What model of Acer laptop do you use?  

I had a TravelMate too a few years back. I suggest you take really good care of it. Many people bring their TravelMates to my shop to have the hard disk replaced only after a year. They said that the computer freezes a lot so they needed to kill the computer using the power switch. this method damages the hard disk.

Be sure to run the maintenance programs included with it to prevent it from breaking down.