The BIOS- How to...?

[~ FreeSpirit ~]

Hi, one of you gave me the URL for the manual for the MB on my HP PC on 1/7.
I downloaded what HP claims was the manual for the MB. However the manual
is nothing but some spec's for the MB with no information on how to enter
the BIOS or make changes there.

IOW what's called a manual is a just a spec sheet. The MB mgf site doesn't
not list the MB on this 18 month old PC. Where else can this information be
located?

FS~

 

[Ted Zieglar]

1. Contact the manufacturer of your computer.
2. Ask them "How do I enter the BIOS of my computer?"
3. Ask them "Do you have any information that I could read about the
settings in my computer's BIOS?"

Ted Zieglar.

 

[~ FreeSpirit ~]

1. Contact the manufacturer of your computer.
2. Ask them "How do I enter the BIOS of my computer?"
3. Ask them "Do you have any information that I could read about the
settings in my computer's BIOS?"

===============================
It's out of warranty but I called them anyway. To get into the BIOS (on a
HP Desktop) it's tap F1 as it boots - he walked me through resetting the
BIOS to the default setting. We'll see if that works. There is no manual
available for my MB.

I notice when techs here reply to people they assume the PCs mfg.'s give
manuals. Unfortunately they don't.

Thanks....

FS~

 

[Bob Harris]

Most PC makers do not want users to change BIOS settings, since a "bad"
choice can stop the computer from booting. PC makers often act like all
they owe the user is how to restore the PC to the day of delivery. Some may
support user-upgrades, but others do not.

So, you are on your own. Options of what to do next include:

1. Contact the PC maker, and hope thye are in a good mood.

2. Read the FAQs and other info on the PC maker web site. Some
problems/upgrades are often addressed in little bullitens.

3. Look for more generic info elsewhere. Try a web search on "BIOS guide"
for example.

4. Use the mnaual for a similar PC or motherboard.

5. Look on the CD(s) that came with the PC for a PDF version of a manual or
guide. And, look for the same on the hard drive. It might be there.

6. Use a free tool to tell you about the hardware. it will not give you
BIOS settings, but you might learn something useful. AIDA32 was my favorite
tool. Everest is a supported tool that is replacing AIDA. Sandra (the free
version) is also pretty good.

NOTE: Whatever you do, be sure to write down all the old BIOS settings
before you change them, or you may never be able to restore the PC to
working order. If you have a digital camera, take pictures of the BIOS
screens.

 

[~ FreeSpirit ~]

Most PC makers do not want users to change BIOS settings, since a "bad"
choice can stop the computer from booting. PC makers often act like all
they owe the user is how to restore the PC to the day of delivery. Some may
support user-upgrades, but others do not.

## HP has us burn our own DVD disks to do a reinstall of the OS. It's
pathetic. Should we need that DVD and it has some error we are screwed.
We had our 1st PC custom made and got the W95 CD with the PC. I wish we
knew someone we trusted to make the next PCs but alas,... the man had moved
and we were stuck buying them at CompUSA.

So, you are on your own. Options of what to do next include:

1. Contact the PC maker, and hope thye are in a good mood.

## Yes, the HP tech walked me through resetting the BIOS to default, not
that anyone changed anything there. He said something added or removed from
the PC since I purchased it may have changed some setting..... ??!?!?!?! I
couldn't resolve the problem of the monitor waking up constantly i.e. the
Monitor Power thing would not work correctly and Standby stopped working
after a few months. We've been too busy to see if this change fixed these
two problems.

2. Read the FAQs and other info on the PC maker web site. Some
problems/upgrades are often addressed in little bullitens.

## I can look, but am a hopeless cause when it comes to finding things on
websites. :-( I never seem to type in the right words to find what I
want.

3. Look for more generic info elsewhere. Try a web search on "BIOS guide"
for example.

## Yes, some tech here already gave me the URLs for some really good sites
covering BIOS info.

4. Use the mnaual for a similar PC or motherboard.

## There is no manual for this PC's MB and saw none that looked close. We
looked both on the HP and the American Megatrends websites.

5. Look on the CD(s) that came with the PC for a PDF version of a manual or
guide. And, look for the same on the hard drive. It might be there.

## A SEARCH finds nothing under American Megatrends. I don't know
how/where else to look. Typing in BIOS brings up what looks like a bunch of
meaningless HTML code. Nothing that resembles a manual. I don't know how
to search the DVD we burned (to do a restore of the OS) when we got the PC.

6. Use a free tool to tell you about the hardware. it will not give you
BIOS settings, but you might learn something useful. AIDA32 was my favorite
tool. Everest is a supported tool that is replacing AIDA. Sandra (the free
version) is also pretty good.

## I'm not sure what you mean "tell you about the hardware." I use Belarc
Advisor which shows everything on the PC, everything!. Is that what you're
talking about?

NOTE: Whatever you do, be sure to write down all the old BIOS settings
before you change them, or you may never be able to restore the PC to
working order. If you have a digital camera, take pictures of the BIOS
screens.

## Thanks for this information. All the HP tech had me do was reset the
default and get out of there. People on these MS NGs suggest people make
changes to the BIOS when most of us (general PC users) are not qualified to
make such changes safely.

FS~
Completely FREE software:
http://www.pricelessware.org/thelist/index.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[David Candy]

You don't need to trust anyone. Their only skill is tightening screws. Specify the parts and get anyone to screw them together.

 

[~ FreeSpirit ~]

"David Candy" <.> wrote in message
You don't need to trust anyone. Their only skill is tightening screws.
Specify the parts and get anyone to screw them together.
=================
David, not every component will work with every other component. I think
you know that. You have to know what works with what. Filling a cart at
CompUSA with a motherboard, a HD, RAM, CD-ROM drive etc... putting it all
together and having it work just doesn't happen. I once picked up the
"wrong" RAM for my husband's old PC and had to make a 75 mi round trip for
the right one....

FS~