Acer Laptop Recovery

ACER ASPIRE ONE LAPTOP:

I bought an Acer Aspire One laptop, and it is still almost new. I have used it almost every day since I made the purchase, and there is a lot of data on the laptop that I want to keep. The problem is that the computer will not boot up when I turn it on, but instead reports that there is a failure to install the operating system, which is also apparently a hard drive failure. This drive contains the OS in a single partition, plus the data which has been saved from the laptop. The computer is also reporting that there is no boot disk found, and that I should install one. I decided that I would try to repair the problem using the installation disk, but when I put this into the CD drive, the computer asks me to insert a boot disk.

ACER CHROMEBOOK C720:

I am struggling with an Acer Chromebook C720 which I am using as part of a research project. I have used it solidly since I bought it, until I got a message one morning saying that the OS was not working, and asking me to use a recovery disk or flash drive in order to restore the operating system. I put in the recovery USB drive, but could get no response, and the USB drive was not illuminated. I tried different ports, but they all reported the same problem. I have saved some research data onto the laptop, which would be important for the project I am doing. I need to be able to access that data, but at the moment the laptop is not able to get far enough into the boot process for me to do this. I don’t know another way to access the hard drive when the computer is still searching for the OS, and I don’t know any other way to get access back to the desktop.