speedyink

I'm trying to reinstall the OS on a newer Acer Aspire, but I can't seem to get anywhere with it.

First I tried the Windows 7 RC off a bootable thumbdrive. It would get past the 'windows is loading files' part, and go to a black screen with a cursor, then it would reboot.

Second I tried using a Vista install disc (what was originally on it) and when I select to boot off of the CD is goes through the bootup process as if I was booting off the network (Starts going through all this Atheros stuff).



Now, knowing it is owned by my brother, I know it's had a less than stellar life, and looks like soda was spilled on the side where the disc tray is (the disc tray sticks). It seems to be fully functional though, despite being able to get any windows installed on it. Any ideas?

__________________
Acer AM5100/Acer 6920G/Asus EEE 900HA
AMD Phenom X4 9500 2.2GHZ/C2D T8300 @ 2.4ghz/Atom 1.6ghz
8GB DDR2 RAM/4GB DDR2 Ram/2GB DDR2
1TB HDD/320GB HDD/250 GB
512mb GeForce 8800GTS/512mb Geforce 9500M GS/Intel GMA 950
32" Viewsonic 1360x768/16" 1920x1080/8.9" 1024x600
Win 7 Ultimate all round

My Deviantart