Enter BIOS on a Dell PC?

Bill Watt · Dec 3, 2006

Trying to get into the BIOS on a 3 month old Dell PC with XP Home. A
relative's machine.
I've tried the F10, F1, Delete, Esc keys with no luck.
F8 gets the Boot Menu but I don't see it there. There is no keyboard
key telling what to use for entering the BIOS when booting.

The machine frequently goes to a blue screen with suggestions which
I have tried. The blue screen comes up when booting and/or shutting
down and sometimes when surfing the net. Also in Safe Mode.
It's been doing this since it was new 3 months ago.
Tried looking for problems in Control Panel. No help. Checked disk
for errors and it's ok.

Tried a logged boot but couldn't find a Bootlog.txt file or one that
resembled it.

The one suggestion on the blue screen that is common to both Normal
and Safe mode is to disable caching in the BIOS. Actually it's the
only suggestion in Safe Mode.

Anyone know how to get into the BIOS on a Dell?

Thanks for any suggestions.

Regards,

Bill Watt
Win98 Computer Help & Other Information http://home.ptd.net/~bwatt/

NewScience · Dec 3, 2006

All the Dell's I've worked on in the last 2 years has been using the Del key
(NumLock off). As soon as the monitor comes on, keep hitting the Del key.

Who installed the Windows XP Home .... Dell?

Bert Kinney · Dec 3, 2006

Hi Bill,

Try F2, that's what my Dell uses.

Sense this has been going on from day one, I would suggest contacting
Dell tech support while the system is under warranty.

Regards,
Bert Kinney MS-MVP Shell/User
http://bertk.mvps.org
Member: http://dts-l.org

Bill Watt · Dec 3, 2006

Sorry, I should have mentioned that.
It came with XP Home installed. Because of the problem I have
re-installed it with the Restore CD that came with it. That resulted
in no sound but I installed the drivers from the Driver CD that came
with it and got the sound back. After that the machine worked fine
for several days then the blue screen started coming up again.

Thanks for the information, I'll try that again.

Regards,

Bill Watt
Win98 Computer Help & Other Information http://home.ptd.net/~bwatt/
________________________________________________

mae · Dec 3, 2006

Bill Watt · Dec 3, 2006

Hi Bert,

I'm still using 98SE but I'm finding my way around XP.

F2 is one I didn't try, but I will.

I think they did call Dell but no resolve, they are about ready to
send it back. I'll make the call this time, I'm sure it can be
resolved.

Regards,

Bill Watt
Win98 Computer Help & Other Information http://home.ptd.net/~bwatt/
_____________________________________________________

Chuck · Dec 3, 2006

It sounds like the computer has a hardware problem. In any event, I'd return
it, since the time that you can do so is limited.
It really should have been returned as soon as the blue screen problem
became obvious.

I'm assuming that nothing unusual software wise was loaded into the
computer.

"The machine frequently goes to a blue screen with suggestions which
I have tried. The blue screen comes up when booting and/or shutting
down and sometimes when surfing the net. Also in Safe Mode.
It's been doing this since it was new 3 months ago."

Gerry Cornell · Dec 3, 2006

Bill

What is the BSOD Error report?

--

Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England

Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bert Kinney · Dec 3, 2006

Hi Bill,

I thought the name looked familiar from the Win98 days!

I agree, if you make the call to Dell the chances of correcting the
problem go way up!

Regards,
Bert Kinney MS-MVP Shell/User
http://bertk.mvps.org
Member: http://dts-l.org

Bill Watt · Dec 3, 2006

Bill

What is the BSOD Error report?

Here's what the blue screen said:
"A problem has been detected. Windows has been shut down to prevent
damage.
Invalid_Work_Queue_Item."

Then it goes on to say:
Make sure any new hardware or software is properly installed.
If problems continue disable or remove any newly installed hardware
or software. ( note: there is nothing new. )
Disable BIOS memory options such as caching or shadowing.
Tech info: STOP ( memory addresses )
Ndis.sys Address: (more memory addresses )
Begriming dump of physical memory. Dump completed.

