Re: BIOS - COULD THERE A PROBLEM WITH MY PC'S BIOS?


HI KEN, HOPE ALL IS WELL.

I HAVE GOTTEN OVER MY MAJOR HURDDLE WITH MY BOOKKEEPING PROGRAM. IT IS
ALMOST BACK TO HOW I LAST LEFT IT. I JUST HAVE TO TIE UP SOME LOOSE ENDS
TOMORROW. SO NOW I KNOW I HAVE A "GOOD BACK UP" OF IT ON DISC.
PLEASE SCROLL DOWN, THANK YOU.

"Ken Blake, MVP" wrote:

On Tue, 25 Sep 2007 21:56:03 -0700, InfoHungry
<InfoHungry@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Hello KEN,
I shall insert my answers into your reply



That's fine. It's my preferred way of replying. I'm doing the same
here.


so I do not miss giving you any
info. and again thank you for your most helpfull advice.



You're welcome. Glad to help.


Please scroll down
to find my answers:

"Ken Blake, MVP" wrote:

On Tue, 25 Sep 2007 10:04:02 -0700, InfoHungry
<InfoHungry@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Hello Ken, thank you for your time and very helpful advice. Following is some
info about my computer. Hope it helps you help me.



You're welcome. Glad to help.
AND YOU DON'T IMAGINE HOW GLAD I AM THAT YOU CAN AND ARE HELPING ME, THANK
YOU SO MUCH.

I don't see anything below that jumps out at me as being a problem.
However two points:

1. You say the system gets slower and slower. These days that's often
symptomatic of malware infection. You say you've run some anti-spyware
apps, but unless you are always protected with two or three, it may
not be good enough. I recommend that you begin troubleshooting by
going to MVP Malke's malware removal site at
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Removing_Malware and
following the instructions there. TIME IS A LITTLE SHORT BUT I AM ON TO IT. SLOWLY BUT SURELY.

Re 1.- I have actually printed out that page and I am following it step by
step because Malke actually responded to my first post in ExpertZone -
Windows Basics i think my post reference was "Steps before during and after
formating hard disc drive" and he


Malke is a "she." OOPS, MY APPOLOGIES.


directed me there. But when it came to
Backing up I ran into a lot of trouble and posted back more questions but did
not receive a reply yet, so i kept looking for answers in other posts and
ended up on this BIOS related post which now I think is the last thing I will
need to address. I shall go back to it and start again.
I was trying to copy my files to disc without knowing that I needed 3rd
party software to do that.



No, you don't necessarily need third-party software. You get extra
capability using third-party software, but depending on your needs,
just copying them is often fine.

I TRIED THAT BUT COULD NOT COPY THAT WAY, I GUESS I HAVE NOT YET FIGURED OUT
HOW TO DO THAT PROPERLY. I WILL TRY AGAIN AND LEARN HOW TO. BUT AT LEAST NOW
I HAVE THE SOFTWARE AND CAN DO MORE WITH IT.




so I created folder called COPY OF C DRIVE, COPY
OF D DRIVE on my Desktop. Clicked on the MY Computer, clicked on each of the
drives in turn and clicked copy ,


Two points:

1. If you are planning on reformatting your drive, copying *anything*
to it won't help you at all. Reformatting will wipe out anything you
copy. You need to copy to an *external* device or devices--CDs, DVDs,
thumb drives, external USB hard drives, etc.

2. For various reasons, you can't just make a copy of the C: drive
using standard Windows facilities. If that's what you want to do, you
need third-party software. However you *can* copy your data files that
way; just be sure you copy to external devices.

FOR THE 2 POINTS ABOVE: I DID INDEED DO COPIES TO CD/DVD AND EXTERNAL DRIVE.
IT IS THE INTEGRITY OF THE COPIES THAT WORRIES ME AND ALSO I DO NOT KNOW IF I
HAVE ALL THE "ESSENTIAL" FILES THE SYSTEM NEEDS TO RUN PROPERLY. I NOW HAVE
ALL MY PROGRAMS AND VIP FILES ON DISCS. PUTTING THEM BACK INTO THE SYSTEM
CORRECTLY AFTER FORMATTING IS ANOTHER WORRY FOR ME - I AM NOT 100% SURE IF IT
IS STRAIGHT FORWARD ENOUGH FOR ME TO DO - IF I JUST HAVE TO COPY THEM BACK
THAT IS OK, I THINK.

