Going to re format my laptop

Make a list of the Acer utilities and features which you definitely want if you clean reinstall and check for if they are available when you make the apps/drivers backup disk, or are on the Acer Support Downloads webpage for your model. If not, bring the issue back here so we can help you sort whether it is a clean reinstall deal-kiiller.

We have two Acer desktops at home which came with the Win7 Upgrade kit, which booted and clean reinstalled without issue. But there are laptop features like HD monitor and battery tenders which I always look for first on maker's Downloads page or apps disk to add back in.

If you choose to boot the Recovery Partition to do a full factory Recovery, here are tips for cleaning up the factory bloatware: HP laptop has used up all four primary partitions

whs said:

If you have any "special" Acer features on your laptop, you will get a driver problem going with another installation disk. Those can be fixed, but it may be a pain.

Example: I have a HD screen on my Sony laptop. I wanted to "improve" the driver only to end up with a generic driver that made my screen so dark that I could not id anything on the screen anymore. Fortunately I had an image from the previous day to where I could go back.

Another example: I have a backlit keyboard. The settings for it are in "Sony only" registry keys. If I used another system disk, the backlit keyboard would not work.

Save the driver problems, look for the program, Acer Empowering Technology > Acer eRecovery Management.

Manual how to use Acer eRecovery Management here:
ftp://ftp.support.acer-euro.com/note...%20English.pdf

or

You can Order Acer recovery disks from here:
https://secure.tx.acer.com/RCDB/Main.aspx?brand=acer

Easy Laptop Format

Remove all peripherals

Reboot and hit F12 during reboot

Arrow down to HDD Restore. Hiit Enter.

From the menu, select Format HDD.

It takes a while, but your HD will be squeaky clean.

:)

...and loaded with factory preinstalled bloatware and duplicate utilties which interfere with better versions built into Win7 - the opposite of a Clean Reinstall - Factory OEM Windows 7.