A Windows XP help forum. PCbanter

If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Go Back   Home » PCbanter forum » Microsoft Windows XP » The Basics
Site Map Home Register Authors List Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read Web Partners

Problems found when run Sandra software?



 
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old April 5th 03, 05:43 AM
D.Currie
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Problems found when run Sandra software?

It's not a scary thing, but a person should be aware of the risks vs.
rewards. If the flash has some use, that's fine, but there's no sense in
flashing it to fix something that doesn't apply to your computer. If you
know what you're doing, that's fine too. But there are people with the
patience of a gnat who turn their computers off instead of waiting for the
flash to finish, then wonder why it doesn't turn on anymore. People who have
no idea how to create a clean boot disk or run a command decide to flash the
bios...and who knows if they even know how to download the right one. I've
seen that a number of times. I had one customer who tried to flash his mobo
bios with some file he downloaded from Maxtor. Then again, with the
brownouts that happen around here in the summer, I wouldn't flash the bios
on a computer or any other piece of hardware unless it was on a UPS. No
sense in tempting fate to that degree.

Like any other modification, things can go wrong. I had someone the other
day who wanted me to guarantee that if I took the hard drive out of one of
his computers, put it in the other computer, and ran a repair install, that
his 6 years of data wouldn't be affected.

I'm pretty confident that nothing will go wrong, but guarantee? Not a
chance. Things could go wrong, and not necessarily due to human error. He
could have a crappy power supply that decides to blow up and fry his hard
drive when I plug it in. His hard drive could pick that moment to have a
head crash. Is it likely? No. But anything is possible. I'm not about to
touch that computer unless he understands that I'm not responsible for the
fact that he has a 6-year-old hard drive that he's never backed up.

For some people, risking having the computer unbootable after a bad flash
isn't going to be worth it, no matter how slight the chance might be. And
some users just shouldn't attempt it on their own.



"Unknown" wrote in message
news
One of the problems with these newsgroups is that newbies have a tendancy
to
scare the wits out of others. There is nothing difficult about flashing

the
bios, editing the registry etc. Of course one should read and understand

how
the BIOS is flashed and the information is available from various sources
especially the manufacturer.
Ye gods man ---what happens if you drive a car and get a flat tire??
"D.Currie" wrote in message
...
If the bios flash doesn't take, you can start over, but if you truly

much
up the flash, it won't even boot to the floppy, so there is no starting
over.

For the most part, I don't recommend that users flash the bios unless
there's a problem that needs fixing and they know what they're doing,

and
they know what the risks are. If you know what you're doing, that's

fine.
But it's not as foolproof as loading a program on the computer, and I've
seen enough people who've made a mess of that.

Some mobos have a dual bios, so that makes it much less risky.

As for surface mount vs. socket, yeah if you know how to solder and have

the
parts, that's one thing; but if you have to pay someone to do it for

you,
might as well buy a new board.

"Unknown" wrote in message
.com...
My point was/is the fact that it is surface mounted has nothing to do

with
it being flashable. If it can't be flashed because it's bad the board

should
be replaced because the labor cost to replace it is almost as much as

a
new
board. Surface mount component replacement is done every day in TV

shops.
Surface mount soldering equipment is a soldering iron and solder wick.
As for flashing the BIOS I have done mine seven times in the last

year.
I
download to a floppy and then power on with the floppy inserted. If
something goes wrong I power down and repeat the routine. I.E. If the

BIOS
upgrade fails halfway there is no reason to replace the CMOS, surface
mounted or not..
"CWatters" wrote in message
...
"Unknown" wrote in message
.com...
I think someone is pulling your leg as an April Fools joke. BIOS

is
surface
mounted??? Most all components these days are surface mounted.

Simply
means
the component is not mounted through hole in the board.

No she is correct. It's telling you that if you "flash" (upgrade)

the
BIOS
and the upgrade fails halfway through then you may be stuck with a
motherboard that can't easily be fixed. Why? Because if the BIOS is
corrupt
you can't reboot your PC and have another go, but nor can you unplug

the
BIOS chip and fit a new one (because it's surface mounted, not in a
socket).
To fix it you would need access to surface mount soldering

equipment.

BIOS can be shadowed???

This means it's possible to make a backup copy of the BIOS so you

have
a
spare copy in the event of the problem described above. I believe

(but
I
might be wrong) that you switch to the shadow/spare copy by making a

link
on
the motherboard. I'm sure someone else can tell us if this is not

how
it's
done.

If Nancy is reading this... You need not worry as you are unlikely

to
be
upgrading your BIOS very frequently (if ever). I've never found it
necessary.










