Help with fixing a desktop

01Chris02

01Chris02

01Chris02

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Joined
23 Jun 2009
Posts
20
Location
N. Ireland
Hey guys, so recently a friend asked me if I could remove a virus from her computer. The virus is fairly straight forward and removal should be easy with the help of a bootable disc (virus has affected safe mode) in which I can edit some files and change some registry entries. However, there appears to be some sort of bios corruption.. :-S

Here are some specs of the system...

Dell Dimension 2400
• x1 IDE 80GB HDD (connected through primary master)
• x2 CD-ROM Drives (connected through secondary master and slave)
• x1 Floppy Drive
• x2 USB slots on the motherboard

The system has no SATA connections or an alternate method of connecting the CD ROMs or DVD Drives. So far I have attempted to load the XP disc, GParted, Bootable Ubunto, Bootable Windows XP and numerous other bootable discs in all of the CD drives and DVD drives I own (4 different drives so far). On top of that I switched around the primary, secondary, slave and master arrangements for the drives and it still won't load.

Bios settings do not automatically detect the IDE CD drives and only detect the Hard Drive and Floppy Drive.

The boot settings are all correct, and boot order is correct.

I have removed all power to the motherboard and reset all settings, the board doesn't appear to have any obvious jumper connections, however there is a few extra pins where the I/O cable meets the motherboard but only two pins. :S

Eventually I gave up on the CD drives and began looking to other bootable methods, as it turns out the bios rejects USB devices and floppy discs also!

So what do you guys think I should do? Personally I think the Bios must be corrupted, which I can't update because bootable things don't work!

Anyone had this problem?

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Any problems I can help with in return of the favour? :)
 
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If it has infects safe mode then that would be a pretty hardcore virus no? Would you both not prefer to totally wipe the drive and start over; it may even be quicker then having to fiddle around with anything else, plus you will KNOW you have got rid of the thing
 
SoildSnake said:
If it has infects safe mode then that would be a pretty hardcore virus no? Would you both not prefer to totally wipe the drive and start over; it may even be quicker then having to fiddle around with anything else, plus you will KNOW you have got rid of the thing
Click to expand...

Well to be honest I think the computer has been online without antivirus for a period of time and i suspect there is more than one virus. I would gladly wipe the thing but my friend doesn't want me to wipe it.

Anyone have any idea what's going on with the Bios? That's what's really worrying me to be honest.
 
Tried the clear CMOS jumper, or battery removal? Sounds pretty old - mobo could just be dead/dying. I lost secondary IDE on my old A8N SLI, for example. You tried a CD drive in primary with the working HDD?
 
Liampope said:
Tried the clear CMOS jumper, or battery removal? Sounds pretty old - mobo could just be dead/dying. I lost secondary IDE on my old A8N SLI, for example. You tried a CD drive in primary with the working HDD?
Click to expand...

Yeah battery removal showed no difference and switching the CDROMs to primary and still not booting. The Motherboard is old but not ancient, from 2003 from dell. :P

I've also thought of trying a bios firmware update but the catch is it runs off a bootable floppy disc. So how the heck do I update it? :P
 
Yes, I agree with Dogsbody. Pull the HD and reinstall or repair it on another PC might be the simpler option. Otherwise it might be time to get a new PC ?
 
fk506 said:
Yes, I agree with Dogsbody. Pull the HD and reinstall or repair it on another PC might be the simpler option. Otherwise it might be time to get a new PC ?
Click to expand...

Yeah and thanks but that doesn't address the issue of the motherboard? Is this issue solvable?
 
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