A rather dangerous way of recovering from a failed BIOS update, such as one where the system hangs or reboots during the Flash memory write process. This process requires two working motherboards with similar chipsets, with socketed BIOS chips on both (if they're soldered in on both, you're most likely out of luck). The process is as follows...
1. Remove Flash chip from dead motherboard.
2. Loosen the Flash chip up in its socket on the working motherboard so it's very easy to pry out of its socket, yet still making contact (the system won't boot otherwise).
3. Boot the system with the working motherboard up, using a clean boot disk with the Flash utility and BIOS image file on it. Not the Windows boot disk, just a plain ol' format /s. Remove the chip from it, preferably using a nonmetallic chip puller.
4. Insert the Flash chip from the nonworking system into it, and run the flash update utility.
5. Pray.
6. If it works, exchange the chips back to their rightful owners. You should now have two working systems.
This procedure should ONLY be used as a last resort, as it can leave you with two DEAD systems.

For the past few years, on Mondays during school holidays when I'm home, I've been going to church with my mother, where a group of ladies gets together to sew quilts for Lutheran World Relief. The regulars are Mary, who just turned ninety, Helen and Nellie who are slightly younger, Mom, and me. Of late, the major source of amusement (other than gossip and reminiscing, of course), has been Mom's hot flashes. Her face gets red, she starts panting and fanning herself with her shirt, peeling off layers of clothing, and obsessively opening windows. When Mom asks, "Is it hot in here, or is it just me?" this is not an attempt at a bad pick-up line. Helen finds it all particularly amusing, as her husband Earl is also getting hot flashes; he takes hormone shots for his prostate trouble. They've all been through this already, of course.

Hot flashes, also called night sweats or, if you're feeling particularly pretentious, vasomotor disturbances, are a symptom usually associated with menopause, but any situation in which hormone levels are fluctuating can cause them; Earl's shots, for example, or a hysterectomy. They are actually caused by the body trying to cool itself. The changing hormone levels confuse the area of the hypothalamus that regulates body temperature, and it activates all of the body's cooling systems at once. Blood vessels near the skin dilate, rushing blood to the surface (hence vasomotor). Sweating. Panting. This makes the sufferer hot, but once it's started working, since they really didn't need the extra cooling, they get cold and shivery. In menopause, hot flashes occur with different frequency; Mom gets them very often. Particularly at odd hours of the night, which makes sneaking into my bedroom at four in the morning a futile effort.

The most common recommended treatment for hot flashes is Hormone Replacement Therapy. Mom tried this for a while; unfortunately, a possible side effect of HRT is, you guessed it, hot flashes. Now she takes black kohash supplements, which have low-dose plant-based phytoestrogens. Phytoestrogens are also touted in red clover (courtesy BlueDragon), and, of course, soy. Other suggestions are to get fat (it increases surface area to volume ratio and adds insulation), stop smoking, and exercise. At the moment, Mom is using the methods women have for ages untold: Dress in layers, fan yourself, eat lots of ice cream, have a sense of humor about yourself, and wait for it to end. After all, all things pass eventually.

This was cold comfort to me last Monday, bent over the quilting table with menstrual cramps.


Sources:
The Complete Medical Guide, Dr. Benjamin F. Miller
All New Medical Book of Remedies for People Over 50
And various web sites.

Log in or register to write something here or to contact authors.