Ads
  #2  
Old April 5th 03, 05:43 AM
D.Currie
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Problems found when run Sandra software?

It's not a scary thing, but a person should be aware of the risks vs.
rewards. If the flash has some use, that's fine, but there's no sense in
flashing it to fix something that doesn't apply to your computer. If you
know what you're doing, that's fine too. But there are people with the
patience of a gnat who turn their computers off instead of waiting for the
flash to finish, then wonder why it doesn't turn on anymore. People who have
no idea how to create a clean boot disk or run a command decide to flash the
bios...and who knows if they even know how to download the right one. I've
seen that a number of times. I had one customer who tried to flash his mobo
bios with some file he downloaded from Maxtor. Then again, with the
brownouts that happen around here in the summer, I wouldn't flash the bios
on a computer or any other piece of hardware unless it was on a UPS. No
sense in tempting fate to that degree.

Like any other modification, things can go wrong. I had someone the other
day who wanted me to guarantee that if I took the hard drive out of one of
his computers, put it in the other computer, and ran a repair install, that
his 6 years of data wouldn't be affected.

I'm pretty confident that nothing will go wrong, but guarantee? Not a
chance. Things could go wrong, and not necessarily due to human error. He
could have a crappy power supply that decides to blow up and fry his hard
drive when I plug it in. His hard drive could pick that moment to have a
head crash. Is it likely? No. But anything is possible. I'm not about to
touch that computer unless he understands that I'm not responsible for the
fact that he has a 6-year-old hard drive that he's never backed up.

For some people, risking having the computer unbootable after a bad flash
isn't going to be worth it, no matter how slight the chance might be. And
some users just shouldn't attempt it on their own.



"Unknown" wrote in message
news
One of the problems with these newsgroups is that newbies have a tendancy
to
scare the wits out of others. There is nothing difficult about flashing

the
bios, editing the registry etc. Of course one should read and understand

how
the BIOS is flashed and the information is available from various sources
especially the manufacturer.
Ye gods man ---what happens if you drive a car and get a flat tire??
"D.Currie" wrote in message
...
If the bios flash doesn't take, you can start over, but if you truly

much
up the flash, it won't even boot to the floppy, so there is no starting
over.

For the most part, I don't recommend that users flash the bios unless
there's a problem that needs fixing and they know what they're doing,

and
they know what the risks are. If you know what you're doing, that's

fine.
But it's not as foolproof as loading a program on the computer, and I've
seen enough people who've made a mess of that.

Some mobos have a dual bios, so that makes it much less risky.

As for surface mount vs. socket, yeah if you know how to solder and have

the
parts, that's one thing; but if you have to pay someone to do it for

you,
might as well buy a new board.

"Unknown" wrote in message
.com...
My point was/is the fact that it is surface mounted has nothing to do

with
it being flashable. If it can't be flashed because it's bad the board

should
be replaced because the labor cost to replace it is almost as much as

a
new
board. Surface mount component replacement is done every day in TV

shops.
Surface mount soldering equipment is a soldering iron and solder wick.
As for flashing the BIOS I have done mine seven times in the last

year.
I
download to a floppy and then power on with the floppy inserted. If
something goes wrong I power down and repeat the routine. I.E. If the

BIOS
upgrade fails halfway there is no reason to replace the CMOS, surface
mounted or not..
"CWatters" wrote in message
...
"Unknown" wrote in message
.com...
I think someone is pulling your leg as an April Fools joke. BIOS

is
surface
mounted??? Most all components these days are surface mounted.

Simply
means
the component is not mounted through hole in the board.

No she is correct. It's telling you that if you "flash" (upgrade)

the
BIOS
and the upgrade fails halfway through then you may be stuck with a
motherboard that can't easily be fixed. Why? Because if the BIOS is
corrupt
you can't reboot your PC and have another go, but nor can you unplug

the
BIOS chip and fit a new one (because it's surface mounted, not in a
socket).
To fix it you would need access to surface mount soldering

equipment.

BIOS can be shadowed???

This means it's possible to make a backup copy of the BIOS so you

have
a
spare copy in the event of the problem described above. I believe

(but
I
might be wrong) that you switch to the shadow/spare copy by making a

link
on
the motherboard. I'm sure someone else can tell us if this is not

how
it's
done.

If Nancy is reading this... You need not worry as you are unlikely

to
be
upgrading your BIOS very frequently (if ever). I've never found it
necessary.










  #3  
Old April 6th 03, 07:12 PM
Unknown
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Problems found when run Sandra software?

