i think acer arcade instanton messed up my drive

so i turn on my computer again and it goes to acer arcade instanton. i exit it and then when vista boots up it tells me to chkdsk. im suspicious but i skip it... when i login it tells me that my user profile is messed and thata bunch of stuff is corrupt. i then do chkdsk and luckily it manages to repair it and i still have my files. however all of my settings and user accounts are gone... also a lot of things dont feel right.

i think after backing up i might do a reinstall. just to confirm, if i use the recovery dvd, D:/ will not be touched right? (D:/ is where my files will be saved)

 

This is the first I've heard of Arcade actually causing damage to a Vista installation - usually it just nukes your System Restore points (well-known fact that XP will delete Vista restore points, and guess what Arcade Instant-On uses?).
And you are correct, the D: drive shouldn't be touched.
It wouldn't hurt to backup the important stuff anyway.
Backups are ESSENTIAL to success.

 

oh wow no wonder none of my system restore attempts were working...
ive made a new account and copied the old folder back, so i have all my files, bookmarks, etc. the settings are still not there. still seems to be some strange things going on too

i think im just going to go with a fresh install when i have time, i just really dont have the time to reinstall and setup all of my programs at the moment

 

When you do a fresh install, make sure it's using the actual Vista install disc and not the Acer recovery discs. That way, it'll rewrite the MBR to completely remove Acer Arcade Instant-On functionality, keeping your System Restore points safe and sound, and letting you delete the partition to unlock a few extra GB of space.
EDIT: Hot spit, 500th post! HUZZAH!

 

yeah i think i'll do that... and make a backup image too while im at it
for drivers and applications, those are all stored on the application dvd burned in acer erecovery, correct?

 

That's right. And if they aren't the Acer-Euro FTP always delivers.

 

will things like the cinedash and fingerprint reader still work?

 

CineDash is routed through Launch Manager, so you just need that to re-enable it.
My system doesn't have an FPR, but I'd assume the BioProtection software would install the necessary drivers.

 

oh crap is there a difference between a retail dvd and a oem dvd?
because im not sure what version of the dvd i have... (i downloaded it a while ago)

cause i heard that the oem keys will not work on a retail dvd

 

There's a whole guide on that subject here.
It includes a link to a program that can backup your Vista activation data and restore it to your system once the install's done.

 

okay i fear that my vista dvd may be a bad RTM version (****it!) and i dont think my current internet is up for the task of bittorrenting
so i think for the time being i may just have to go with the acer recovery discs
is there still a way to disable acer instant arcade though?

 

Using the Acer recovery discs? Nope. Those'll just put you back t factory default, with Arcade Instant-On included.

 

would it be possible to delete the arcade partition afterwards?

 

You probably could, but I'm not sure if it'd cause unwanted side effects to your system. Do it at your risk, amigo.