Thanks wolfram but due to doing the security procedure recommended here as the first attempt to fix the problem system restore was turned off.
Now worries, though. I decided this particular computer was not worth the aggrivation (the MB/BIOS is quite old). I've given up on the repair attempt and thrown out the MB (as well as the two others like it after trying their BIOS's). Geeze, I guess the wife is going to get a new computer after all. :haha: Well, I'll get a good nights sleep after dealing with this thing for a week.
But thanks for the suggestion.