You cannot learn if you don't try. You should control the computer and not
let the computer control you.
"D.Currie" wrote in message
...
It's not a scary thing, but a person should be aware of the risks vs.
rewards. If the flash has some use, that's fine, but there's no sense in
flashing it to fix something that doesn't apply to your computer. If you
know what you're doing, that's fine too. But there are people with the
patience of a gnat who turn their computers off instead of waiting for the
flash to finish, then wonder why it doesn't turn on anymore. People who

have
no idea how to create a clean boot disk or run a command decide to flash

the
bios...and who knows if they even know how to download the right one. I've
seen that a number of times. I had one customer who tried to flash his

mobo
bios with some file he downloaded from Maxtor. Then again, with the
brownouts that happen around here in the summer, I wouldn't flash the bios
on a computer or any other piece of hardware unless it was on a UPS. No
sense in tempting fate to that degree.

Like any other modification, things can go wrong. I had someone the other
day who wanted me to guarantee that if I took the hard drive out of one of
his computers, put it in the other computer, and ran a repair install,

that
his 6 years of data wouldn't be affected.

I'm pretty confident that nothing will go wrong, but guarantee? Not a
chance. Things could go wrong, and not necessarily due to human error. He
could have a crappy power supply that decides to blow up and fry his hard
drive when I plug it in. His hard drive could pick that moment to have a
head crash. Is it likely? No. But anything is possible. I'm not about to
touch that computer unless he understands that I'm not responsible for the
fact that he has a 6-year-old hard drive that he's never backed up.

For some people, risking having the computer unbootable after a bad flash
isn't going to be worth it, no matter how slight the chance might be. And
some users just shouldn't attempt it on their own.



"Unknown" wrote in message
news
One of the problems with these newsgroups is that newbies have a

tendancy
to
scare the wits out of others. There is nothing difficult about flashing

the
bios, editing the registry etc. Of course one should read and understand

how
the BIOS is flashed and the information is available from various

sources
especially the manufacturer.
Ye gods man ---what happens if you drive a car and get a flat tire??
"D.Currie" wrote in message
...
If the bios flash doesn't take, you can start over, but if you truly

much
up the flash, it won't even boot to the floppy, so there is no

starting
over.

For the most part, I don't recommend that users flash the bios unless
there's a problem that needs fixing and they know what they're doing,

and
they know what the risks are. If you know what you're doing, that's

fine.
But it's not as foolproof as loading a program on the computer, and

I've
seen enough people who've made a mess of that.

Some mobos have a dual bios, so that makes it much less risky.

As for surface mount vs. socket, yeah if you know how to solder and

have
the
parts, that's one thing; but if you have to pay someone to do it for

you,
might as well buy a new board.

"Unknown" wrote in message
.com...
My point was/is the fact that it is surface mounted has nothing to

do
with
it being flashable. If it can't be flashed because it's bad the

board
should
be replaced because the labor cost to replace it is almost as much

as
a
new
board. Surface mount component replacement is done every day in TV

shops.
Surface mount soldering equipment is a soldering iron and solder

wick.
As for flashing the BIOS I have done mine seven times in the last

year.
I
download to a floppy and then power on with the floppy inserted. If
something goes wrong I power down and repeat the routine. I.E. If

the
BIOS
upgrade fails halfway there is no reason to replace the CMOS,

surface
mounted or not..
"CWatters" wrote in message
...
"Unknown" wrote in message
.com...
I think someone is pulling your leg as an April Fools joke. BIOS

is
surface
mounted??? Most all components these days are surface mounted.

Simply
means
the component is not mounted through hole in the board.

No she is correct. It's telling you that if you "flash" (upgrade)

the
BIOS
and the upgrade fails halfway through then you may be stuck with a
motherboard that can't easily be fixed. Why? Because if the BIOS

is
corrupt
you can't reboot your PC and have another go, but nor can you

unplug
the
BIOS chip and fit a new one (because it's surface mounted, not in

a
socket).
To fix it you would need access to surface mount soldering

equipment.

BIOS can be shadowed???

This means it's possible to make a backup copy of the BIOS so you

have
a
spare copy in the event of the problem described above. I believe

(but
I
might be wrong) that you switch to the shadow/spare copy by making

a
link
on
the motherboard. I'm sure someone else can tell us if this is not

how
it's
done.

If Nancy is reading this... You need not worry as you are unlikely

to
be
upgrading your BIOS very frequently (if ever). I've never found it
necessary.












  #4  
Old April 6th 03, 07:12 PM
Unknown
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Problems found when run Sandra software?

