Hi, Just got the ACER Aspire 5315-2639 from Micro Center ($379). It came with Vista Home Basic and of course a BUNCH of preloaded CRAP. I want to reinstall the OS right off the bat. It didn't come with a Vista CD. How do I reinstall? Is it Alt+F10 at boot? I don't have the laptop with me, otherwise I would try. Is there any way to downgrade back to XP?? Like, does Vista include XP, or if I install my Retail Upgrade copy of XP, would it work?

Search Google for: acer hidden partition recovery If you want to go back to XP, make sure that the motherboard drivers are available first.

http://www.pcdecrapifier.com/ Vista does not include XP & you can't run an upgrade copy of XP on a Vista machine with the intent to downgrade to XP. Jabbering Idiots: Everywhere You Look!

Thanks for the info. I guess I will just go and reinstall the vista os than. Do you know if it is ALT+F10 to get to the recovery? Will it give me the option to NOT install the bloatware? Also, - I guess the only way to put XP on is to buy a fresh copy because I doubt my FULL install will work using the Vista key. Man, I wish MS would let you downgrade

You might want to first try the link from response #2 to remove the bloatware on your machine, no need to wipe & reload the machine if it's not necessary. Jabbering Idiots: Everywhere You Look!