I have a number of Acer Iconia W510 notebook/tablet systems that I'd like to just start again with - a full reinstall of the Windows operating system and an 'as new, out of the box' user experience. To do this, all I need to do is reconfigure the BIOS of the W510 so that it will boot from an external USB DVD drive, and reboot the notebook with the external DVD attached and the Acer System Disc loaded into the DVD drive, pressing F12 during the boot process to ensure the device will boot from the external DVD drive. Sounds simple, but proving to be a bit of a nightmare...
The Acer device does not have much power to spare - certainly not enough to power the external DVD drive from the USB port alone. So I tried connecting my DVD drive to a powered USB hub and then connecting to the Acer, but still no joy. I tried purchasing a new external DVD drive - still nothing. I tried a different Acer W510 (I have many to choose from) - and still nothing. I tried replacing the USB hub for an AC USB charger plug (a USB mobile phone charger plug) - again, nothing. Every time I connect a USB device to the Acer and start the boot process I get zero response - just a completely blank screen.
I suspect the problem may lie with my external DVD drive. It's a pretty cheap device (less than £10 from Ebay) and I suspect that it's still trying to draw some power from the Acer - though I could be wrong.
Before I go ahead and spend more money, could somebody provide a few pointers as to:
(a) Is there still a good, solid, reliable external DVD drive that is AC powered (not USB) available on the market? I can't find one!
(b) Can anybody think of any other options I might try?
Regards,
TechBloke71
The Acer device does not have much power to spare - certainly not enough to power the external DVD drive from the USB port alone. So I tried connecting my DVD drive to a powered USB hub and then connecting to the Acer, but still no joy. I tried purchasing a new external DVD drive - still nothing. I tried a different Acer W510 (I have many to choose from) - and still nothing. I tried replacing the USB hub for an AC USB charger plug (a USB mobile phone charger plug) - again, nothing. Every time I connect a USB device to the Acer and start the boot process I get zero response - just a completely blank screen.
I suspect the problem may lie with my external DVD drive. It's a pretty cheap device (less than £10 from Ebay) and I suspect that it's still trying to draw some power from the Acer - though I could be wrong.
Before I go ahead and spend more money, could somebody provide a few pointers as to:
(a) Is there still a good, solid, reliable external DVD drive that is AC powered (not USB) available on the market? I can't find one!
(b) Can anybody think of any other options I might try?
Regards,
TechBloke71
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