You cannot learn if you don't try. You should control the computer and not
let the computer control you.
"D.Currie" wrote in message
...
It's not a scary thing, but a person should be aware of the risks vs.
rewards. If the flash has some use, that's fine, but there's no sense in
flashing it to fix something that doesn't apply to your computer. If you
know what you're doing, that's fine too. But there are people with the
patience of a gnat who turn their computers off instead of waiting for the
flash to finish, then wonder why it doesn't turn on anymore. People who

have
no idea how to create a clean boot disk or run a command decide to flash

the
bios...and who knows if they even know how to download the right one. I've
seen that a number of times. I had one customer who tried to flash his

mobo
bios with some file he downloaded from Maxtor. Then again, with the
brownouts that happen around here in the summer, I wouldn't flash the bios
on a computer or any other piece of hardware unless it was on a UPS. No
sense in tempting fate to that degree.

Like any other modification, things can go wrong. I had someone the other
day who wanted me to guarantee that if I took the hard drive out of one of
his computers, put it in the other computer, and ran a repair install,

that
his 6 years of data wouldn't be affected.

I'm pretty confident that nothing will go wrong, but guarantee? Not a
chance. Things could go wrong, and not necessarily due to human error. He
could have a crappy power supply that decides to blow up and fry his hard
drive when I plug it in. His hard drive could pick that moment to have a
head crash. Is it likely? No. But anything is possible. I'm not about to
touch that computer unless he understands that I'm not responsible for the
fact that he has a 6-year-old hard drive that he's never backed up.

For some people, risking having the computer unbootable after a bad flash
isn't going to be worth it, no matter how slight the chance might be. And
some users just shouldn't attempt it on their own.



"Unknown" wrote in message
news
One of the problems with these newsgroups is that newbies have a

tendancy
to
scare the wits out of others. There is nothing difficult about flashing

the
bios, editing the registry etc. Of course one should read and understand

how
the BIOS is flashed and the information is available from various

sources
especially the manufacturer.
Ye gods man ---what happens if you drive a car and get a flat tire??
"D.Currie" wrote in message
...
If the bios flash doesn't take, you can start over, but if you truly

much
up the flash, it won't even boot to the floppy, so there is no

starting
over.

For the most part, I don't recommend that users flash the bios unless
there's a problem that needs fixing and they know what they're doing,

and
they know what the risks are. If you know what you're doing, that's

fine.
But it's not as foolproof as loading a program on the computer, and

I've
seen enough people who've made a mess of that.

Some mobos have a dual bios, so that makes it much less risky.

As for surface mount vs. socket, yeah if you know how to solder and

have
the
parts, that's one thing; but if you have to pay someone to do it for

you,
might as well buy a new board.

"Unknown" wrote in message
.com...
My point was/is the fact that it is surface mounted has nothing to

do
with
it being flashable. If it can't be flashed because it's bad the

board
should
be replaced because the labor cost to replace it is almost as much

as
a
new
board. Surface mount component replacement is done every day in TV

shops.
Surface mount soldering equipment is a soldering iron and solder

wick.
As for flashing the BIOS I have done mine seven times in the last

year.
I
download to a floppy and then power on with the floppy inserted. If
something goes wrong I power down and repeat the routine. I.E. If

the
BIOS
upgrade fails halfway there is no reason to replace the CMOS,

surface
mounted or not..
"CWatters" wrote in message
...
"Unknown" wrote in message
.com...
I think someone is pulling your leg as an April Fools joke. BIOS

is
surface
mounted??? Most all components these days are surface mounted.

Simply
means
the component is not mounted through hole in the board.

No she is correct. It's telling you that if you "flash" (upgrade)

the
BIOS
and the upgrade fails halfway through then you may be stuck with a
motherboard that can't easily be fixed. Why? Because if the BIOS

is
corrupt
you can't reboot your PC and have another go, but nor can you

unplug
the
BIOS chip and fit a new one (because it's surface mounted, not in

a
socket).
To fix it you would need access to surface mount soldering

equipment.

BIOS can be shadowed???

This means it's possible to make a backup copy of the BIOS so you

have
a
spare copy in the event of the problem described above. I believe

(but
I
might be wrong) that you switch to the shadow/spare copy by making

a
link
on
the motherboard. I'm sure someone else can tell us if this is not

how
it's
done.

If Nancy is reading this... You need not worry as you are unlikely

to
be
upgrading your BIOS very frequently (if ever). I've never found it
necessary.












 




Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is Off
HTML code is Off






All times are GMT +1. The time now is 05:48 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004-2024 PCbanter.
The comments are property of their posters.