need help: when i turn my notebook on, the HDD, caps lock, num lock and scroll lock keys light up until i press a key. if i don't press a key, the hdd light will go off after a while and if i press a key then, it will give an error message (no boot device or something - i then get an A: prompt with some hidden files - i guess). if i press a key while all the lights are on, windows loads okay but the keyboard and touchpad does not seem to work (no drivers/ device not in list). i'm getting by w/ a mouse and the onscreen keyboard but it's really annoying not being able to use it. can anyone help? btw, i can't get into the BIOS because if i press the f2 key, it's treated as the "any key" button press that i have to do above to get anywhere w/ the laptop.

mildred

"i can't get into the BIOS because if i press the f2 key, it's treated as the "any key" button press that i have to do above to get anywhere w/ the laptop."

You only get the "Press any key to boot from CD" or similar message when there is a bootable CD or DVD in the optical (CD or DVD or DVD combo which is both) drive and the boot order in your bios Setup has CD drive before a bootable hard drive.
Remove the bootable CD or DVD - you will then not get the message, and pressing the key to get into the bios Setup will work.
OR - just wait a bit until the message disappears, then press the key to get into Setup.

If the key you press to get into Setup does not appear on the screen while booting, it may or may not be F2 - see your User manual. Usually you press the key to get into the bios Setup repeatedly, you don't hold it down, but in some cases with laptops you must do that differently - see the User manual for your model if tapping it doesn't work.

"...it will give an error message (no boot device or something..."

It sounds like your bios Setup boot order settings might be set wrong and/or the computer is trying to boot something that is not bootable, and/or the boot is stalling because there's something wrong with the keyboard.
If you have a floppy disk inserted, or a USB flash drive, or an external USB or firewire connected drive, that is not bootable inserted or plugged in, eject it or unplug it before attempting to boot.

"the keyboard and touchpad does not seem to work"

Check the keyboard for keys that are stuck in the down position. Is it possible someone spilled a liquid on the keyboard or anywhere on the laptop, or it got rained on, or the laptop was dropped? Keep in mind some people, especially kids, will not tell you about things like that if they think telling you will get them into trouble.

Have you recently re-loaded Windows using a regular Windows CD?
If you have, the built in keyboard should work in any case, but the touchpad might not, until you load the drivers for the touchpad for your Acer model.
In that case.....
Whenever you load Windows from a regular Windows CD (or DVD) from scratch, after Setup is finished you must load the drivers for the mboard, particularly the main chipset drivers, in order for Windows to have the proper drivers for and information about your mboard hardware, including it's AGP or PCI-E, ACPI, and hard drive controller support. If you have a generic system and have the CD that came with the mboard, all the necessary drivers are on it. If you load drivers from the web, brand name system builders and mboard makers often DO NOT have the main chipset drivers listed in the downloads for your model - in that case you must go to the maker of the main chipset's web site, get the drivers, and load them.

You may also need to load other drivers for your model, found in the software and driver downloads for your model, if there any devices in Device Manager that are unknown or that are not working properly.

thanks for the reply! i think i haven't been as clear with my situation as i could have.
no one else could have tampered with it (i live alone, and i have never lent it to anyone). i haven't loaded anything new (software or hardware). the first time it occured is after i left it on all night while avg was scanning - which i've done several times before.
normal operation before the problem = i press the 'on' button, the HDD light comes on for a second, then i get the initial screen image (is it called the bios screen?) it's the 'abbreviated'(?) version - it doesn't show the lines of code, just the asus logo and a little centrino badge in the lower right corner (which is what it is set to in the bios settings). after a few seconds, it gives me the os selection screen as i have winxp on one partition and another on another partition (i must emphasize i never had problem with this set-up before). i select an os and presto! my laptop's running. if i press f2 when the 'bios screen' is up, i can enter the bios settings.
now, this is what happens: scenario one = i press the 'on' button and after a second, the HDD, numlock, scroll lock and insert led lights up. if i don't press anything at this stage, the hdd light eventually goes off - the other leds stay lit. nothing else happens- the bios screen doesn't come up, the hdd doesn't spin, etc.
if i press a key at this stage, i get an error message saying it won't boot. if i press esc, i get an a: and some files show up if i type 'dir' - i seem to be in a dos environment. there are some .com files and exe files (drmouse, keybrd, kybrd2, kybrd3, command are some of the ones i remember) i've tried to input the other drive prompts but it doesn't see them. the keyboard appears to work in this (dos) environment.
2nd scenario: i press the 'on' button, the hdd, scroll, insert and caps lock key leds light up. if i press any key while all of them are lit, the leds go off, and the laptop does it's thing (starts up). the abbreviated bios screen(?) appears (asus logo + centrino). i cannot enter the bios setting screen even i press f2 at this stage(i've also tried the other function keys, esc, del), it just carries on to the os selection screen. at this stage, the keyboard appears to work as i can use the directional keys to select the os, and i can get into the other booting options when i press the f8 key (safe mode, etc.). when windows loads, the keyboard and touchpad doesn't work (even in safe mode). when i check the device list, there is no kb and mouse. even if i press the scan for new hardware button in device manager, it does not find the kb and mouse/touchpad (but i assume this only scans for plug and play devices anyway).
after the first few times this problem happened, i didn't use the laptop for a few days. the problem seemed to go away the next time i turned it on, but it came back, so the next time it booted with the keyboard working, i took off my password as a precaution. it seems to have the problem everytime i turn it on now. i've taken the hdd off to see if i can get into the bios settings that way, but i get the same thing (all leds light up - which is the indication that i will have the problem- bios screen shows, but nothing happens when i press f2).
any ideas of what's going wrong and how to sort it?
cheers!