Regards,

Bill Watt
Win98 Computer Help & Other Information http://home.ptd.net/~bwatt/

Bill Watt · Dec 3, 2006

More info at end

The machine frequently goes to a blue screen with suggestions which
I have tried. The blue screen comes up when booting and/or shutting
down and sometimes when surfing the net. Also in Safe Mode.
It's been doing this since it was new 3 months ago.
Tried looking for problems in Control Panel. No help. Checked disk
for errors and it's ok.

Here's what the blue screen said, OS is XP home:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"A problem has been detected. Windows has been shut down to prevent
damage.
Invalid_Work_Queue_Item."

Then it goes on to say:
Make sure any new hardware or software is properly installed.
If problems continue disable or remove any newly installed hardware
or software. ( note: there is nothing new. )
Disable BIOS memory options such as caching or shadowing.
Tech info: STOP ( memory addresses )
Ndis.sys Address: (more memory addresses )
Beginning dump of physical memory. Dump completed.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
XP was re-installed from the Restore CD. Problem went away for
several days but no sound. Using the Driver CD that came with it I
restored the sound. Blue screen began appearing again. Sound ok.

I see no memory caching or shadowing settings in the BIOS.

The DVD CD never worked but the other CD does. The error message for
the DVD drive is "codecs incompatible for this CD". Device Manager
say it working ok.

I have disabled it in Device Manager and the BIOS, so we'll see. The
other CDrom that came with it is a DVD and CDrom burner.

They have the extended warranty that includes sending a Tech to the
house. When they call Support they get a run around and say they
will call back. They always call back when nobody is home.

If disabling the DVD drive doesn't help I'll bring the machine here
and then call Support.

XP was originally installed by Dell.

Thanks for all the input.

Regards,

Bill Watt
Win98 Computer Help & Other Information http://home.ptd.net/~bwatt/

Gazoo0 · Dec 3, 2006

Take out everything, except one memory stick. Cd drive, extra memory, extra
hard drives, printers, card readers etc. Reboot, try the machine, then
replace the removed items, one at a time. Reboot each time. If its a
hardware issue, removing the offending piece of hardware should fix your
problem. When you add the offending piece of hardware to the system, your
problem should show up again.

Gazoo0

Bill Watt · Dec 4, 2006

Take out everything, except one memory stick. Cd drive, extra memory, extra
hard drives, printers, card readers etc. Reboot, try the machine, then
replace the removed items, one at a time. Reboot each time. If its a
hardware issue, removing the offending piece of hardware should fix your
problem. When you add the offending piece of hardware to the system, your
problem should show up again.

Gazoo0

It may have been the DVD drive. They have used it for over an hour
since I disabled it without a problem. The other drive is a DVD and
CDRW. They will try that one and see if it plays DVD's. Both drives
came with the machine.

I'll post progress when I'm sure.

Thanks,

Regards,

Bill Watt
Win98 Computer Help & Other Information http://home.ptd.net/~bwatt/

Gerry Cornell · Dec 4, 2006

Bill

You're still not providing the full error report i.e. the bit at the
beginning. There are codes that can be interpreted.

Disable automatic restart on system failure. This should help by
allowing time to write down the STOP code properly. Right click
on the My Computer icon on the Desktop and select Properties,
Advanced, StartUp and Recovery, System Failure and uncheck
box before Automatically Restart.

Do not re-enable automatic restart on system failure until you have
resolved the problem. Check for variants of the Stop Error message.

There will also be Error Reports in Event Viewer. Please post copies.

You can access Event Viewer by selecting Start, Administrative Tools,
Event Viewer. When researching the meaning of the error, information
regarding Event ID, Source and Description are important.

HOW TO: View and Manage Event Logs in Event Viewer in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;308427&Product=winxp

A tip for posting copies of Error Reports! Run Event Viewer and double
click on the error you want to copy. In the window, which appears is a
button resembling two pages. Double click the button and close Event
Viewer. Now start your message (email) and do a paste into the body of
the message. This will paste the info from the Event Viewer Error Report
complete with links into the message. Make sure this is the first paste
after exiting from Event Viewer.

