Acer Aspire 5100 Recovery CD or System CD

It sounds like the inbuilt recovery software is okay - but potentially, you have a hard disk/partitioning problem - or the memory has developed a fault.

Can you verify that the hardware is okay by booting from a ubcd4win disc?
http://www.ubcd4win.com/

There are plenty of hardware testing tools incorporated on there.

If this boots, and operates okay - then I suggest that this is potentially a hard disk issue (rather than a memory or motherboard one)
You can run chkdsk /r from the ubcd4win as well.

If you just want to reinstall Windows, try using a reinstallation disk from another computer. Many Dell CDs work with other computers.

Acer uses a one time burning program that the user initiates to burn the recovery CD/DVD when the laptop is first purchased, hence no recovery cd with the laptop. They expect you to make one.
Using a retail XP cd may allow the use of the product key that came with the laptop but not necessarily as the cd and BIOS are linked using SLP(System Locked Pre-installation) The only way around this using a retail version of XP is to do  a repair install using the laptops product key.
That doesn't help though if the Hard drive is bad  and is the cause of the initial problem.

Thank you for the replies.......the serial number in the BIOS is blank <?>  It's not a refurb laptop, that much I do know. I can't get it to boot from ANY cd..I purchased <ugh> an Acer boot cd to see if I could possibly get it to recover past 74%. No go. As far as just installing XP instead of going through all this, I don't have an XP CD :/   Can someone help me with the boot order? I have IDE 0, IDE 1, PCI BEV Realtek Boot Agent, USB CDROM, SATA, USB HDD, USB FDD, and USB KEY. I'm in the process of downloading the ubc4dwin to test it. I can't understand why I can't get into the safe mode screen, that way I can start in safe mode and then reformat. How can I obtain a system recovery cd or a disaster system recovery cd? I'll let you know in a few minutes if that ubc4dwin. Keep the replies coming please, I'm desperate here .....ok, frustrated so much I have no hair left :)

With the ubcd4win, am I supposed to download it and the burn it to a CD or install it and then burn what I want on a CD? Also, what is an NTLDS error? I keep getting that.  I put a bootable disc in, leave it alone, and it goes to a blank screen that reads NTLDS <?> error.  So I reboot and hit F2 or F12 to take me to the BIOS. Again, at 74% I get >> Restore Failed! Reason: 0xf0000005<< What is this? I'm sorry for all the questions, but I need to get this laptop fixed.

>> With the ubcd4win, am I supposed to download it and the burn it to a CD
Yes - you download the setup file - run it - point it to an XP source (i.e. a windows disc copied to a hard disk), and burn the resulting ISO to a CD.
If you haven't got a Windows CD - then this is probably not suitable.

Download and create a bootable CD with UBCD:
http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/download.html

Then run Memtest+ to check your memory out - run MemTest+, for at least 2 full passes - anything in red shows as bad memory.

I couldn't find exactly what error refers to 0xf0000005 - but it looks more like an issue with the recovery partition from what I have read.
I would suggest that you get a Windows CD, and reinstall Windows yourself.

That's the problem, I don't know for sure how much a Windows CD cost....and with me on medical leave, my check isn't coming in. I'm thinking the same thing you are, about the partition, because, instead of asking for disk 2, it gives me that error.  

Can you help with the boot up issues? i.e. boot order?  up ^^^ there is where I posted what my boot options were...and with a laptop it's such a pain! :)  

Now with the memtest, I'm not seeing an ISO file, I'm seeing a whole list of files. How long has it been since you were there? I don't know which page I'm supposed to be on.  I have the burncdcc <the one I paid for>  Have you seen the patch files page? OMG, I'm lost! hehe please help??!!??

Also, on the UBCD page, I only see 2 ISO sites......the rest are exe and zip. Ok, you got me into this, now get me out :P

See, with a laptop, I don't have a regular ==>boot from cd<== menu. I have = SATA, IDE 0 <main drive>, IDE 1 <Phillips CD RAM>, PCI BEV <Realtek Boot Agent>, USB CDROM, USB HDD, USB FDD, and USB KEY.  What boot order do I need since I don't have a regular Boot from CD?
I don't have  a problem booting into the BIOS, I have a problem with the boot order, the bootable CD, getting to the safe mode screen.

One more question, when I download and install this stuff, is it going to affect my PC?  The one that I'm using right now? I'm afraid something is going to install and it's going to want me to reformat MY computer and I don't want that.  :(  

Please help me......please please please ......or should I just toss the laptop out the window? :)

One more question, I keep getting and error that reads: NTLDR is missing, Press any key to restart. What type of error is this?

>> I don't have a regular ==>boot from cd<== menu
IDE 1 <Phillips CD ROM>
That looks to be the correct one from the given list.

Make sure that this option is before your hard disk in the boot order.

There are tools on the UBCD that can wreck the data on your disk - the only tools that can affect your system hardware are the bios tools - do not use these - just use MemTest+ from the Mainboard Tools, Memory option. (might not be exact wording)
As to downloading the ISO, then buring it to CD - this cannot in itself cause any harm to your computer.

>> NTLDR is missing
This is an OS corruption - it might indicate a failing hard disk - but you can verify your disk with one of the tools mentioned here (it is best to use the tool that your hardware manufacturer suggests - remember to run only read tests - and generally write tests delete exisiting data on the disk)

A repair install should fix the missing NTLDR message - but only if you had the same media (i.e. Media Center) to do it with. You could even extract a file from a wndows CD (if you had one) to restore the NTLDR file - but in my experience, extracting these files and copying them to an existing system never really works reliably.

Do you know where I can purchase a Windows XP CD CHEAP? I would really appreciate it. The boot order is not working and I'm fed up :)