mildred

Usually we have to prod people to provide enough information - your description is good.
...

Some bioses flash all the leds while booting, but normally that is very brief if it does. The symptom of them staying on a long time probably indicates a problem is being found by the bios while booting. There may be a limited time in which you have to press a key.
...

There may be an error message hidden behind the logo screen. E.g. When your bios detects something is wrong when you can see all the text while booting, sometimes you are asked to press a key to go to Setup, or press any key to continue booting, or similar.

What you see when the computer is booted after having been shut down is text messages displayed by what is called the POST - power on self test - done by routines built into the computer's bios, so you are seeing POST screens with information on them before the operating loads.
On most brand name computers, instead of you seeing the text you see on most generic computers, the brand name's logo screen is displayed as part of that, overtop of and obscuring some of the POST text. Some more recent mboards will often do that on a generic system too, the logo being that of the mboard maker, and that sometimes has the motherboard model on it too.
There is often a setting in the bios Setup that can disable the display of that logo screen if you want to see more of the POST messages. If there is no setting to disable that, usually turning off Quick boot or similar in the bios settings will allow all the POST text to be seen.
Way back when ram was less reliable than it is now, it used to take a lot longer for the POST to complete, not only because the computers were slower then, but because all the ram was checked at least once if not several times at the beginning of the boot. Since modern ranm is now extremely reliable, most computer bioses these days have a setting in the bios Setup "Quick boot" or similar enabled that shortens the time it takes for the computer to be ready to load an operating system. That setting can usually be disabled in the bios Setup.

The next time you are able to get into the bios Setup, it might be useful for you to disable the display of the logo screen, and/or disable Quick boot or similar, so that all possible messages can be displayed, including possible error messages you would not normally see.
......

Your ATX mboard is always powered in some places as long as the main battery is installed even when the computer is off, so as well as you unplugging the AC adapter, you should always remove the main battery whenever you remove or install the hard drive or the ram, or do anything inside the notebook's case that requires taking it apart.
....

Your trying removing the hard drive to see what then happened when you booted was a good idea - I would have suggested that if you had not mentioned it, and checking the drive's connection to the notebook. Since you still had the same symptoms, that probably indicates there's nothing wrong with the hard drive and it's connection.
If you're not seeing any problems in Windows when the computer does manage to get into it, there's probably nothing wrong with the hard drive.
.......

Not all ram that you would think would be compatible with your motherboard is.
Have you changed which ram this computer has installed in it since the computer last worked properly all the time?
....

In any case...

Sometimes an iffy ram connection can cause problems while booting, despite the ram seeming to work fine in the operating system.

A common thing that can happen with ram, even ram that worked fine previously, is the ram has, or has developed, a poor connection in it's slot(s).
This usually happens a long time after the ram was installed, but it can happen with new ram, or after moving the computer case from one place to another, and I've had even new modules that needed to have their contacts cleaned.

See response 2 in this - try cleaning the contacts on the ram modules, and making sure the modules are properly seated:
http://www.computing.net/hardware/w...

For a laptop, you must remove both its main battery and AC adapter before you do that.
.......

