Hope this helps someone:
ACER T180

Intresting Facts I found out!!!!!

I am a Network Admin at a Medium size company in South Florida. I am just throwing that out there so that you know that I
have a decent amount of experience with Windows. I am new to Windows Vista, and the following is what I learned so far. After spending all
weekend trying to Duel Boot my machine with XP and succeeding!!!


First off the t180 comes with a sweet OEM piece of software called: ERecovery. First thing that you should do is back up your
HDD after first getting into Windows Vista- It will back up the current Vista Home Premium that comes preinstalled from the
store- this OEM verion you never have to register- lets call this the Fake Version. If you click start and Right click the Computer- the click properties
at the bottem you will see the OEM Product Key.

Ok, now note that the Product key on the side of your pc on a bluish sticker- note how it is different. This is you Product
Key for Lets call it Real Windows Vista Premium. Please never hit the change product key unless it asks you to. Which the OEM
version- installed from the manufactuerer should never ask you to.

OK here is the guide that I used to Duel Boot Vista:

http://apcmag.com/5485/dualbooting_vista_and_xp

Note- I am sure if you came across this already and tried- You are thinking that this will not work. The T180 doesnt come with a Windows CD- WRONG kinda.
The ANYTIME UPGRADE cd can also be used as a Bootable setup/repair cd - just in case you need to repair- which may be important- It is like the XP/2000 "chkdsk/ r", also you can do
a clean install- it is exactly like having a real Vista Home Premium copy- no difference (other than if you run it though Windows it will just act as an Upgrade).

To any one new @ running bootable cds for the T180- *Insert the CD *Reboot the PC *tap F12 @ the Acer screen * (this loads your how your PC will boot)
*choose CDROM then choose the DVD drive installed *after that right away (DOS lookiing screen) hit Space a bunch of times. Just play arounda and you will get it.

CD wil act as primary boot and will read the boot files- just choose language and select Repair on the next 2 screens - I think- but refer to above tutorial-
if you are duel booting.

The AnyTime Upgrade CD - Is like having a real Vista cd- I have done 2 clean installs and 2 calls to Microsoft and they did activate it for me-
just explain to them that the Product key is on the side of the PC - If you need to ever use the AnyTime CD. I think that MS and Acer legally need to give you
a real product key or they may be liable for Fake Advertisement- this is the solution- but I am no Lawyer.

Also- Acer customer support are idiots don't even call them - they will not understand any of this- or if they do they do not want to tell you about it. They are
not Technical- they just do the same things over and over again. The last one I talked to didnt even know what a clean install is- 12 dollars an hour - would you
expect her to??

If all you need is to reboot it and run a repair- good for corrupted files fast fix.

I ran 2 clean installs with the Anytime cd- it can be used as your legal copy:
I know because I tried it 2 times- just to see if it would work. Walla - it did- but gave me a valid 3 day copy or I would need to register Online or call Microsoft. So , I tried to register Online-
and regristration Failed (for me anyways). So I called Microsoft and they activated it for me- I just explained that this was an OEM version. They needed a long
line of numbers read to them (these numbers from what I understand- like XP refer to your hardware on your pc- MB/HDD/Video card and so on) if you make any changes
in the future with the Real Vista Home Premium or reinstall with the Anytime Ugrade cd again you may be prompted to call to activate again.

Do not do this if yopu just need to Duel boot- repair is what you need.!!!!!!!!!!


Ok- so I also learned with this T180 that if you ever do run the Vista anytime Upgrade as a clean install- you will loose the ERecovery- program that is
pre installed - and that program is SSSWWWEEETT! If you do just call Acer to send you out a restore cd image that has these programs preinstalled- OEM isnstall.
another fresh OEM install!!!
but thats ok cause I know how to duel boot with Visa as current O.S. and Xp. (refer to) http://apcmag.com/5485/dualbooting_vista_and_xp
you will only need the Anytime Upgrade to repair, because when you load XP on a different drive - it ignors the bootloader file for Visa and your
pc thinks (at boot) that only XP exhists- this is where you will need the repair cd- to get back into windows vista- once again refer to that tutorial.

I hope this helps someone.....
Remember if duel booting you only need the Anythime Upgrade cd to repair not clean install- product is on side of PC
also keep the naming convention the same on the drive after doing the diskshrink- no need to rename the drives- use the drive new drive that appears
after u shrink the C drive- to put XP on So that you keep partitioning the same- or you will loose some of the Empowing programs that are on hidden partitions..
Acer doesnt know any of this- they are idiots- they think this is an upgrade only- no Idea on what a clean install is- lol