I've already confessed that I roasted,smothered and choked my PC with a duvet. I thought this might have completely killed it but it ressucitated after cooling down for half an hour, and began running Windows as usual. It was a lucky escape, or so I thought. Life is never so simple. Like a Primaeval Soup where the sun's heat created the first microbes, cooking my PC seemed to have spawned some kind of alien life form in there.
The only structural damage seemed to be the CDRW tray which jammed shut. I thought that spending seventy one pounds on the latest Samsung model would be enough penance to pay for my stupid mistake. I even installed it myself, using a screwdriver on a PC for the first time, and learnt some new words like I-IDE, Master and slave, and jumpers. While I installed the Adaptec EZ CD software I looked forward to offering music CD's as presents to family and friends for Christmas because I can't afford aftershave and underwear this Christmas. But while burning the first CD the PC froze. Second time it crashed, and it has froze and crashed 14 times since then.
VIA Hardware Monitor reports that the fans , voltages, system temperature are all OK . No apps are running in the background during the burn pocess. I re-installed the software, even Windows, to make double sure. Im woried that my PC might be on the verge of early retirement or even death.
Im writing this from college because I haven,t been able to log into the forum from home for the last four days. Alex has been trying to solve it for me, I deleted all cookies and temp internet files but my machine won't accept Pc911 cookies for some reason. All my IE settings are set to allow cookies, PC911 is my only Trusted site.
Weird.

Joe

Try getting rid of EZ coaster creator and download the free trial of NERO, see if that helps. Some machines don't like EZCD. You can get it at :

http://www.nero.com/en/download.htm

How do you have it set up? Which channel is your writer on? What else is on that channel? etc, etc, more info about your system would help.

Have you tried doing a clean install of your system? That much heat could have caused a multitude of software problems.

RussH

Please don't despair, there are many who have had prblems installing this software, I have not and all my burning has went very well and without a hitch. I am not aware of the version you have, but if it can upgraded to work in XP get to their site and d/l the newest version. I am running Easy CD Creator Platinum version 502c, which is the latest and it works just fine. The only issue here is to configure this baby. You need to apply patches in the order in which the site instructs. You can e-mail me if you have any questions or help. I shall be glad to do so. In the meanwhile MERRY CHRISTMAS
Peter

Haven't seen you in a while Mr.P, sorry to hear of bad computery experiences

Joe
I've been lying low,in my dog basket, hiding from the wrath of the great OZ himself. Or herself...

Maybe we should take a look behind the curtain? See who this OZ dude is?

Russ and Peter helped me out loads by recommending Nero. Big thanks for that, it sorted all my burning problems.

Then some kind soul at ARS (because i STILL caynt log in from my machine) suggested I "FLASH MY BIOS" (WOW, a newbie flashing his bios, that I gotta see..

So, I went to Jeyway's site and saw BIOS UPDATE, which turns out to be a whole load of files, not just one. Is flashing the Bios like installing a new patch for a program ? Or does it install a new version of the Bios? How does it work?

Ive been told I need to update my Bios because of installing the new CDRW and changing my IDE Master/slave settings etc.

If I download A15.Bin to flash my Bios , will this keep all my current settings and just fine tune everything? I ain't going in there
before I get some good advic

Best Wishes for Christmas,

And remember Mr and Mrs OZ,

It's all about Christian forgiveness, O

Your settings should be fine. Do not take flashing your BIOS lightly however. Make darn sure the stuff you download is for your computer and then read the instructions a few times as well as printing them out so you can follow them exactly. No improvisation. No second try if you mess up. Bad things will happen if you do not do exactly as you are told. I have flashed my BIOS several times without adverse effects so it can be done.

Having a UPS is a definite plus as any interuption in power during a flash will guarantee a visit from the PC grim reaper.

THanks Spezi,
No way will I go near it without knowing what to do.
I already had a big scare when downloaded the wrong file and it all went pear shaped. Luckily Awdflash let me revert to the saved version, so I got out of that one.
No "How-To" Notes on Bios Flashing????
Joe.

Shouldn't need How-To notes as any BIOS I've downloaded came with a readme file. Read and print that info out and as long as you do exactly what it says you should be fine.

Concerning the use of a cdwriter. Through experience, understanding the nature of the beast,meaning buffer underruns and the eventual freezeups. Here is what I do to establish a co existence with any cd burner and its software. Steps should be taken for consideration when setting up your the computer. Partitioning is critical and your adaptec software loves to be by itself on its own virtual drive. I allow at the very least 3 gig in space desingnated for all cdrw related functions.
Doing this has really stop all incidents of creating coasters. I setup all my customeres computers who want a cd burner in the same manner. Believe me it will be a blessing once everything setup and installed.

Hopes this helps
Clyster1

Attachment #1, (jpg file)

Flashing your BIOS will not help the problem, and could render your computer unusable if not done exactly right. Never flash a BIOS unless you have a UPS. Flashing the BIOS seems to be the latest panacea for people who don't know how to actually troubleshoot a problem. I had the impression from a previous post that changing to Nero solved the current recording problem. Your problems with logging in are strictly a software configuration problem and do not involve the BIOS or any other hardware issue. Do a search for a Hosts folder, check to see if there is an entry for this site in it, if there is , delete it. Also delete any cookies for this site in the cookies folder and the temporary Internet files folder and delete them too. Then see if you can connect and sign in.

