Good news indeed. =P

 

One hell of a time you had there. I'm pretty sure you ruled out the possibility of virus/spyware infection (malware can do precisely what you described) or hardware failure as well. So there's not much left to blame, except programs incompatibility which you also crossed off the list. It's a pretty interesting scenario for a new system. Even better is that you'll either get a fixed up computer or a new one. A game which you can't lose. LOL. Awesome.

 

In any case, you may also want to try Linux (the free Windows alternative). I'm not a Linux user but I am giving it a test drive at the moment. So far, I have been impressed by the sophistication Linux has achieved, considering it is developed by a dedicated open-source community and distributed free of charge. You may want to check out Ubuntu or PCLinuxOS, the two distros I am very fond of. Linux won't replace Windows yet, as it still needs some more work. However, I trust you'll love what you see. Run them on VMWare Player for extra safety (well, you may know of this virtualization technology already).

 

Have a good day. And God bless Acer. Their technical support is quite reputable.