Bad BIOS Flash

[Matt H]

I was trying to install Windows XP on my computer last week. After it went through the first setup processes it rebooted my computer and a blue screen came up and told me my BIOS version is out of date and I needed to upgrade it. So I went on the Internet and searched for it and went through all the process of finding out which one it was. I had found out my motherboard is a Gigabyte http://www.giga-byte.com/Default.htm and I have the award BIOS chip. I think I downloaded the wrong file and flashed something I wasn't supposed to. I then went back to the Windows XP setup and did what I did in the first place and when the setup went to reboot it just hung. Now when I turn the computer on the only thing that works is my power LED light just blinks and the hard drive light flash a couple of times. No boot, no monitor turning on, no sound, nothing. Power light just blinks! So is there a way to manually way to bring back my default BIOS or do I have to go out and get another motherboard or chip. Could this also be a power supply question cause I have to sometimes wiggle the cord to the pc to be able to turn it on from the power on button in front?

Computer:
Windows ME
ATX case (I think)
P2 333
256 sdram
Buslink cd-r
GeForce4 mx video
Creative 64gold audio

Thanks Matt H
:confused:

[Budfred]

Welcome to http://www.pcguide.com/ubb/pcgubb.gif

Yes it definitely could be a power issue and that would be the easier problem to fix. If you can, try a different power supply and see if it works better.

For the BIOS, you can get your BIOS chip reloaded or replaced here:

http://www.badflash.com/

[mjc]

If it actually made it part way through the installation of XP then it isn't very likely to be a bad flash, that is usually very noticeable immediately after it is done.

Which reboot are you talking about? The one from flashing?

[setoguro]

Also after you flash the BIOS you have to reset them to to their default settings. If you don't a wrong setting would cause your computer not to boot.

[Matt H]

Yeah, I tried to do everything I could but I ended up taking it to the local computer store and having them rebuild it with a new power supply and a new Gigabyte mobo with a AMD 1800. I appreciate the help from all of you and will keep coming back for information and questions. One thing I do know is I learned alot from breaking my computer cause I do break alot of crap. hehe Thanks

Matt H :)

[Honcho]

To bad I hadnt seen this sooner.
A note to all those attempting to install Win2000 or XP on older ATX systems. Dureing the setup you will be asked to press F6 for network setup or someother thing. When you see this message , press F7. your system will continue along with setup as if you did nothing, but you stop it from installing advanced power management, the version of APM installed by NT5.5 is not compatible with most older APM bios. If you have a problem caused by WINXP or 2k like this person had, simply remove the bios battery over night, remembering to unplug your system. Then reinstall the battery and boot to a bootdisk floppy. Repartition your harddrive to remove the old windows partion and start fresh remembering to disable power management and ACPI in your bios first. This should resolve your problem.