Shelly

You said you reinstalled windows trying to resolve the burner problem, and now you can't log in to PC 911. Just on a whim, check the date on your computer and make sure it's right.

Yeah it's 1256 B.C. May 4th that's about right isn't it. }>

Close enough...

Shelly

Adaptec likes its own virtual drive, well if Id known that it would have saved me these bald patches where I ripped out my hair. Nero hasn,t been so picky, in fact Russ was'nt the first to suggest Nero, and it's worked EVERY time. Bios flashing only came into this because a man called Monkey at ARS said it should be done when new hardware is installed, or/and IDE connections re-arranged. Would you trust a man called Monkey? I've always been a sucker for a panacea, but Ill leave BIOS updates until later...yesterday I got a vxd error and a message saying some system files were missing and it restored a "good recent back up of the registry". Never had that one before.
Im on a different machine because I still can't log in at home.
I deleted all files in Win/temp interenet files
then deleted all files in Win/cookies,
did a find for *pcnineoneone*.* files on the whole HDD and came up with O,
but there is NEVER a PC911 cookie in either folder. ZA settings/ IE6 security settings are set to allow cookies.
I never heard of the Hosts folder. Ill look when I get home, and try again.
Ill also check the time settings, Ive got a feeling they're not right.
Spezi, I may be a throwback, but not that far back

}>

The reason I suggested that is because a few weeks ago I formatted and reinstalled 98Se. Somehow the year on the computer clock got set to 2023. After resetting to 2001, I could log on to PC911 again. Just yesterday, somebody else had the same problem after a reinstall. You never know.

OK but did you do a find for the hosts folder? Do that and look at the info inside and any entries with pcnineoneone must be deleted.

Framerw47, got a feeling your'e insticts are right:-)
I had problems setting the date on my WIn98/se install.
I'd select the date in the pop up calendar, but the DAY would be wrong, so id move it to the right day, and the date would change.
I gave up in the end. Ill seek out the Hosts folder when I return from folks where Im spending Christmas with my two beautiful nieces and my ugly brothers. No fights...yet....}>

Well see there you go. You're stuck in another dimension and can't log on because PC911 wasn't around in 1256 B.C. Fix your time piece and you should be just peachy.

Geez you know I was just wondering, do they have fire yet where you are?????? }>

YEAH, WE DO, Some guy in our village spent four days rubbing these flints together but I showed him the easy way was simply to put a blanket over a PC and leave it til it starts to smoke. It works every time.}>

The fact his nic is monkey wouldn't bother me, but his saying you should flash the BIOS every time you install a HDD is totaly absurd. The ONLY time to flash a BIOS is because, after reading what the new BIOS offers over the old one, ask your self, self, is there anything there i need,? If there isn't don't DO it. 'Bout the only time I flash a BIOS is when I need to in order to put a faster CPU in and the updated BIOS includes support for it, or there is a fix for a problem I was having. Other wise, I LEAVE IT ALONE!!

RussH

Monkey didn't bother me either but gotta admit Monkey ARS (arse?) sure sets off my radar.

:D }>
His full name is Agent Monkey, and he's ranked as one of the senior moderators, so I suppose he does know his ARS from his elbow.
That forum is very good btw. Now THATS what I call Christmas spirit:)

Ps: I won't touch my Bios, promise.

> }>
>His full name is Agent Monkey, and he's ranked as one of the
>senior moderators, so I suppose he does know his ARS from
>his elbow.

Hmmmm, Agent Monkey ARS. OK, got it.

>That forum is very good btw.

Huhhhhh? blasphemy.

Anyone who claims knowledge and tells you to flash your BIOS when you change HDD's is either NOT knowledgeable,, or an out and out fraud. I've never been to ARS, and i see there is no reason FOR me to go. I would much rather listen to a moderator named Al, or Grogan, or whatever than Agent Monkey??? Sounds more like a chat room than a help forum.

Gotta agree with Shelly in that it seems like so many lately are jumping on the Flash the BIOS to fix things bandwagon. That is generally a last resort, not the first thing to try. I can't say i've ever seen flashing a BIOS cure anything that wasn't specificly listed as an update in the what's new with this BIOS FAQ.

RussH

Then some kind soul at ARS (because i STILL caynt log in from my machine) suggested I "FLASH MY BIOS" (WOW, a newbie flashing his bios, that I gotta see...

Joe, I do believe it's time to reevaluate your participation in any such forum that would give you such advice. Apparently ARS stands for A**h*** Resident Staff. I don't usually say such things about others, but Damn that felt good.

"Bios flashing only came into this because a man called Monkey at ARS said it should be done when new hardware is installed, or/and IDE connections re-arranged."

Joe, could you post a link to that thread please.
Thanks.
Harry

Nevermind, found it.
http://arstechnica.infopop.net/OpenTopic/page?a=tpc&s=50009562&f=24609792&m=3140914233&r=7570985233#7570985233