Looking for BIOS Update

Ben Myers <ben_myers@charter.net> wrote in
news:haehj5$mm8$1@news.eternal-september.org:

> Boris wrote:
>> Ben Myers <ben_myers@charter.net> wrote in
>> news:haat8h$2f8$1@news.eternal-september.org:
>>
>>> Boris wrote:
>>>> Ben Myers <ben_myers@charter.net> wrote in
>>>> news:ha8g2m$6f3$1@news.eternal-september.org:
>>>>
>>>>> Boris wrote:
>>>>>> Justin Thompson <Justin.Thompson@removethisntlworld.com> wrote in
>>>>>> news:jt2fc5t4oocoo6d1sm45463u2p61pqbfea@4ax.com:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> On Sat, 3 Oct 2009 17:06:08 +0000 (UTC), Boris
>>>>>>> <nospam@nospam.invalid> wrote:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> I've got P4, E4600, 1.6MHz desktop.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> The BIOS is version GB85010A.15A.0044.P12. I'm looking for an
>>>>>>>> update, but all I can find is the P13 version here.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> http://support.gateway.com/support/d...e.asp?id=16167
>>>>>>>> &dscr=Pentium%204%20BIOS%20update%20GB85010A%20P13 &uid=223985369
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Anyone know where I can find the P12 version?
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Thanks.
>>>>>>> Silly question - im sure - but you say you looking for an update
>>>>>>> - you have found an update... but then say you dont want it???
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> im confused
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I cant see any release notes from the link - so not sure what
>>>>>>> changed in v13, but in general - you should expect a later
>>>>>>> version to be better, more stable, recognise more CPUs etc. so
>>>>>>> why you not want it?
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Cheers
>>>>>>>
>>>>>> Hi,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I'm not aware that the P13 version is an update of the P12. I've
>>>>>> always seen updates called out at v.1, v.2, etc. But maybe
>>>>>> you're right. I'm not familiar with how Gateway numbers updates.
>>>>>> Are you sure?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Thanks.
>>>>> With the Intel motherboards used in Gateway systems, Gateway
>>>>> follows the same conventions as Intel does. P13 IS the latest,
>>>>> last and only update for your Intel D850 motherboard. Note also
>>>>> that the BIOS is slightly customized, but only with a Gateway
>>>>> identifier. You CANNOT use a GENERIC BIOS update from the Intel
>>>>> web site for this board... Ben Myers
>>>> Nice to see you, Ben.
>>>>
>>>> I went into the BIOS and read the event log. There was one listing
>>>> that said CMOS battery failure, but just one. There were a lot
>>>> keyboard failure listings. I don't know why, because the keyboard
>>>> always came up fine on the POST screen, and operated properly all
>>>> the time when in Windows. But, since the CMOS battery was probably
>>>> the original battery from circa 2001, I replaced it, thinking that
>>>> that might cure my inability to boot from CD. Nope.
>>>>
>>>> Curiosity got to me, and I decided to clear the BIOS. I did, by
>>>> removing the motherboard BIOS jumper, but still no boot from CD.
>>>>
>>>> Finally, I downloaded the BIOS update on the Gateway site. I was
>>>> running with version P12, and the newest version was P13, dated
>>>> August 2001. I had to put it on a FAT floppy (not NT), and the
>>>> instructions said to boot from this floppy. When I tried, I got
>>>> invalid BOOT diskette, insert proper diskette in A. Oh, no. I
>>>> used the Win98SE floppy to boot up the machine into DOS, and then
>>>> removed the Win98SE floppy, and inserted the BIOS 'boot' disk. I
>>>> logged on to it, and clicked on the autoexec.bat on the floppy.