FOR NOW I DO NOT REALLY WANT A "COPY" OF MY HARD DRIVES BECAUSE THEY ARE
VERY MESSED UP. I WILL WANT TO DO IT WHEN MY SYSTEM IS "CLEAN" AND WORKING
WELL THOUGH. FOR NOW I JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE I COPY ALL NECESSARY FILES - I
HAVE BEEN LOOKING BUT COULD NOT FIND A "LIST" OF FILES THAT ARE IMPERATIVE TO
HAVE TO ENABLE ME TO GET THE PC TO WORK AFTER FORMATING OR SYSTEM FAILURE.


clicked each respective COPY folder one at
a time and clicked PASTE. Had a lot of warnings saying something to the
effect that "this file could not be copied" and at this point I had the "show
system files" "show hidden files" on. so That does not seem to be a reliable
back up.


No, it's not. See point 1, above.

JUST AS I THOUGHT. SO APART FROM FILES THAT I CREATE MYSELF (LETTERS,
PHOTOS, FAMILY MOVIES, BOOKKEEPING FILES) WHAT OTHER FILES DO I NEED TO COPY
SO I HAVE ALL ABSOLUTELY NECESSATY FILES TO BE USED ON SYSTEM FAILURE OR
HARD DRIVE FORMATTING/WINDOWS REINSTALL?


so I opened the Drive file and the COPY file at the same time and started
comparing them and trying to copy folder by folder from one window to the
other. Result - by accident I CUT & PASTE some of my files including some of
my VIP bookkeeping files. MESS RIGHT?
So I went looking again for info on backing up. Installed windows back up
utility from the CD, got myself an external hard drive and ran a full back up
staight into the external hard drive, then
I copied both the COPY OF DRIVE C & D folders I had done into the hard drive
as well.
THOSE FOLDERS are still on my desktop as I am too worried to delete them
because I suspect I have copied the WINDOWS folder into them and if I delete
those folder from C & D I am scared that might delete the REAL windows and
other important files. BIGGER MESS, so I got kinda stuck here at this point
not knowing how to clean up this MONSTER MESS as I call it that I created
myself from NOT KNOWING WHAT I AM DOING properly.
This means that the PC got much slower now because of the above and reaches
CPU usage 100% most of the time.

2. You say "I have made matters a lot worse." It isn't clear to me
exactly what you've done, but disorganized random attempts to fix
things *can* make matters worse, and sometimes to the point where you
have no real alternative other than to reinstall cleanly. It isn't
clear to me whether you're at that point, but it's possible.

RE 2- As you can see from the above, I think it is quite possible or even
certain that the drives including the external drive will all have to be
formated. They are pretty messed up with my back up creations on top of
whatever was causing the problem in the first place.


I follow what you've said only partially, but certainly it's possible
that formatting is your only good solution at this point.

WHAT I HAVE DONE IS: TOO MANY COPIES WHICH ALSO NOW HAVE COPIES OF THEIR
OUWN AND BACKUPS THAT ARE IN REALITY NOT "USEABLE" AND ARE TAKING GB OF HARD
DISK SPACE. I AM SURE I EVEN MANAGED TO HAVE WINDOWS RUNNING IN MY EXTERNAL
DRIVE, SUCH IS THE EXTENT OF MY SO CALLED "COPIES OF" AND BACK UPS. I THINK
THEY ARE IN THE GREAT MAJORITY - USELESS- AND I NEED TO GET RID OF THEM AND
START FRESH.

TO START FRESH I HAVE SOME MORE QUESTIONS DOWN BELOW:



I really would much prefer to clean up the mess without formatting because I
am having problems retriving th BOOKKEEPING files which I am obligated to
keep for seven years for tax purposes,. I am not sure what went wrong with
these files but I have obtained a request for support form the actual program
manufacturers and should be ok to save the files to disc by the end of the
week I hope.

THE ABOVE IS NO LONGER A PROBLEM, I HAVE WHAT I NEED NOW, A "GOOD BACK UP"
OF MY BOOKKEEPING ON DISC.


