Marsha wrote:
> When I turn on my computer I sometimes get a black screen with eMachines
> logo and two options at the bottom, one is Bios and I believe the other is
> Setup. After I turn it off and turn it back on a few times it will start
> correctly. What would cause this? What files should be backed up to a
> external hard drive in case of a crash? Help appreciated
> Thanks,
> Marsha
>
>
That's a classic symptom of a failing power supply. This is common with
eMachines. eMachines also have a nasty habit of when their power
supplies die, everything else dies too. So it is really important that
you back up to external media. Here is some general information about
backing up:
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Backing_Up
Standard caveat: Of course since I can't see your computer you shouldn't
take this as a definitive diagnosis and may want to take your machine to
a local computer repair shop (not a BigComputerStore/GeekSquad type of
place).
As for backup, only you can answer that question because only you know
what you have. In general, you back up your data: documents,
spreadsheets, pictures, music, Favorites/Bookmarks, email, etc. You
don't back up programs since they would need to be reinstalled anyway
after a clean install of the operating system.
Malke
--
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"
MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User