Turn your machine totally OFF. Wait thirty seconds, then power it on.

The bios setup key will be noted on a "cold" boot. It may be very quick, but it will be there, Laptop or Desktop.

Sorry, there's nothing. On the cold boot, there is approximately 3-5 seconds of fan noise, then nothing. There is nothing on the screen.

I've tried all the appropriate keys for ACER to access BIOS, but none of them accomplish anything.

Perhaps the system is not booting at all.

Power off then unplug the power cord.
Open it up and remove/disconnect everything, all cables, power cords, PCI cards, ram, everything.

Connect the power cord and turn it on. You should get some kind of beeps because no ram is detected. If not then it's dead dead dead. Cause could be power supply, system board or cpu.

Ztruker,

This is a five year old Acer Laptop. Diconnecting ~everything~ may be quite a task.

I think it's best to bring it in to a qualified service establishment.

Thanks for everyone's help.

Dan, you're right, sorry.