If you are having trouble retrieving the files, you will have the same
trouble whether you do nothing or back them up, reformat and reinstall
Windows, and then restore your backed up bookkeeping files. I would
think you could simply copy and paste those files to external media,
like your external drive, but I don't understand what you may have
done to damage them. Hopefully the program manufacturer can help you
with the details there.
I INSTALLED THE PROGRAM AND THEN MOVED IT INTO MY "BUSINESS" FOLDER. WHEN
THE SECOND DRIVE WAS PUT IN AND I HAD TO REINSTALL THE PROGRAM, THE LINKS DID
NOT WORK, SO I HAD TO REINSTALL THE PROGRAM AGAIN AND RESTORE THE DATA FILES
FROM BACKUP. (THE PROGRAM'S OWN BACKUP FACILITY) NOW IT IS FINE.



Appart from those files there is nothing in my system that I can not replace
apart from the driver & software?? for one of my DVD-rom drives which i do
not think i ever got a disc for when I got the PC, unless it is included in
the disc called DRIVERS that came with it.


If you need a driver for the DVD drive, you should be able to download
it from the manufacturer's web site. OK THEN. DO THEY NEED KEYS? I DON'T THINK I HAVE ANY OF THESE.


Everything else I have discs and
keys
In regards to Malaware, that is a positive I think, and I am now following your and Malke's advise and installing a few antyspyware programs.


If you decide to reformat and reinstall, you don't need to do that
now. But be sure you protect yourself adequately for the future after
reinstalling Windows.



So please give me the VERDICT = CLEAN UP???? or FORMAT???



Sorry, but I can almost never make that decision for someone else.
I APPRECIATE YOUR ANSWER ABOVE AND APPOLOGISE, I JUST NEED TO ESTABLISH
CLEARLY IN MY HEAD IF I HAVE WHAT I NEED IN CASE I NEED TO FORMAT. ALSO I
THOUGHT THAT YOU MIGHT HAVE FOUND SOME CLUE AS TO THE STATE OF MY SYSTEM FROM
THE INFO I POSTED LAST. UNFORTUNATELY THAT DID NOT PROVIDE ANYTHING
CONCRETE... SO FOR NOW I THINK I SHOULD CLEAN UP SOME OF THE MESSY FOLDERS
AND TRY TO DO A FRESH BACK UP, HOW DOES THIS REASONING COME ACROSS TO YOU?
It
depends on so many factors, most of which I simply can't see from
here.
IF YOU ACCESSED MY PC YOU'D PROBABLY BE ABLE TO FIX IT IN NEXT TO NO TIME.
ME, IT IS A DIFFERENT STORY. I AM ON MY BABY STEPS AND I AM PROBABLY EVEN
MAKING THINGS SOUND WORTH THEN THEY RALLY ARE JUST BECAUSE OF LACK OF
KNOWLEDGE.

Besides not being able to see how badly your system is screwed
up, I can't tell how much trouble a clean reinstallation would be for
you, because I know nothing about what you have installed, how much
customization you've done, what your skill level is, and so on. Most
of the time I strongly recommend against reinstallation, but I suspect
that your situation may be an exception, and you *should* reinstall.
But please note the word "suspect." Suspect is all I can do, and I'm
afraid you'll have to make your own decision.

FOR THE ABOVE: I WOULD DEFINITELY WOULD HAVE TO TREAD VERY CAREFULLY AND
WITH VERY GOOD AND CLEAR, COMPLETE STEP BY STEP INSTRUCTIONS IN WHAT RELATES
TO BIOS. I HAVE NOT GONE IN THERE TO CHANGE ANYTHING, EVER. IF I NEED TO
CHANGE BOOT PRIORITIES I CAN PROBABLY DO IT WITH GOOD INSTRUTIONS. I HAVE MY
MOTHERBOARD INTRUSTION MANUAL AND DISC. I AM A BIT SCARED OF OPENING THE BOX
AND REMOVE AND REPLACE DRIVES IF THAT IS SOMETHING THAT WOULD BE NECESSARY TO
DO. AGAIN I WOULD NEED STEP BY STEP INFO.

CUSTOMISING I DO NOT HAVE A LOT OF THINGS DONE BUT I AM CONFIDENT I CAN
BRING IT ALL BACK EASILY. I HAD TO DO THAT WHEN THE SECOND HARD DRIVE WAS PUT
IN.

