A Very Perplexing Quandary

**MSFixR** · 03-17-2009, 01:39 PM

I ordered a new computer to replace an existing ten year old one on one of our instruments. The new computer is from a well known supplier of cheap computers whose name I will not divulge so I’ll just call them “Bell”. The computer was delivered with Windows XP Professional, service pack 3 installed. Actually the description in the order documents states “Genuine Windows Vista Business Bonus – Windows XP Professional downgrade”. (Personally I consider XP to be an upgrade over Vista, but that is another story.)
I had been advised by the OEM (original equipment manufacturer) of the instrument that their software would not run without incident under XP SP3, but I had been told that by other OEMs and it had proven incorrect. Besides, I thought that if worse came to worse, I could dump the XP SP3 and install XP SP2 for which I have disks. Well, I was wrong. The OEM’s application has problems running under XP SP3. So the next logical step was to replace XP SP3 with XP SP2 which the OEM says is ok. Well, it seems that this computer will not accept any disk other than the original distribution disk giving a bogus virus message if another OS disk is booted. Although “Bell” technical support would not tell me how to circumvent the problem claiming it was a Microsoft problem, they did say that the disk key is on the mother board (BIOS ROM, I presume, although I flashed the BIOS, but that didn’t help). So, has anyone else encountered this situation and worked out a solution?

P.S. There are at least ten pages of how to replace Vista with XP on Google but none that I viewed deal with this specific type of situation.

**mced** · 03-17-2009, 02:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MSFixR

Well, it seems that this computer will not accept any disk other than the original distribution disk giving a bogus virus message if another OS disk is booted. Although “Bell” technical support would not tell me how to circumvent the problem claiming it was a Microsoft problem, they did say that the disk key is on the mother board (BIOS ROM, I presume, although I flashed the BIOS, but that didn’t help).

They are right, it's the BIOS. But it's strange that a self-called "technical support" cannot solve such that easy problem.

Every modern BIOS has an "antivirus" feature: every time the disk "Master Boot Record" is to be changed, BIOS gives that message (some years ago, some viruses were using this type of attack; nowadays is almost deprecated). But changing the Master Boot Record is mandatory when installing an operating system from scratch.

So all you have to do is disable it. On a classic Award/Phoenix BIOS, look into the "Advanced BIOS Features" submenu. There's an option called ...

"Virus Warning"
"Boot Sector Protection"
"BIOS Flash Protection"

... or something like that.

When you finish installing Windows, during one of those countless reboots, just enable it again, if you want.

**MSFixR** · 03-17-2009, 03:27 PM

An excellent idea, mced, thanks. The suggestion of resetting the MBR was made (by one of our IT people) and tried but not the disabling of the virus check. I just looked in the setup but didn't see it. Maybe they hid it away for just the reason I want to use it. I'll look in more detail tomorrow.

**MSFixR** · 03-19-2009, 08:50 AM

Alas, this setup is quite different from the ones of yore; no reference to BIOS virus or boot sector protection can be found. Likewise in repair mode there is only FIXMBR and FIXBOOT neither of which had the desired effect. Short of any other suggestions, I'll delete the partition and reset the MBR/Boot sectors with the original distribution disk, then try to start up the computer with the SP2 disk. I guess I could call Microsoft, but I doubt they will be any more helpful than the "Bell" people.

**mced** · 03-19-2009, 10:56 AM

What options can you find in the main menu?

**MSFixR** · 03-19-2009, 11:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mced

What options can you find in the main menu?

The usual things relating to the system, memory, peripherals, etc. Nothing mentioning BIOS. Under the Security tab there are Admin and System Passwords, Password Changes, Chassis Intrusion and Execute Disable. The last item was unfamiliar so I tried switching it off but it made no difference.

**mced** · 03-20-2009, 04:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MSFixR

Nothing mentioning BIOS.

There's no need for that.

I can't believe that someone has include a BIOS MBR alert and no way to disable it. If I were you, I would return that computer.

How do you access BIOS?

**MSFixR** · 03-20-2009, 07:39 PM

One of our semi-independent IT guys (the smartest one of the group, as far as I'm concerned) researched the situation and discovered that the SATA hard drive requires a special driver which is present on the SP3 distribution disk but not on the SP2 disk. That is why the "virus" message was being generated - it had nothing to do with viruses or preservation of the Vista/XP OS. Why the "Bell" tech support guy I initially talked to didn't suggest that I don't know although in all honesty none of our usual computer support people suggested it either. Anyway, I was able to repartition and reformat the HD and put the XP OS with SP 2 on the computer this afternoon. Next week I'll load the other drivers, add the extra cards and application software and try it out. If everything looks good at that point, then comes the fun part - rewriting all the old methods and testing them out.

