Maggie's Farm

We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.

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Wednesday, February 13. 2008

BIOS

Interesting computer problem today. Every indication of a hard drive failure. Replaced hard drive after a quick run to Staples ($189.). Same problem after reloading drive from external drive. Computer expert thinks it must be a motherboard problem. Then he says "Hmm, I've never seen a BIOS problem in 20 years but let's try asking BIOS to heal itself, just for the heck of it."

Instantly repaired. "Holy f-," says he. "This is a first for me: BIOS never fails."

Posted by Bird Dog at 19:19 | Comments (5) | Trackbacks (0)

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"Klaatu barada nikto!"
#1 buddy larsen on 2008-02-13 19:38 (Reply)
Gimme some o'that klaatu barda nikto. Thank goodness Patricia Neal knew the words to save the world!!!
#1.1 Habu on 2008-02-13 19:42 (Reply)
He did mumble something under his breath, and then made the sign of the cross.
#1.2 BD on 2008-02-13 19:52 (Reply)
Gnusto Rezrov

I've only seen the BIOS fail once in 25+ years.
#2 _Jon (Link) on 2008-02-13 20:57 (Reply)
Agreed, it's pretty rare. Did you watch what he did, in case it happens again? He probably pressed the Del key or F10 to get into the BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) right after the machine was turned on, then one of the F keys to restore the system defaults.

In looking for a cause, it's possible the BIOS chip overheated (some motherboards even have small fans on top of the BIOS chip to keep it cool), but I'd suspect the BIOS battery if the rig's a few years old. They're easy to replace. It's a nickel-sized "watch battery" and usually lies flat on the motherboard. Stick a tiny screwdriver down against the little tang and it'll pop right out. Replace it at the computer store and pop the new one in. You'll have to re-set your system clock & date after bootup.

And, looking on the bright side, at least now you have a spare hard drive at the ready.
#3 Dr. Mercury (Link) on 2008-02-14 12:02 (Reply)

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