Acer Aspire 5810tz Wont Boot From CD Drive

Hello, NeoSmart community. I have a real issue and, to be honest, joined this site out of desperation. Hopefully you guys can help me as I've found a solution no where else on the web.

To start, I'm using an Acer Aspire 5810tz "notebook" with Ubuntu 12.04 installed. The laptop came with Vista but couldn't run it properly, so I switched to Ubuntu. Now it turns out that Linux is a brutal change for Windows users, and more importantly is useless for music editing and online gaming(my only computer related interests). So, now I'm trying to install Windows XP SP3.

I downloaded a WinXP .iso file from the interwebz(already have a working CD Key as I've bought XP in the past but lost the disk) and using k3b, burned it to a DVD+R disk. I've tried burning the contents of the .iso file(it's an option on k3b) as well as simply .iso file itself, both to no avail.

My problem is that when I try to boot my laptop from the CD drive, it just doesn't. It shows a black screen with a flashing text cursor, then continues to boot normally to my Ubuntu partition.

What I've tried: I've tried pressing F12 at startup to change the boot order. I've tried pressing F2 to configure the startup settings and changing boot order from there. I've tried burning the .iso file directly to the disk. I've tried using k3b to burn the contents of the .iso file to the disk instead. And yes, I've tried turning it off and back on. -.-


I'm about to try another WinXP .iso download from another site on the chance my first file is corrupted somehow. I realize this technically isn't the most legal way to go about this, but I'm flat broke and don't have the time or patience to deal with Microsoft's customer service department AGAIN.


Additional Info: Booting from CD drive seems to commonly cause problems in numerous Acer Aspire models including mine, however despite extensive web-searching, I have yet to find a solution to my problem.



Thanks!
 
Well considering that XP is no longer supported nor available, the chances that you would even get Microsoft Support to send you a proper disk is slim to none. So that means you must trust the ones on the internet and hope they are not loaded with keyloggers and other junk. Wish you luck on that aspect.

I have personally used K3B before and you have done everything that needed to be done. The only other aspect is to make sure you burn it S L O W. I mean at like 4X speed.

If you burn the ISO as is using K3B using 4X speed it should just boot. If it doesn't, then the ISO file is junk and you made yourself a nice coaster. Since it is already known that this is a common problem, there isn't much else we can suggest or do that Acer hasn't already said. Afterall they made the product and are looking into how to fix it.

The only other thing you can do, replace the DVD Drive.
 
In addition to what Alex has said, have you tried burning that ISO, assuming its a legit ISO, (if it's not, use at your peril and we can't help anyway), on a Windows machine running IMGBurn or similar software? I don't know the first thing about Ubuntu but I did read online that burning bootable disks can sometimes be a hit and miss affair with it. (Stressing that there is a difference between simply burning a disk and burning a bootable disk).
The other thought would be to borrow an XP disk but use your own key, assuming you have one. It would have to be a disk for the same version that the key is for and preferably one that already includes SP3 otherwise you have a really long slog ahead of you.
Personally I would have tended to go upwards and try for Windows 7 rather than an almost extinct OS like XP. If the machine worked with Vista then it should work with 7.

Windows XP is a ticking time-bomb with only 500 days to go | ZDNet

This is all assuming that the BIOS boot first from CD drive is set correctly in the first place of course.
 
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Make sure that your winxp.iso is bootable.
You can test it with virtualbox or qemu.
If winxp.iso is not bootable than you did not burn it correctly (you must burn it as image, NOT as data) or maybe your DVD-drive is bad and many things you have to check.




All windows xp, vista, w7 and w8 work fine for me on the same machine like yours.
Without any knowledge you wont be able to install xp porperly, like Ex_Brit said try win7.
You can install it from usb, see the link below "How to create/prepare windows 8, 7 and xp all in one USB-drive ready for system installation."
You should do win7 part only with your usb flash drive (4 Gb) and watch the video if you create it from windows
Puppy Linux Discussion Forum :: View topic - Fix Windows with Puppy Linux and Other Live cd Tools.


I hope it is not to difficult


There is a legal link to get win7.iso beta that upgradable with your own key, not sure still exist or not.
 
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