Patio, Dealing with your last paragraph 1st. Yes i do the F10 as the stage when i do a change. However if it doesn't result in any positive change then i go back into the BIOS and only press F5 to ensure that all BIOS values are returned to default. I do that on the presumption that it is better to start from a known total default situation than with some changed and some not.
Now to another point. After i shut off the Compaq computer last night the Sony was still on. These 2 computer share a monitor ,keyboard,and mouse via a KVM switch. At this point the Sony is on the page where the page is black and the cursor is flashing in the upper left corner from my last effort with Allen/BC's ISO disc. For whatever reason i took the disc out of the drive that had created the reaction stated above and placed it in the other optical drive. I rebooted the computer. The results were dramatically different than when it had been in the other drive.
It proceeded to do EXACTLY as had occurred way back when i used the XP pro CD and also concluded exactly the same way. That is with the final message at the location of the lower task bar being "setup is opening (or maybe starting) windows. However like the other time it also never advanced beyond that point. The screen was blue at that point. I shut down the computer and went to watch the hockey game (which was a great treat after the problems the Sony has been giving me
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In the same time frame as we have been dealing with this Sony i have completely renovated a bathroom,repaired a chainsaw and done many other of life's normal activities. I keep a small plaque on my desk which reads "to err is human. To really foul things up requires a computer". They can be a challenge.
I had mentioned the battery earlier and it was recommended not to. However when i open er up on Sunday I'll put that into the mix.truenorth