem was. I reluctantly agreed... (what other choice did I have if I wanted the computer to work?!)
Two days later, they called to say that the computer did not have a virus. A Windows update not compatible with the computer must have shut it down...
(That's what I had told them in the first place...!!)
Do you want us to restore the computer? they asked.
How much will it cost?
$99, the Geek replied.
But it is still under warranty, I protested.
It's not a hardware issue, he answered.
A computer isn't a computer without an operating system, I answered. And the one-year warranty is still in effect...
Contact Acer, he suggested. Maybe they can help you.
So I called Acer and spoke with a charming young man in India, explaining that I needed to restore Windows on the computer. He told me to mail the computer to one of their depots, and they would restore it. But I would have to send it through a traceable carrier such as Purolator or Fedex. The shipping would probably cost at least $50, maybe $75 - but it was marginally cheaper than the $99 Best Buy would charge me.
(Slowly the costs to fix this software problem were approaching the original purchase price of the computer...!)
Maybe my son was right - it wasn't worth it financially - but I really didn't want to see yet another piece of technology end up in the garbage - especially since the machine wasn't broken. It simply needed to have its operating system restored!
I returned to Best Buy to pick up the computer, telling the technician I planned to send it to Acer for repairs...
Then I said: I have been looking in the operating manual, and they mentioned something called e-restore. But I couldn't figure out how it works...
Does this model have a restore partition in its hard drive? the technician called to his buddy in the back.
It should have, his buddy replied. Press ALT and tap F10 quickly.
And there (magically!) was what I was looking for: an option to restore Windows to their original settings!! Why had nobody mentioned this possibility before?!
It has to be plugged in to an electric outlet for the restore to work, the technician in the back cautioned.
So I took the computer home and restored Windows myself!
Why had nobody - neither the technicians at Best Buy nor the Acer Techie in India - mentioned this option in the first place?!! (Was this what Best Buy was going to charge me another $99 to do?!)
So, in retrospect, I think the question I should have asked when I took the computer in for repair was: Is there a restore option on this computer?
Maybe - just maybe - someone would have told me about ALT + F10 (for free)!!
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