Xref: utzoo comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware:7215 comp.sys.ibm.pc.misc:8228
Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!wuarchive!csus.edu!ucdavis!csusac!sactoh0!mholtz
From: mholtz@sactoh0.sac.ca.us (Mark A. Holtz)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware,comp.sys.ibm.pc.misc
Subject: EMERGENCY! Friend uses CMOS___, manages to clobber system
Message-ID: <1991Apr4.053701.3946@sactoh0.sac.ca.us>
Date: 4 Apr 91 05:37:01 GMT
Distribution: na
Organization: Sacramento Public Access Unix
Lines: 28

Boy, do I wish this was only an April Fool's joke.

I lent to a friend PC Magazine's "PC Power Tools" and the diskettes
with that book. This afternoon, I got one of those "URGENT: Call me
immediately, or else . . . " messages on my answering machine.
It turns out that he tried out some of the programs on the disk
without first consulting the book, and managed to rum CMOSPUT,
which clobbered his setup information. Now, when he boots up, he
gets "Wrong Version Number. Bad or Missing COMMAND.COM" (wording
not exact). No, he did not have backups. 

How do I get my friend going again? His system is a AT-286 clone
with AMI Bios and 640K of memory. He uses a 40MB hard drive,
partitioned into 2 - 20MB portions. The Video Card is a Hercules
clone.

#     # ####### #       ######    ###
#     # #       #       #     #   ###
#     # #       #       #     #   ###
####### #####   #       ######     #
#     # #       #       #
#     # #       #       #         ###
#     # ####### ####### #         ###
-- 
      Wish list of items:       /\  UUCP: ames att!pacbell!  \
  * Unix Box with Hard Drive    \/     pyramid sun!pacbell! -=> sactoh0!mholtz
  * 9600 Baud V.32/V.42 Modem   /\           ucbvax!csusac!  /
   * A much-needed vacation     \/ INTERNET: mholtz@sactoh0.SAC.CA.US