Reinstall XP & need Bios update

In your earlier post (number 3, two pages ago) it says

... and then later in the same post:

Are you now saying a USB MP3 player is being recognized?

I like a good mystery too, but this is more like a bad dream .

 

so, the movie camera (fire wire in the 3rd pci slot) is recognized. XP show it as "new hardware" and I presume reinstalled drivers for it. But it's there.

When I click on the MP3 in "My Computer", it tells me I don't have permission to access it.

So, it's just the USBs.

 

So the first part - the 160gb must be the Belarc report? And the 2nd part must be what I saw in the bios? "My Computer" is showing each drive at 127gb.

so the motherboard is not recognizing any thing over 137gb - I'll have to check the drives to see what they are supposed to be.

 

So it sees it but you can't access it?
If you unplug it from the USB does it go away in "My Computer"?

 

Okay - what the Belarc reports is saying is that the drives have 160gb capacity - but the system is only recognizing or letting me use 137gb.

I wonder when that happened... but, remember, I said I remembered faintly something about a switch or something I had to do (in the registry or bios, maybe) that allowed the motherboard to see the full drives... I thought that's how it went anyway.

I also see that belarc now lists 2 of the USB Roots - strange. I'll have to look at it again. Here is the info:

 

No, the MP3 and the Still camera do not go away in "My Computer". They are there whether I have them plugged in or not. I don't remember it being that way - seems to me, they only showed up when I plugged them in before. And I don't seem to be able to access them now - so I don't know why they're showing up.

 

In your Control Panel.
Double-click Administrative Tools, and then double-click Computer Management.
In the console tree, double-click Storage and then double-click Removable Storage.
Are any items showing?
If the MP3 player is there, right click it and go to properties
Under the security tab make sure it is set to allow access.
Do the same for any other entries in Storage.

 

Sorry.
I need to sleep, its been a very long day for me.
("It's 11:00. Do you know where your mind is?" :-D )
I'll check back in the morning.
:wave

 

Okay, you go to sleep. It has been a long day. I'm right behind.

I read the User Guide for the emachine, and the motherboard manual. Under bios, it talks about the hard drive set up , but not capacity. But as I was reading - something in the deep recesses of my brain are telling me that I went in and did something to the capacity/cylinders/heads in the set up - for both. I'll see if I wrote something on the drive manual.

No - the MP3 player isn't listed under deivces. Just the DVD player. So what's that about? Just some plot to get me off track and not focusing, I'll wager.

 

According to the HD info - I should run data life tools (sware that came with) to set up the larger drive...

When i opened it, it will give info on the drive, etc. and it will add a partition, etc. But it looks to me like it will possibly reformat to do all that - I don't see instructions for what happens when you've already installed and THEN you have a problem. At the time I installed these 2 drives (a year apart) I believe I had SP1... It also says I can contact the motherboard manuf. to see if they have different installation instructions. I've already tried a search on that.

I have to go to work.

 

First let me say that this is the most convoluted situation I have ever heard about. It seems that all the usual avenues for repair are ineffective and the problems keep changing.
I feel like the little Dutch boy running from spot to spot trying to patch the leaky dike.
It occurs to me that one of the following is the cause of the plethora of problems in your machine, listed from worst to best:

1. An electrical surge of some sort knocked out your original power supply and in the process damaged either your BIOS or perhaps your entire motherboard.

This is the worst case scenario. The only remedy I can suggest is a completely new motherboard.

2. You have acquired a virus of some kind that is actively defeating your attempts to repair your machine.

We haven't even discussed viruses. I am not truly experienced enough with them to offer any sort of help if this is the case. I assume that you have some sort of anti-virus software and have run scans that came up negative or you would have mentioned it earlier.

3. The data on your main hard drive has become so confused and/or corrupted that each repair you attempt is only confusing your system more.

The only thing I can suggest here is to do a complete restore from you eMachines Restore Disks, losing all your modifications and programs that you have added since you first bought your computer. If this is the road that you eventually are forced to take, make sure that any important data files has been transfered to your secondary hard drive, for this method will start with a total erasure (format) of your "C Drive".

4. Your installation on Windows has become so scrambled that it is acting like a frightened child.

The best solution here would be to run a repair installation of Windows. It will replace XP without losing all the other things on your computer. During the repair installation, Windows will reinstall all your drivers and reset their registry values.

5. Your CMOS battery is so low on charge that it is acting erratically confusing your BIOS.

Replace your battery. Radio Shack or even your local drug store (being used in some watches) will probably carry them. They are very inexpensive.

The only other thing that comes to mind is that your computer is possessed and you need an exorcist.


I am sorry that I can think of nothing else.
I will help any way I can if you decide to try any of these cures (with the exception of the virus scenario, in which case you should start a new thread in our Malware Forum)

 

So - thinking back, I think the surge sounds plausible.

I think, after every thing I've tried either: the board reset itself when the power went, or the board reset itself when the geeks put the new power in. I don't know if it would do any good to call them and ask what they did - they have plausible deniability and they don't take credit for much, unless it means mega-bucks.

In any case, I have to reset everything.

I will pick up the new battery, then do a repair of windows.

If that doesn't work, I'll have to back up my drives on to CDs then reformat the entire kit and kaboodle, using the restore CDs. I'm thinking I'd rather someone else do this - the time involved in bringing in all the updates since 2002/3 are mind boggling. And maybe it won't cost so much - since it's just checking what's going on and not needing someone to necessarily sit there the entire 8 hours (that's how long it took me last time).

I am still looking for the parameters (cylinders/heads/etc.) for my hard drives. I could swear I wrote them down somewhere - because I'm pretty sure I have to change that.

I really appreciate your help.

 

I only wish that I had had better news for you.
Who knows maybe you'll get lucky and the CMOS battery will fix everything. I doubt it, but then again everything we've seen with this computer has been a surprise .

I have manually set the parameters for hard drives in the BIOS before, but it was many years ago and I don't remember the process clearly. I think it was pretty straight forward, though. The cylinder, heads etc. information should be written on the drive label.

I will continue to check this post to see if there are any new developments.

If there is anything that I or any of us here at MG can do for you, please feels free to let us know.