Prepare!

So, like many others who have discovered that the Gateway Recovery Management (eRecoveryUI.exe) doesn't work (returns error code 205) on new PCs -- especially 64-bit versions of Microsoft Windows Vista -- I present the following fix...

OVERVIEW
Launching the [old] Gateway Recovery Management console presented two tabs (Backup / Restore), with two options on the Backup tab: 1) Create factory default disc; and 2) Create driver and applications backup disc. FYI, this program is developed by Acer and OEM'd to others like Gateway and eMachines:



PROBLEM
When trying to burn a backup to DVD or CD, the eRecoveryUI.exe utility always dies with "error 205 (insert blank disc)". Sadly, there's no mention of this issue on Gateway's website.

REASON
It appears this general 32-bit utililty was not fully-tested with Vista x64, nor was it tested with all DVD RW drives shipped from Gateway. Some have mentioned DVD drive speed discrepencies. Whatever the true reason, upgrading the program fixes the problem (see below).

SOLUTION
Luckily, I discovered Acer makes this utility for Gateway, and they support their products pretty well. This thread describes the problem, and gave a hint as to the solution:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=362793&page=3

Unfortunatley, since the Acer website had changed, the download link was no longer valid. So, I used Google's cache to retrieve the contents of the old Acer support page, and found the corresponding Acer products that mimicked my Gateway laptop:

Product 
Aspire 5810TZ 
Related Products 
Aspire 4810T,Aspire 4810Tz,Aspire 5810T 
Issue 
Error 205 may occur when making eRecovery Factory Disc. 
Download 
eRyBurnSpeedFix_v1.0.0.1.zip 
Solution 

An update to the eRecovery application is available.

Please download and unzip the attached file
Run the program eRyBurnSpeedFix.exe.   It will auto-update the eRecovery application

Date 
06-26-09

Here's a link to the Google cache entry (may expire soon):
http://74.125.95.132/search?q=cache:BOmak6-jNsgJ:www.acerpanam.com/synapse/forms/portal20.cfm%3Frecordid%3D1351%26formid%3D3390%26website%3DAcerPanAm.com%26siteid%3D7117%26areaid%3D2+eRyBurnSpeedFix&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=opera


Thus, I headed to the Acer Support website, and did a support search for their 4810T product, and found the fix!

http://support.acer.com/acerpanam/notebook/0000/Acer/Aspire4810T/Aspire4810Tfaq5.shtml

FYI: Here's the direct download link:
http://support.acer.com/acerpanam/manuals/acer/0000/documents/Recovery%20Management_v4.00.3008.zip

After downloading, you will need to uninstall the old Gateway Recovery Management console via Control Panel > Programs prior to applying this update. Then, unzip the file, and run the executable via right-click, "Run as Administrator". Be sure any AV or security software is disabled to ensure flawless installation. When finished, you'll be pleasantly surprised to see that the Acer program is smart enough to style/skin the OEM'd program for Gateway, and properly names it "Gateway Recovery Management".

Here's what the newly upgraded utility resembles:



I am now able to successfullyl create backups and restore files to/from my Gateway DVD RW drive!

Enjoy.


--
Other references:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=394016