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Welcome to the Landmark Web, your guide to the issues surrounding personal computing and effective use of your own PC. We've made many resources available here: from broad-based news and views about the computing industry to specific technical support for you and your computer. So dig in and learn more about your computer and the Internet with Landmark as your guide.

A virus ruined my motherboard

I always was told that viruses could not damage my hardware. Now I am told that a virus has destroyed my BIOS. How can this happen?

Just a few years ago, motherboard BIOS information was stored on an EPROM (Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory). The EPROM contents can only be erased or programmed using special equipment, because of this it was difficult to upgrade the BIOS to fix problems.

As motherboards evolved, designers starting using an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable PROM) to store the BIOS information. This allowed the motherboard BIOS to be easily changed to fit the increasing market of components and software. Since an EEPROM is programmed using a special software tool, it is more easily accessed by computer viruses.

Some recent computer viruses, like Chernobyl, can modify the EEPROM's data. Any changes made can render the motherboard inoperable. Most of the contemporary motherboards that we sell have a way to restore the original EEPROM code. Call us if you need help.