Sorry about the delay folks.
I solved the backwards touchpad, at least for XP.
Two files need to be renamed or deleted:
c:\windows\system32\drivers\i8042prt.sys
c:\windows\system32\drivers\mouclass.sys
Then restart, Windows will automagically restore these files.
No guarantee but it worked for me.
I did one other thig that probably made no difference, in the Device Manager I removed the mouse Acer or XP show the touchpad as a mouse object.
You may or may not be able to do the sape thing with Vista but there are a lot more drivers. I am working with Vista now but I will revert to XP. There just too much crap with Vista
Regards,
Mike
PS: If your pointg device stops working Alt-F4 will close the active window and if you are at the desktop it will show the Turn Off Computer dialog.