Vista Clean Install on Acer 5520G

Hi All,

I've bought my Acer 5520G with the Vista Home Premium and a bunch of crapware preinstalled.
No DVDs with software were included with my laptop.
I wanted to make a clean Vista install and thoroughly looked through posts on this Acer thread, but found no intelligent way for clean Vista installation. Nevertheless, in neighboring threads I found detailed solutions for HP, Lenovo/IBM and Sony laptops, but:
1) Sony – totally different installation/recovery process, which can hardly be adopted for Acer laptops;
2) Lenovo/IBM and HP – seems brand neutral, but requires Vista Anytime Upgrade DVD. Any ideas how to build this DVD from the Acer hidden partition of recovery disks?

Can anyone help me to resolve my issue?

Thanx in advance.

 

I've re-built an Acer 5720Z using the HP Clean Install method as a basis.
Just make sure you use the Activation Backup & Restore (ABR) software & have burnt the recovery discs just in case.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=120228

You can order the Anytime Upgrade DVD easily & cheaply from Microsoft here:-

http://www.windowsanytimeupgrade.com/disc

Mine only took a few days to arrive.

 

I had the same problem with my Acer 5310.

I borrowed smoeone else's Home Premium disk, installed, entered the product key (didnt register) rang the number previded in the activation screen and then got it activated fine in a few minutes.

You can uninstall most of the software, but its never the same as a clean format.

 

Microsoft doesn't have any website like this i dont see any URL pointing or comming from Microsoft . Buyer beware!!!.

 

I had the same issue with my TM7720G. It came with VHP but I wasn't prepared to jump ship on XP just yet (hence VHP had to go at least temporarily). I already knew from reading on the net, that the CD-keys printed on the sticker is bogus and won't work with a clean install. In fact, it is not even the key with which Vista was installed on your computer. Prior to uninstalling, I had the presence of mind to grab the actual OEM key from the registry and extract the Acer OEM certificate from the exising install (there's plenty of HOWTOs on this around the 'net, you'll need a hex editor though).
When I felt like reinstalling Vista, I simply borrowed an install disc from work (any Vista version will do, as all versions are present on all discs (except the 64-bit version)), entered the OEM key I'd gotten off the pre-installed copy, and once the install was done, registered the certificate file again. Simple as that - VHP was back and pre-activated, no phone calls involved and no Acer crapware.

 

I did a clean install as stated above with an OE Vista premium DVD I bought for my desktop..I used the key on the bottom of my laptop..I had to make the phone call to MS.(no big deal 10 min's at best)Now I have a clean install on a 200gig 7200k rpm 16meg cache Hitachi Drive. original 160gig on shelf just in case I need it.(also got 100gig one for my XP install) No dual boot for me! drive swap takes 2 minutes!
I did also purchase the OE recovery disks from ACER for $50..(I think they are worthless.. a bunch of images and other crap) Maybe if I put some time into these disks I could figure out a way they could be usefull)