Finally, after getting QVC to escalate my issue to head office at Acer, a technician kindly called me back, as premium rate numbers are barred from my landline, so i couldn't call Acer anyway. Within the space of a few hours, we acertained that the Acer arcade deluxe files were indeed corrupt. I had tried to update the software with a new update, to no avail. The technician explained that the only known issue with Arcade Deluxe was a conflict with Norton which thought that Arcade deluxe was a trojan. I'd not noticed anyone coming across this issue.
Reluctantly i agreed to reformat my hard drive - only to find an error message stating 'restore failed'. The helpful technician, kindly called me back the next day, and informed me that there were obvious problems with my hard disc, and that i would need to return it to Acer, to be re-imaged. At least we had got to the root of the problem.
So i'm faced with returning my machine to Acer. Was it all worth it? Well, had QVC not escalated the situation, i don't think Acer would have got in contact with me. I'm not happy that i've got a faulty machine. As for Acer technical support over the past 5 weeks in trying to resolve this - absolutely appaling! They should be ashamed of themselves. I could simply have purchased third party software like other unfortunates, however having paid premium rates for a high end machine, (and still being in warrenty), i believe the software should be fit for purpose, and not inferior and second rate, certainly from my experience. An excellent macine, but poorly designed software and support (unless you're prepared to challenge them).
Jazzymazzy