Problem with having 4 GB memory

marcellusmighty said:

So far it looks like the only way to fix the problem is to update the BIOS. However, the only way to update the BIOS (since BIOSTAR won't do it) is to subscribe to the BIOS Agent Plus service from Phoenix. Of course my father wouldn't go for the $40 subscription... he paid $40 for the memory alone! Does anyone have any other suggestions?

I agree, i have just tried this as I have a Phoenix BIOS.

I have been directed from eSupport.com to http://biosagentplus.com/ and directed to download 'BiosAgentPlus'. Once downloaded & run i can hear what sounds like police chatter, radio chatter & adverts on my speakers (no kidding), i'm then directed to a page that indicates that my BIOS can be updated. I then get kicked quarely in the boll*x as you can see from the 2 screenshot of my task manager.

CHECK OUT THE IEXPLORER.EXE ENTRIES!!!

Steer WELL CLEAR of it completely.....

If you wan't a laugh then here is a copy of an e-mail i've just sent to their support division.

Dear Support division,

What in f**ks name do you scam mongers think you are playing at?!?!?!

I've just had to recover my system, E System EI 3101 after running BIOSAgentPlus. Shortly after installing & running it I was (very, and angrily) surprised to hear police/radio chatter & adverts playing on my speakers. Then countless internet popups started appearing all over my screen, which i immediately closed down. I was then faced with the inconcievable thought of paying to update the BIOS on a system that I'd paid cold, hard cash for.

If that wasn't enough! I thought I'd check task manager to what sh*t was running after you'd nearly scammed me. An to my absolute f**king horror I had no less than 55 (YES 55!!!) entries for iexplorer.exe (see attatched pictures).

This is no doubt the worst scam site i've ever visited & you have been reported to the makers of Avast!, Norton, McAfee & other anti-virus & anti-spam software.

Angrily yours

"Someone extremely PI$$ED OFF"

Now, every time I start IE there are 100s of iexplorer.exe entries. Oh well, better format my system

marcellusmighty said:

That is the only thing I am afraid of. Do I have to use the BIOS Biostar gave? This Phoenix-Award BIOS? Why not use the Intel website's BIOS for the general chipset? (although none seem to want to operate from the express update option within Windows)

Phoenix -Award wrote the bios updates for that board specifically provided through Biostar. The only you would get from the Intel site is the chipset drivers not any bios update written for Biostar there. Instead they carry bios updates for Intel's own boards which may Award, AMI, or by someone else.

I think you guys are going to be looking at another board manufacturer for the next build that provides "free of charge" updates and utilities rather then going through these problems!

I've been running Asus boards for some time and haven't seen a need to reflash the bios on the present board as well as on the last build at any time. But they certainly see an excellent support site when comparing their's to others.

Sometimes it seems like it takes forever to log onto their site there but it's well laid out with an easy to use selection process for item board or other, series, model niumber, and then bringing you to the main page for that model seeing the user manual links as well as all drivers or each by catagory. That includes bios updates and awdflash and other utilities like their temp probe.

Asus has also had a good rep for a long time with gamers there. Unfortunately they still have a few of their own lemons there at times! One new build worked went through 3 boards all worthless scrap upon arrival seeing one model replaced with another still going strong there however. Bad batch!