My acer empowering technology does not work

What is the ERecovery Service?
On Acer Computers there is a floating toolbar on the desktop called the Acer Empowering Technology program. Within this program there is the ERecovery Service that allows a user to create backup operating system disks, create a backup of the current system, and more. This is a very handy feature because in many cases the computer does not come with a set of backup disks.

The icon for the ERecovery service looks like this one:



If you dont see this icon on the Empowering Technology bar then the application is not installed and will not be available.

How to Open ERecovery Service

There are three ways to access the ERecovery Service.

1. Press ALT-F10 when the computer is first turned on. If you see the Windows XP or Vista splash screen you've waited too long and will have to shut the computer down and try it again.
   
2. Find the ERecovery Service icon on the Acer floating toolbar and click it.
   
3. Click on Start, All Programs, Acer Empowering Technology, and click on the icon for Acer ERecovery Management.

Downgrading from Vista to XP - "ERecovery Service is Not Available"

On many Acer models, the computer is preinstalled with Windows Vista, but it comes with a set of Windows XP Professional disks that allow you to uninstall Vista and reinstall Windows XP. Unfortunately, the hidden partition (PQService) that enables the ERecovery feature remains with a Windows Vista image. So, after the reinstallation of Windows XP, the Erecovery service is not available and you'll see a screen similar to the one below when you try to access it from within Windows.










You can still access the ERecovery Service using the Alt-F10 trick when the computer first starting booting, but you'll be disappointed to see the Windows Vista OS instead of Windows XP . Dont proceed with the ERecovery at this point unless you want to restore the system back to Vista.