[Al Skierkiewicz]

OK,
There is possibly a temp problem but the fact that it came back after several minutes of on time could indicate that or that the keyboard driver for XP is just loading last. While your computer is loading up, all kinds of things are taking place in their own sweet time. Since you have reloaded XP there is no chance to back up to a previous known good configuration. There is a possibility that the ACER keyboard driver has become corrupt. Once XP is open start a DOS session and see if the keyboard is working. Check every key. If that passes the test then the problem is with XP and you can check there site (on somebody elses computer) to get an idea or download the latest driver for your laptop.
Did you get any restore disks with the laptop? Did you use these to reload XP or a stand alone copy of XP?