Are there any yellow question marks in Device Manager? Right click on
the My Computer icon on your Desktop and select Properties. Hardware,
Device Manager. If yes what is the Device Error code?

--

Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England

Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bill Watt · Dec 5, 2006

Gerry,

What I posted is the complete error message shown on the blue
screen. It stays there until I power down and restart. I wrote it
all down. The only yellow question marks in Device manager were for
an unknown device. I had searched for new hardware and it found
none. Since I disabled the problematic DVD drive the machine is
working ok although Device Manager said it was working ok. I'll work
on that when this is resolved. They also have a DVD CDRW drive.

The error report to send to MS had this:
BCCode : 96 BCP1 : 85FF0CE0 BCP2 : 80563720 BCP3 :
80563720 BCP4 : F7386BF0 OSVer : 5_1_2600 SP : 2_0
Product : 768_1

If the problem comes back I'll check out the Event Viewer. In any
event I'll post back as soon as I'm sure one way or the other.

Thanks,

Bill Watt
Win98 Computer Help & Other Information http://home.ptd.net/~bwatt/
__________________________________________________

Gerry Cornell · Dec 5, 2006

Bill

Found this documentation:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/d..._f55acfed-3296-4e84-8885-c3162fd0ddbf.xml.asp

http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/w2kmsgs/1246.asp

Did the DVD drive come with the Dell as new or was it added by the user
after purchase?

--

Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England

Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Gazoo0 · Dec 6, 2006

My pleasure : )

Gazoo0

Bill Watt · Dec 6, 2006

Bill

Found this documentation:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/d..._f55acfed-3296-4e84-8885-c3162fd0ddbf.xml.asp

http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/w2kmsgs/1246.asp

Did the DVD drive come with the Dell as new or was it added by the user
after purchase?

Both CDroms came with the machine, a new Dell PC.

Looking into the docs you provided it looks like it may be a driver
problem.

Bug Check 0x96: INVALID_WORK_QUEUE_ITEM

It's been two days now with only one blue screen since disabling the
DVD drive. When I get over there again I'll check the Event Viewer.

When the blue screen is resolved for sure I'll try to install the
drivers for the DVD drive from the Driver CD that came with it. This
may shed some light on that problem.

Thanks,

Regards,

Bill Watt
Win98 Computer Help & Other Information http://home.ptd.net/~bwatt/

Bill Watt · Dec 9, 2006

SNIP

The machine frequently goes to a blue screen with suggestions which
I have tried. The blue screen comes up when booting and/or shutting
down and sometimes when surfing the net. Also in Safe Mode.
It's been doing this since it was new 3 months ago.
Tried looking for problems in Control Panel. No help. Checked disk
for errors and it's ok.

SNIP

Things were better after I disabled the DVD CD drive. But the blue
screen has come back, not as bad as before but no good. We are
calling Dell on Tuesday the 12 th. If no help they are sending it
back. They will request a Tech to come to the house which is
included in the extra warranty they purchased.

BTW they know of someone else who has had the same problem and they
finally gave up on Dell support. They just live with it, which we
won't.

I still have to get over there and look at the Event Viewer,
possibly over the weekend. I'll post it.

Thanks to all for the information and suggestions, I really
appreciate it.

Regards,

Bill Watt
Win98 Computer Help & Other Information http://home.ptd.net/~bwatt/

Gazoo0 · Dec 10, 2006

I had a similar problem on a Dell Lap top. The problem turned out to be a
bad memory stick, if there are two sticks of memory in the machine, try
taking them out and trying them individually. It might be the same problem.
I'm glad you are following through. No one should have to live with a
problem like that.

All the best
Ross T.

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Enter BIOS on a Dell PC?

Bill Watt

NewScience

Bert Kinney

Bill Watt

mae

Bill Watt

Chuck

Gerry Cornell

Bert Kinney

Bill Watt

Bill Watt

Gazoo0

Bill Watt

Gerry Cornell

Bill Watt

Gerry Cornell

Gazoo0

Bill Watt

Bill Watt

Gazoo0

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