Hey folks,

Just got my first laptop, I have been off a desktop for years and I finally caved. I have a question regarding Acer re-install process. To my knowledge they do not ship with a re-install OEM disk as do Dell's. It comes with a hidden partition that does all the "work" called PQSERVICE and is about 3GB in size. My question to all you Vista/Acer users is this: How can I do a clean install from a bootable Vista Home Premium without all the Acer junk. By this I mean create my own partitions and wipe everything off, reinstall Vista with my LEGIT serial off the botton of my notebook? Is this possible? Can I use another OEM disk without ll the junk as I have a Vista key, would it matter?

Thanks,

booboo (a newb in the OEM world of laptops)

The "LEGIT serial off the botton of my notebook" is not a valid product key. It is merely a COA. The COA is tied to the preinstalled Vista that came with your Acer and it is non-transferrable.

What is a Certificate of Authenticity (COA)?

i_Xp/VistaUser

FYI Acer Laptop should include an utility to create the "Reinstall DVD Discs"

WebsWonder:

Yeah they have a utility called Acer Recovery which creates a disk back to the factory image, will this satisfy the needs of a clean instal should i ever encounter a "laptop disaster" such as a virus etc. or even doing a routine re-format of my OS?

XPUser:

Thanks for that clarification. When I saw the word key, well it just registered as being a product key for my Vista OS.

Conclusion:

Is there any way though to strip all the acer junk off and do a clean install rather from image off a hidden partition on the HDD?

Thanks again,

Boo

I do recall working on an "Acer" with its
built in recovery option to make back-up DVD's.
I also seem to remember an option in Windows
(Gui)to update your recovery partition to "how you like it" ie "Del" all the trash
then update the thing.(*best to make factory
DVD's first for safe keeping)

There was also password options etc. Seems good to me.

... (*before you throw it in the trash)

Grrrr
wat do I know?
... got brain freeze