Optical (CD and DVD) drives do not last forever - they usually have only a one year warranty. When they are failing or have failed, often because the motor in them is not spinning fast enough or is not spinning at all anymore, it is common for you to have problems while booting, if the drive has a disk in it while booting, or sometimes even if it doesn't.
When the computer does boot into Windows, make sure it works properly by trying to read a disk in it. If it Windows doesn't see a CD it used to see fine, the drive has failed. If it has problems reading , try using a laser lens cleaning CD, or if you can see the laser lens when the tray is ejected, try cleaning it with a Q-tip or whatever. If that doesn't help, the optical drive module must be replaced. You don't necessarily have to get one from the maker of the notebook - there are less expensive generic ones available on the web that will work fine.
....

I can't think of a reason you would see an A: prompt at all, unless you
- have a floppy disk in a floppy drive while booting, or a Windows CD or other bootable CD or DVD in an optical drive, in which case there will be a virtual drive A.
- a recent notebook that has some kind of recovery feature built into the bios that simulates an A: drive
....

Have you or anyone who has worked on your computer flashed your bios since it last worked properly? If you or they have, you MUST load bios defaults in the bios Setup, otherwise your bios may not work properly.
...

If none of the above helps, take the notebook to a place that is certified to work on your brand. They have probably seen your problem before and can probably diagnose and fix your problem easily.

i thought about disabling the quickboot to enable me to see the POST, but i haven't been able to get on to the bios settings to do it since. thanks for the heads-up, but i have been removing the battery as well as taking of the ac lead before i took off the HDD (i also pressed the power button a few times prior to opening up the panels of the laptop - i read that this should discharge any capacitors that may still hold a bit of power). i have also powered up the notebook minus the optical drive and wireless card (along with the HDD) to see if it made any difference. unfortunately, it did not.
the optical drive still works (reads disks fine, haven't tried to write with it for a while but i think it's in good shape).
i think you're right with A: being some sort of virtual drive - the notebook doesn't have a floppy drive and there wasn't a disk in the dvd drive.
i have taken one ram module off and put it back in (more for my own curiousity than anything else - a "might as well check while i'm taking it apart" kinda thing). i think i'll check that as a next step and let you know if it helps. i haven't put in any new hardware from when it was bought, nor have i insatlled any new software recently (prolly over 6 months, if not more).
just to clarify, though -- doesn't the POST start/happen while the logo is displayed in "quickboot" mode? if that's the case, i don't think my notebook does it until after i press a key (ie - press power switch> leds light up> i press a key> POST happens (quickboot mode). as i previously mentioned, after i press the power button (and the leds light up), i just have a black screen unless i press a key. the quickboot screen does not come up if i don't press a key.
when the screen is black, does this mean that the POST isn't happening?

mildred

You're very meticulous. Most people would not have a clue as to what to try, and would not try removing the optical drive on a laptop. Are you a Virgo by any chance?

"the optical drive still works (reads disks fine, haven't tried to write with it for a while but i think it's in good shape)."

It's the motor not spinning fast enough, or the logic board on it being damaged, that causes a delay while booting, or a stall, sometimes. Many optical drives have at least two lasers. One can be burnt out, or the circuits for one may be damaged, but that usually won't delay booting.
I had a Creative 32X CD-rom drive that had a motor that would no longer spin fast enough - it caused LONG delays while booting, even when there was no CD in it. I've heard of cases where a defective optical drive caused the boot to stall forever.

"...doesn't the POST start/happen while the logo is displayed in "quickboot" mode?"

The full POST sequence starts immediately as soon as the computer is booted, when the computer has been booted after it having been shut down or the power source has been removed. The initial part of it generates a single beep from the mboard if nothing has been found to be wrong up until that point, then info is displayed about drives found, IRQ assigned, etc., then the computer is ready for the operating to be loaded, and then the bios for the most part hands over control of the mboard to the operating system and does not come into play until the next time the computer is booted.

Technically the term post, for sure, applies to the part of the boot up until the mboard beeps once (or emits other beep patterns that indicate errors). I'm not sure if it's correct to call what the bios does after that before the operating system loads part of the post sequence or something else, but that doesn't matter much regarding your problem.

