computers

[Susan Kline]

Jim, list ...

Back when I was new and green in the computer world, one day out of the
blue my computer forgot its BIOS information. It was fine when I shut it
off, and it had total amnesia when I restarted it. In considerable
distress, I took it to the computer store, and a slender-fingered young man
started it up and went zip-zap-zip on the keys faster than I could see, and
it was fine, and all my files were fine. 

So I said, "WAIT! WHAT DID YOU DO??" and he told me about the Bios
information. I wrote it all out on a piece of paper, and put it in the desk
drawer. (No sense having it in a computer file!) I've had to fish the paper
out twice since then, and struggled a little with the BIOS software, but I
got the computer back up and running good as new.

So, I'd recommend getting into BIOS when your computer first boots up, and
writing down all the numbers, etc. Not all that hard once you've wandered
through it a few times.

I don't know if more modern computers still need this. I have a 486.

Susan

-----------------------------------------------------


At 11:46 AM 6/23/98 -0700, Jim wrote:
>NOW JUST A SEC. . .
>The battery not only saves the time for you, but it also saves all the
>settings that tell your computer that it _is_ a computer!! ie:" You are a
>pentium, not a toaster. . . etc"
>
>I tried to replace the battery once, with the computer OFF, for safety, and
>lost the BIOS information,
>I had a terrible time fixing it, and lost the data, programs, since some
>tech guy had to start from scratch.
>BE CAREFUL!!!!
>Take the computer to a professional, after all, would you let your car
>mechanic regulate your Steinway. . . ?
>
>Jim Kinnear... 'The PianoGuy',  ( not the computerguy ! )
>      www.pianoguy.com
>   jkinnear@pianoguy.com

Susan Kline
P.O. Box 1651
Philomath, OR 97370
skline@proaxis.com