Wndows Me: the amazing shrinking images

[patio]

Has this BIOS ever been flashed ? ?

This is not what i am suggesting...just asking.

[Sid]

Hello,

My name is Richard; I work for the Dell Online Community Outreach group.  I wanted to comment on the issue you are experiencing.  If the screen appears to be shrinking you can try to use the FN+F7 key combination function.  This spreads the entire picture to the edges of the LCD display.

You mentioned that the hard drive came up with errors during the Dell diagnostics.  This is a clear indication that the drive is bad or going bad, thus it is no longer reliable.  The drive should be replaced before you reinstall Windows back on the system.

I hope that I have assisted you a little.  Good luck!

Regards,
Richard B
Dell Online Community Outreach

...Brave man.

I never go into forums that have anything to do with my work and suggest things, it will only bite you in the *censored*...

*Waits for biting to begin...*

[winlose]

If by "flash the BIOS" you mean have I pulled down my pants and, well,..... No, I haven't. Do you think it might help? It would certainly clearly express my feelings about working with windows. (I also can't get my USB mouse to work, but at least the touchpad does. Ooops, a tangent there.) If you meant something else by "flash the BIOS" I do not know what you mean. I just thought that Richard's comment my be referring to, well, you understand.

[patio]

No it's probably a good thing you haven't done it. There are many examples of people who have done this and reduced their machine to a doorstop. Best to leave it be as is.

An incomplete page as you describe it may be perfectly normal....not every page is a full page depending on the BIOS version....

Please clarify for us here though...since replacing the HDD are you saying you were able to re-install Windows and your games and the troubles have gone away ? ?

[winlose]

Yes Patio, the Windows Me is reinstalled, everything appears to mbe running fine. I guess I need a lost Logitech disk to reinstall the ancient wireless mouse but everything else seems good. The problem with the BIOS isn't that there is only the first page, or that it is both wrong and incomplete, or that you cannot maneuver on it at all, or that you cannot change pages or even escape that deeply flawed page without manually shutting down; the problem is that with the new HD all this is happening and even with my old bad drive (on which nothing else worked right) the BIOS worked fine, and it is a six pager. I do not understand why I am having this BIOS malfunction? Every thing is the same except for the new carbon-neutral, eco-friendly p.c. HD.

[patio]

No matter what hardware you add to a machine it should never affect the BIOS period.

If it is running fine i wouldn't worry.

But in the meantime grab a CMOS battery for that machine part # CR2032 about the size of a dime on the MBoard and replace it.

Any issues with the machine not keeping the correct time ? ?

[winlose]

No issues apart from my inability to reset the time, at least in the BIOS. The time itself appears to be correct and as it is a 12 hour clock it makes little difference. It is the date that is off.

 What is a CMOS battery and what do I do with it? I hope this has nothing to do with the flashing mentioned earlier.

I know that the hardware upgrade/fix should not have effected the BIOS which is why it bothers me.

[patio]

It has nothing to do with a BIOS flash...it's a small 3V battery that keeps the BIOS info stored in the ROM viable when the power is off...

Easy enough to replace and if you cannot set the time and get it to stay this is an indication the battery needs replaced.

[patio]

Looks kinda like this on your Motherboard...if you're wary of attempting it yourself enlist a friend who is familiar with it...takes about 2 minutes.

[winlose]

Thank you very much Patio. This will be my next replacement part. I'll let you know what happens.

[patio]

I forgot to mention...when working inside the case make sure all power sources are removed and take the neccessary anti-static precautions.

[DellCA]

I forgot to mention...when working inside the case make sure all power sources are removed and take the neccessary anti-static precautions.

One item I wanted to add to patio's suggestion is the online service manual.  If you need assistance working on the insides of the computer go to this link, http://support.dell.com/support/systemsinfo/documentation.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=gen&~cat=12&~subcat=86.  Good luck.

Best regards,

Richard B
Dell Online Community Outreach