FORMATING BASIC SHOULD BE OK BUT I WOULD HAVE NO IDEA ABOUT PARTITIONS OR
SIMILER THINGS. I HAVE NO PROBLEM INSTALLING PRINTER,CAMERA, PROGRAMS
I FORMATED MY EXTERNAL DRIVE FROM FAT32 TO NTFS BEFORE USING IT TO BACKUP
BUT IT WAS QUITE STRAIGHT FORWARD.
I DEFINITELY HAVE DIFFICULTIES WITH START UP CONFIGURATION. I KNOW I HAVE
TOO MANY PROCESS RUNNING THAT SHOULD NOT BE, BUT I AM READING UP ON IT.
I DO HAVE A LOT OF CLUTTER SUCH AS: LEFT OVER FILES FROM UNINSTALLED
PROGRAMS - 840 ENTRIES THAT DO NOT WORK IN THE REGISTRY, AND GOD KNOWS HOW
MUCH SPYWARE/MALAWARE GONE UNDETECTED THAT I DO NOT KNOW HOW TO FIND AND
CLEAN. IF FILES HAVE TO BE DELETED I AM NEVER SURE IF IT WILL AFFECT THE
SYSTEM AND OTHER PORGRAMS.

NOW FOR ANOTHER QUESTION TO HELP ME CLEAN UP A BIT: IS IT SAFE TO DELETE THE
FOLDERS I CREATED OF "COPY OF C" AND "COPY OF D"? WINDOWS WAS COPIED AS WELL.
IT RUNS IN MY EXTERNAL DRIVE IF I CHANGE THE BOOT.INI. I AM SCARED THAT IF I
DELETE THOSE FILES IT MIGHT DO SOMETHING WRONG TO THE ORIGINAL FILES IN THE
HARD DRIVES. AT ONE POINT MY EXTERNAL DRIVE SHOWED AS "MBR" IN DISK
MAHAGEMENT. PLEASE EXCUSE MY IGNORANCE BUT THIS IS VERY PUZZLING FOR ME. I
KNOW THEY ARE "COPIES" BUT I AM ASKING JUST IN CASE IT CAUSES ME MORE GRIEF.
PLEASE ADVISE

I DO NOT HAVE ANY GAMES, SCREEN SAVERS INSTALLED BUT I SHALL GIVE YOU MORE
DETAILED INFO OF WHAT I HAVE INSTALLED IN MY PC LATER IF YOU WANT TO LOOK
FURTHER INTO IT, SO I DON'T MAKE IT TOO LONG HERE AT THIS STAGE.
I RAN A DISK CHECK FROM SEAGATE AND BOTH DRIVES CAME UP WITH A PASS BUT I
REMEMBER HAVING FATAL ERROR MESSAGES AND BAD DISK SECTOR MESSAGES IN THE
PAST, QUITE EARLY IN THE PIECE, CAN NOT REMEMBER DETAILS THOUGH.
But for the future, whether or not you reinstall, I have two pieces of
advice for you:

1. Make sure that you are *always* protected against malware. FOR SURE I AM TAKING STEPS IN THAT DIRECTION NOW, I WAS UNAWARE THAT MY PROTECTION WAS INADEQUATE, I THOUGHT THAT HAVING MORE THAN ONE THING WOULD CAUSE CONFLICTS AND DID HAVE SOME ANTISPYWARE LONG TIME AGO BUT UNINSTALLED THEM WHEN THE COMPUTER STARTED HAVING SLOW DOWNS AND CRASHES TOO OFTEN.

2. Make sure that you *always* have a backup of any data you can't
afford to lose, stored on external media.
ONCE I K NOW WHAT FILES ARE NECESSARY FOR A "GOOD" BACK UP I "WILL" HAVE A GOOD BACK UP, I USUALLY TAKE CARE BUT IT IS JUST SAD THAT I FAILED AT ALL MY ATTEMPTS TO HAVE A GOOD BACK UP.
BY THE WAY I RAN A SEARCH OF "BACK UP" AND FOUND A LONG LIST OF FILES SOME
OF THEM FROM WHEN I TRIALED WINDOWS LIVE ONE CARE AND WINDOWS DEFENDER.
--
Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP Windows - Shell/User
Please Reply to the Newsgroup

HOPE THIS IS USEFUL FOR NOW. PLEASE BE PATIENT WITH ME A LITTLE LONGER. I
REALLY DO APPRECIATE YOUR TIME AND INPUT.
TILL NEXT POST. THANK YOU AGAIN
IH

.

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