ECN Forum Forums Technical Discussion Re: Computers and the Internet CMOS

On the topic of recording BIOS settings, with my older machines (386, 486, and... of course 286) you could send a print screen copy to the printer (accessing the CMOS setup at POST).
Award and/or Phoenix were the makers O' said BIOS software and CMOS EEPROMs (I think... ..).

BTW, the printers connected to LPT1 were Tractor-Feed Impact Printers - typically Epson MX-80.

Back in the days when I would service these machines (pre AL430 and AL440 chipsets), I would print out the current setups using my MX-80 on the "subject machine", then when all was good once again, print out the settings again (if altered).
Also would keep soft and hard copies of system configurations (Config.sys, Autoexec.bat, Win.sys, etc.).

Just wondering how many others did same.

I still have BIOS print outs archived!

Thinking about playing around with the 386 machine sometime soon, just for the heck of it!

Scott35

Ah yes,

I used to keep copies of all of those files too. I was always tweaking something to run the newer programs on the older machines it was a challenge trying to avoid those "out of memory" error messages. It was pretty tricky sometimes getting some things to run and I remember having to make special boot disks with customized Autoexec.bat and config.sys for some programs (OK, I mean Games.. )

Bill

It still is, despite "Plug 'n' Play!"

Paul: I thought it was called "plug and PRAY"!!!

BTW: I don't know what has changed on my machine, but my clock has been keeping accurate time for about three days now... ??

Yep, it sure is!

I just spent nearly three hours re-installing Windows on a friend's machine and trying to get it to recognize the PCI-slot modem. There's still a problem with the drivers that I'll have to try and sort out tomorrow.

I guess I forgot to turn around and bow three times toward Seattle.....

Remember when Gates was introducing 95 to the world? He was installing some piece of hardware to show off plug and play, and it gave him the blue screen of death! I don't think I've leaughed so hard in my life!

Bill;


Oh, ya, went through this alot to run some very important applications! (OK, you all know what they were! Games with high graphics and audio!, but they were very important to me...).
Loved (actually hated!) to see the quickly flashed "Memory Overflow" messages when trying to cram a Gallon of stuff into a teacup of DOS memory allocation!

When DOS 6.0 came out, the need for bootdisk caching/smashing went away with the multiboot startup menu ability (SUBMENU in the Config.sys).
That made it SOOOOOO much cooler for booting to a DOS prompt and running those Important applications!
Epic Pinball is one of those important ones!

Ryan_J;

It's from posting the problem here! Now it will disappear for × amount of time, then return again, which means you will need to post the same question here again!
<just joking>


I remember that! Fell off the chair laughing (ROTF LMAO!!!).
If I remember, it was a demonstration of how easilly a Scanner could be setup in Windows 98 (first release), when along came the lovely blue screen and white text (probably an Exception OE).
It was funny because I had just serviced a machine with a bad Scanner installation and resultant BSOD!

BTW, "Plug-and-Pray"... LOL!


Paul;


LOL!

Sometimes sacrificing Mac formatted floppy disks in a shredding machine will please the malign MS Gods!

Scott35

Grrr!

I just looked at my computer clock and it has lost an hour somehow in the last couple of days. I guess the problem didn't go away...

Maybe You have to slow down!


Bill