Resources

I have reformatted my Acer TravelMate 4020. At first, it was normal, but when I restarted again, it opened but nothing appeared on the screen. I heard the start up sound but the screen was blank. Does it have something to do with BIOS because that was the last one I installed?

Reformat Blank Screen Error

This error could be as simple as removing the Windows recovery disc from the disc drive or a bit more complicated. Let’s start with potential cause number one before exploring the other options.

Recovery Disc Blank Screen Error

When reformatting the Acer, did you use a recovery or Windows installation disc? If so, when you rebooted, the computer may be confused because it has found a bootable disc in the drive. Make sure that all disc drives do not have discs inserted and then reboot your computer.

No such luck? Let’s see if you can start your computer in Safe Mode.

Starting the Computer in Safe Mode

Try pressing the F8 key as you reboot the computer. Does Windows load in Safe Mode? If so, you may be able to access some advanced troubleshooting and diagnostics tools such as Disk Management.

However, since you just reformatted the computer, if the problem is not related to a disc being present in one of the drives, it’s probably easier to reinstall Windows rather than try to troubleshoot the first reinstallation. Reboot your computer with your recovery discs or Windows installation discs in the drive. These are bootable discs, so you should see a screen with instructions for restoring the computer to its factory condition.  

Advanced Microsoft Help

The Acer TravelMate 4020 comes in both Windows XP and Windows Vista versions. If you have Windows XP, the following Microsoft Support article may be useful:

Computer Stops Responding with a Blank Screen when Starting Windows XP

If you have Windows Vista, the installation CD has a “startup repair” tool that you can try which Microsoft describes here:

Windows Vista Startup Repair Tool

Hopefully your computer is simply refusing to load because it’s confused by the disc in its drive and will come to life once you remove the disc and reboot. If not, a reinstall may be in order.

I got my son an Acer PC. It was secondhand and it needs to be rebooted but we can’t figure out how to do this.

Reformatting a Second Hand Computer

To give your secondhand PC a fresh start and get it into optimal working order you want to reformat the hard drive. Reformatting means to wipe the hard drive completely and reload the operating system. Once you do this there won’t be any information or settings left from the previous owner and the computer will be a blank slate for your son.

Rebooting is a term used to mean turning your computer off and on again. To ‘boot’ a computer means the same thing as to turn it on, so to ‘reboot’ is to turn it on again. A lot of the time, rebooting is done to allow new instructions or computer settings to take effect.

Using Windows Operating System CDs to Format

In your case, before you go ahead and wipe the hard drive, you should know that you will need an original Windows operating system CDs and the product key in order to reload the software. Usually people keep their operating system software to install on their new computers, so you might need to purchase a new version of Windows - the latest edition is Vista - or, if you have a home edition of an operating system you bought to install on another computer, you might be able to load it on your son’s computer.

How to Format a PC

The precise steps to reformat a computer will vary slightly by model, but the general gist is the same. First, put your operating system CD in the CD drive and then reboot - turn the computer off, wait thirty seconds, then turn it back on. The computer should boot from the CD and open the Windows Setup page. Use the instructions offered by Windows.

1. Press F8 to accept the license
2. Press Esc to bypass the options to repair the installation
3. Use the keyboard arrows to select the partition that the operating system is on
4. Press D to delete the partition and then L to confirm, if prompted. This will delete the contents of the hard drive
5. If there are other partitions, repeat the process to remove them
6. Select the non partitioned space and press C to create a new partition
7. Choose the maximum size and press Enter
8. Use the arrows to choose the partitioned space you just created, then press Enter
9. Choose to Format the Partition using the NTFS file system - or the system recommended by the set up program - and Enter
10. Follow the rest of the instructions to complete the installation - then reboot the system