There are two main ways the bios starts up the motherboard.
A "cold boot" is what the bios does when the computer has been booted after it having been shut down or the power source to it has been removed and then restored.
A "warm boot" is what the computer does when you restart Windows or other operating system, or when you press the Reset switch button if you have one. In that case at least some of the first part of the POST sequence up until the mboard beeps is usually not done, such as it will usually not test the ram again even when it does a quick test of it, but you do still see info is displayed about drives found, IRQ assigned, etc., then the computer is ready for the operating to be loaded. You could call that a partial POST sequence.
Obviously, if a logo display is enabled, much of the text displayed by the bios is obscured by the logo display.

"....does this mean that the POST isn't happening?"

If the computer starts up and mboard beeps once, that first part of the POST sequence went OK, but sometimes the bios will stall booting the mboard after that because of a problem encountered.
....

You could try cleaning the ram contacts, but other than that, I think you've tried every possible thing you can do yourself - it may be time to have a pro diagnose it.

You can't run a ram test, or run diagnostics for the hard drive, on this computer unless the computer will boot from a bootable CD, or from a bootable floppy in a USB connected floppy drive.
You could connect the hard drive to a desktop computer internally by means of an inexpensive adapter, or by installing it in a USB or firewire connected external drive enclosure, but do not try booting from the drive. XP will commonly not load Windows if the mboard you connect it to has a main chipset that is more than a little different - typically you see the first bit of Windows graphics, then a black screen, blinking cursor top left, and nothing further happens - that's normal. You just need to connect it so that you can test it with the drive manufacturer's diagnostics (although there are no such for Toshiba drives).

Testing the ram in another laptop will not necessarily prove whether it is bad. If it works in the other laptop, that proves it works in that laptop, but if it doesn't work properly in the other laptop, it is much more likely it is not compatible with the other laptop's main chipset than it is bad, unless the main chipset can be confirmed by looking it up on the web that it actually use exactly the same ram.

Contrary to popular belief, it's extremely rare for ram to be or go "BAD" unless something external to it has caused it to be damaged. If there are problems reading the ram, 99% of the time, if the ram was working fine in your mboard previously, it's either because the ram has a poor connection, or if you have installed different ram, the ram is not 100% compatible with the mboard chipset.
Is your AC adapter plugged into something that protects it from power spikes or surges?
Has there been a lightning storm near your location since the computer last worked properly?
It doesn't sound like you were having problems in Windows when you did manage to get into the operating system.
.....

Most anti-malware scans can be set to shut down Windows when they have been completed. They often make a log file of the scan results automatically in any case, but some won't do that unless you change a setting, or unless you actually choose to fix a problem, or you have the program set to do that automatically beforehand.

i'm a capricorn, not a virgo - it may be a shared trait of the 2 signs? :D
thanks for the insight. i'm not sure if my laptop beeps after the notebook is turned on to indicate the first part of the POST has been completed (before or after my current problem). i'll check it with my other working notebook (same series - asus w1000; not sure if it has the same BIOS or version of BIOS). i know this is the case with desktops, but i never really took note of whether the beeps occur when turning my laptops on.
i haven't been able to work on solving the problem recently, but i casually uninstalled sp3 the other night, just to see if it made a difference and guess what? after the restart, i was able to get into the BIOS screen (via pressing f2). i disabled the "silent boot" mode but forgot to disable the "quick boot" mode in all in the excitement :(
i still didn't have the touchpad and keyboard in windows, though.
i will try installing and uninstalling sp3 again to see if i can recreate it and disable the quick boot mode to see if i can spot any error messages during POST.
i also tried running ubuntu (live from cd, not installed) and found that the keyboard worked okay. the touchpad didn't, but i'm pretty sure it's more of a driver issue as oppoesed to a "hardware not being seen/found" issue.
fingers corssed!

mildred

I'm a virgo and have been accused of being "too thorough" to put it politely.

Aha! SP3 rears it's ugly head!
It installs fine on a fresh installation of XP, BUT there have been lots of problems reported when it has been installed on an existing Windows installation that already has something on it other than just Windows.
You could try a System Restore previous restore point before you originally installed SP3, before you re-install SP3, to see if that gets the touchpad working, or re-loading the drivers for it from the manufacturer's web site. On some laptops you can't use the touchpad and a PS/2 mouse at the same time because the touchpad uses the same legacy IRQ 12 a PS/2 mouse does - only the PS/2 mouse will work when it's plugged in - see your user manual. It is advisable to un-install your anti-virus software, especially if it is Norton, before you install SP3 updates, because interaction with that is frequently the reason some things don't work after SP3 updates have been installed The same may apply to anti-spyware/adware/trojan programs..