P.S. This is a new model for "Bell" - T3400. Its not a gamer computer but it is pretty souped up and is being rather heavily discounted. I guess with the recession, computers aren't selling very well. T3400 - sounds like something out of the terminator series - better keep the AI software off it.

03-17-2009, 01:39 PM	#1 (permalink)
MSFixR Moderate Moderator Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Dante's Inferno, Circle 5 Posts: 13,281 My Profile	A Very Perplexing Quandary I ordered a new computer to replace an existing ten year old one on one of our instruments. The new computer is from a well known supplier of cheap computers whose name I will not divulge so I’ll just call them “Bell”. The computer was delivered with Windows XP Professional, service pack 3 installed. Actually the description in the order documents states “Genuine Windows Vista Business Bonus – Windows XP Professional downgrade”. (Personally I consider XP to be an upgrade over Vista, but that is another story.) I had been advised by the OEM (original equipment manufacturer) of the instrument that their software would not run without incident under XP SP3, but I had been told that by other OEMs and it had proven incorrect. Besides, I thought that if worse came to worse, I could dump the XP SP3 and install XP SP2 for which I have disks. Well, I was wrong. The OEM’s application has problems running under XP SP3. So the next logical step was to replace XP SP3 with XP SP2 which the OEM says is ok. Well, it seems that this computer will not accept any disk other than the original distribution disk giving a bogus virus message if another OS disk is booted. Although “Bell” technical support would not tell me how to circumvent the problem claiming it was a Microsoft problem, they did say that the disk key is on the mother board (BIOS ROM, I presume, although I flashed the BIOS, but that didn’t help). So, has anyone else encountered this situation and worked out a solution? P.S. There are at least ten pages of how to replace Vista with XP on Google but none that I viewed deal with this specific type of situation.

03-17-2009, 03:27 PM	#3 (permalink)
MSFixR Moderate Moderator Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Dante's Inferno, Circle 5 Posts: 13,281 My Profile	An excellent idea, mced, thanks. The suggestion of resetting the MBR was made (by one of our IT people) and tried but not the disabling of the virus check. I just looked in the setup but didn't see it. Maybe they hid it away for just the reason I want to use it. I'll look in more detail tomorrow.

03-19-2009, 08:50 AM	#4 (permalink)
MSFixR Moderate Moderator Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Dante's Inferno, Circle 5 Posts: 13,281 My Profile	Alas, this setup is quite different from the ones of yore; no reference to BIOS virus or boot sector protection can be found. Likewise in repair mode there is only FIXMBR and FIXBOOT neither of which had the desired effect. Short of any other suggestions, I'll delete the partition and reset the MBR/Boot sectors with the original distribution disk, then try to start up the computer with the SP2 disk. I guess I could call Microsoft, but I doubt they will be any more helpful than the "Bell" people.

03-19-2009, 10:56 AM	#5 (permalink)
mced Cannot live without Love Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Spain Posts: 2,136 My Profile	What options can you find in the main menu?

03-20-2009, 07:39 PM	#8 (permalink)
MSFixR Moderate Moderator Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Dante's Inferno, Circle 5 Posts: 13,281 My Profile	One of our semi-independent IT guys (the smartest one of the group, as far as I'm concerned) researched the situation and discovered that the SATA hard drive requires a special driver which is present on the SP3 distribution disk but not on the SP2 disk. That is why the "virus" message was being generated - it had nothing to do with viruses or preservation of the Vista/XP OS. Why the "Bell" tech support guy I initially talked to didn't suggest that I don't know although in all honesty none of our usual computer support people suggested it either. Anyway, I was able to repartition and reformat the HD and put the XP OS with SP 2 on the computer this afternoon. Next week I'll load the other drivers, add the extra cards and application software and try it out. If everything looks good at that point, then comes the fun part - rewriting all the old methods and testing them out. P.S. This is a new model for "Bell" - T3400. Its not a gamer computer but it is pretty souped up and is being rather heavily discounted. I guess with the recession, computers aren't selling very well. T3400 - sounds like something out of the terminator series - better keep the AI software off it.

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