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HELP! AMD Catalyst update broke my PC - How best to reinstall Windows 7?
MilesAhead:
One thing I didn't think to ask. Does the mother board also have a built in video chip set? Sometimes there is video built into the motherboard but a graphics card is added for better performance and the dedicated video ram. If there is a video output connector that does not go to the card it may be possible to remove the card and still have a working computer.
That way you could keep it as a guinea pig machine without spending any money on it. Assuming the cleaning does not permanently fix the issue.
dr_andus:
One thing I didn't think to ask. Does the mother board also have a built in video chip set? Sometimes there is video built into the motherboard but a graphics card is added for better performance and the dedicated video ram. If there is a video output connector that does not go to the card it may be possible to remove the card and still have a working computer.
That way you could keep it as a guinea pig machine without spending any money on it. Assuming the cleaning does not permanently fix the issue.
-MilesAhead (September 14, 2015, 08:21 AM)
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I'm not sure where to look to find that out. I checked in "System Information" and couldn't find anything. But I suspect that the answer is no. My PC did come with a VGA port and an HDMI port, but they both seem to be dead. Instead, when I first unpacked the PC, the instructions said to use the enclosed "DVI to VGA adapters" to plug my two VGA monitors directly into the video card's DVI ports.
Then when I wanted to add a third monitor years later, I had to use a "DisplayPort to VGA adapter/converter" to also plug into the video card. That's when my troubles started, as the DisplayPort adapter would occasionally fail, and then I would unplug and replug it to get it going again. Possibly the AMD card didn't like that, and it's also possible that all that plugging/unplugging dislodged the card a bit (and maybe that's why reinserting it fixed my problems this time).
But it's also possible that three monitors is just too much for this video card. They are all of different age, brands, and models. Since the clean reinstall I have only added one monitor, so maybe that's why it's playing nicely so far.
But in any case, this will now become my secondary backup and testing machine (as you suggested), as I'm taking the opportunity to upgrade and also untether myself from the desk. I'll be getting an HP ZBook 14 G2 Mobile Workstation instead.
dr_andus:
Just make sure to do at least one full disk image before starting, ... because if you lose any files during the process you should be able to mount the backup images to recover them, (at least with Paragon or AOMEI Backupper [..]
-4wd (September 07, 2015, 08:09 PM)
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did this lately with AOMEI Backupper (free version . created image backup + mounted to recover files). I restored OS partition from image a couple of times as well. Was much relieved that everything worked, as I hadn't done a restore of an image in years.
-tomos (September 08, 2015, 10:21 AM)
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Tom, 4wd - this is probably a stupid question but I don't know anything about restoring files from an image. I've just done a clean install of Win7, so everything has been wiped. Can I still use my AOMEI Backupper system image to selectively restore certain software to the Program Files and some of my data folders (My Documents and User)? Or is that not possible or advisable?
I also have copies of these folders on an external drive, so I could also just drag and drop them back in their place. Or would that mess things up?
Or is it best to reinstall software from scratch, and then drag and drop the "My Documents" data for them?
dr_andus:
When I tried to use keyboard arrows to navigate the menu, BIOS would go crazy and the cursor would start cycling through the menu items at huge speed and then I would have to hit enter or escape to stop it, at which point it would stop at a seemingly random menu item, but never the one I wanted, so it took me forever even to just cancel operations and get out of there.-dr_andus (September 11, 2015, 04:41 AM)
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Sounds like the keyboard has sticking keys but one thing you could do is change the CMOS battery, (normally a CR2032), it's probably nothing to do with the problem but if you haven't changed it previously, then 5 years is a long time considering there's no knowing what state the battery was in to start with.
-4wd (September 11, 2015, 05:14 AM)
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Now that I can finally access my System Information, I was able to check that my BIOS version is
American Megatrends Inc. P01-B1, 23/03/2010
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This seems to be older than the versions available for my PC model on the Acer support page:
HELP! AMD Catalyst update broke my PC - How best to reinstall Windows 7?
Would it be worthwhile for me to upgrade to the latest version? I'm a bit worried about the red text though, as this is something that I have also never done before. Although what's the worst thing that could happen? Another clean install? Or could it permanently brick the machine?
4wd:
This seems to be older than the versions available for my PC model on the Acer support page:
[ Invalid Attachment ]
Would it be worthwhile for me to upgrade to the latest version? I'm a bit worried about the red text though, as this is something that I have also never done before. Although what's the worst thing that could happen? Another clean install? Or could it permanently brick the machine?-dr_andus (September 14, 2015, 06:20 PM)
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Looks like the top two updates, (2010/04/19 & 2010/06/28), were trying to fix problems with keyboards which may be what you experienced when going into BIOS.
If a BIOS update screws up then the machine becomes a brick unless it's fitted with Dual BIOS, (the second BIOS takes over in the case where the first becomes corrupt).
I've never had a problem doing a BIOS update, (which considering I live in a power outage prone area is almost a miracle), but if you're not comfortable with it you can always grab the machine, a copy of the BIOS update, and take them down to the local computer shop and get them to perform it.
All manufacturers give a warning notice regarding BIOS updates, it's part of their CYA policy.
That said, if you're not experiencing any problems in your day-to-day use of the computer that would be fixed by doing the BIOS update, then don't consider it a necessity that needs to happen.
I just did a BIOS update on mine within the last few days, it was three versions behind, it wasn't to fix anything on my machine, (just added support for CPUs I'll never have) - I just don't like being that far out of sync with the latest update ... it's a techie thing ;D
Can I still use my AOMEI Backupper system image to selectively restore certain software to the Program Files and some of my data folders (My Documents and User)? Or is that not possible or advisable?
I also have copies of these folders on an external drive, so I could also just drag and drop them back in their place. Or would that mess things up?
Or is it best to reinstall software from scratch, and then drag and drop the "My Documents" data for them?-dr_andus (September 14, 2015, 06:02 PM)
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You need to reinstall software from scratch, unless they're portable programs, in which case just copy them across to wherever you want them. Documents can be copied across to your new Documents/Pictures/Videos/Music/etc folders.
If you want to copy them from the backup image, install AOMEI Backupper, then under one of the options down the left side, (I think it's Utilities(?) - don't have it installed at the moment), you have the option to Mount (could be Explore) an image. Selecting that will let you choose your backup image which the program will then mount under a drive letter so you can access it through Explorer or some other file manager.
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