Downloading BIOS Settings?

mrsfrench

Hi there, looking for a bit of advice. I have been getting 'blue screen' crashes for about two weeks now. I've done a LOT of investigating and the consensus of opinion is that I need to get new BIOS settings. Is this something I should be doing myself or should I be giving my computer to an expert to fix?

I'm fairly competent with most things but I guess I'm worried that if this goes wrong I'll not be able to fix it myself. Also, I have noticed there are programs which offer to download BIOS settings for free; are these likely to be of any use (or should I avoid them like a plague?)

Many thanks for taking the time to read.

Morag

posted_2

If the crashes didn't happen 2 weeks ago, a bios upgrade isn't likely to fix it, more likely to be a rogue driver/program or corruption If a bios upgrade goes wrong btw, you will have a completely dead pc. What is the problem Bios settings are different to a bios upgrade.

mrsfrench

Thanks for prompt reply - was heading off to bed!

The event viewer states: AMLI: ACPI BIOS is attempting to read from an illegal I/O port address (0x71) which lies in the 0x70-0x71 protected address range.

microsoft have a help address listed which generally gives the advice to get new settings (possibly an upgrade)

posted_2

Which machine and operating system. Did anything change 2 weeks ago? Does it happen when you leave it for a while, and power management is activated? How often does it happen?

mrsfrench

It is a cheap machine from computer shop (about 5 years old) running XP. It had been hanging every so often so I restored it to an earlier time. Fixed it for a week or so, then the same thing happened - so I restored it again! Nothing that I know of has changed in the last two weeks, The crashes happen after 1 hour (tonight) sometimes 15 minutes (last night) so a bit random in seeing a pattern forming. Usually happens when I'm in the middle of something, not when the machine is idle. I use the comp for general surfing, don't download or upload. Using dial-up, and usually between 10pm and 2am (I'm staying up late tonight!!). Not much else I can tell you, but hope this helps. Thanks for the info on the BIOS download BTW - I had a feeling if it went wrong the comp would die!!

posted_2

I would start by disabling any power management settings in the bios (to get into the bios, you will need to press a key when you boot - it should show which key on screen), if that doesn't work, disable power saving in control panel, power options.

Is the system fully patched with service pack 3?

mrsfrench

Thanks for this. Will try this when I boot up tomorrow. Gotta go to bed - my daughter will be up in three hours! Will let you know if this is successful. Thanks again for your help.

John_Gray

Here's a techie explanation of one of the things that can be done with ports 70 and 71, but that won't solve your problem. It couldn't be a problem with the CMOS battery, could it?

PeterPerfect

It is always a good idea to have the latest BIOS installed. You will need to goto the hardware manufactures website to download usually a program. You may need to install via floppy disk, but more modern BIOS's can be done on the hard disk locally.

As regards to the problem, check out the device manager settings, set the view by Resources by Type, then look under Input/output (IO). You will find the range is related to System CMOS/real time clock. Double click on the entry for more information. It maybe the battery inside the case which could be the cause. This can be easily replaced, certainly after 5 years

gaming_guy

i'll just warn you that upgrading the bios can be a risky process.

if you flash a wrong file or a corrupt file, you could leave the computer completly dead unless you replace the bios chip or get a new motherboard

mrsfrench

Thank you all for your help. I have disabled all the power management settings. The IO port is showing that it is ok but I will check the battery tomorrow. John Gray - that techie explanation was 'very techie'!! I'll contact the manufacturer for an upgrade if possible - although Award have been bought over by another company so I'll see what happens there. I haven't had a 'blue screen' this evening so I may be getting there. (it's still early though!) I'm hoping to change to a laptop soon, but would like this one to keep running until I'm ready.

Many thanks again, will keep you posted on any progress.

Morag