>>>> The BIOS update program came up, and I installed the update
>>>> successfully. When the update was completed, the instructions on
>>>> screen were to remove the floppy and press enter, and the machine
>>>> was supposed to reboot. I'm not sure how this was supposed to
>>>> happen, since the machine was set to boot from floppy, and there
>>>> would be no floppy in the machine. But I removed the boot floppy,
>>>> and pressed enter. The screen said no operating system found on C
>>>> (normally it would say invalid BOOT diskette if there's no floppy
>>>> in A, and set to boot from floppy). I had to press the power
>>>> button off, and restart into the BIOS (keeping my fingers crossed
>>>> the BIOS upgrade worked -- it did report BIOS versin P13), and set
>>>> to boot from the hard drive. I did, and it booted up just fine. I
>>>> then restarted and set to boot from CD, but it still wouldn't boot
>>>> from the XP CD. Oh, well. I tried. I'm calling it quits trying to
>>>> solve this. It may be a hardware problem that I just can't
>>>> diagnose, and it's not all the important. The only time I'd need to
>>>> start from CD is if I was going to do a clean install. Maybe I'll
>>>> just make an image of the system before I gunk it up too much. Oh,
>>>> wonder if I have to be able to boot from CD to install an image.
>>>>
>>>> By the way, I just installed a Linksys WMP54G wireless adapter card
>>>> in the machine. I didn't use the Linksys install CD, but instead
>>>> let Windows install it's native drivers and networking interface.
>>>> It works just fine, with excellent signal strength. Previously, I
>>>> had it connected to a D-link wireless router, but sitting right
>>>> next to the router connected with an ethernet cable. I was going
>>>> to run ethernet into the garage, which is the final destination for
>>>> this machine, but I thought I'd try a wireless card. I hope the
>>>> signal is still good when I move it into the gargage, about 30'
>>>> away. We'll see. If not, I'll run ethernet. (I don't mind
>>>> running the cable, I just hate putting the connectors on. My eyes
>>>> aren't what they used to be <g>.)
>>>>
>>>> Here are the items that the update addressed, per the readme.txt
>>>> file within the update folder:
>>>>
>>>> Reason for Update
>>>>
>>>> Option to enable or disable the ISA Enable Bit on PCI bridges.
>>>> Adds D-stepping core support for latest generation processors.
>>>> Adds WFM 2.0 Remote Lockout support.
>>>> Adds support for the Security Freeze Lock command on resume from S3
>>>> to IDE devices that support the Security feature set.
>>>> Adds workaround for Windows 98 SE issue where ATAPI devices are not
>>>> reprogrammed on resume from Suspend-to-RAM (S3).
>>>> Implements Force Network Boot feature that allows users to force
>>>> the computer to start to network by pressing a hot key.
>>>> Fixes issue where the computer was always reporting 80-conductor
>>>> IDE cable type (regardless of actual cable type) when certain ATAPI
>>>> devices were connected as the slave device on an IDE channel.
>>>> Adds support for PCI IDE Bus Mastering (DMA) for BIOS INT 13h hard
>>>> disk reads and writes on IDE devices that support IDE Bus
>>>> Mastering. Adds Mode 5 (UDMA/100) option to the IDE UDMA Mode.
>>>> Corrects functionality of IDE PIO Mode.
>>>> Fixes issue where BIOS was incorrectly reporting UDMA modes on IDE
>>>> devices that do not support UDMA.
>>>> Sets ISA ENABLE bits on PCI bridges that do not have VGA behind
>>>> them. Adds support for doing 32-bit IDE PIO mode data transfers
>>>> inside BIOS INT 13h.
>>>> Fixes issue where ATAPI Removable Devices that support UDMA modes
>>>> were not getting programmed for UDMA mode.
>>>> Updates the display of the processor BIOS update information to
>>>> account for the new naming convention.
>>>> Adds the display of UDMA mode for ARMD.
>>>> Sets Wake on Modem Ring default to Power On.
>>>> Fixes an issue where the Fault Tolerant Boot Block Test would fail
>>>> and not be able to boot if ECC was enabled during the test.
>>>> Fixes the incorrect display of hard disk drive capacity for larger
>>>> hard disk drives.
>>>>
>>>> Boris
>>> Did you change the boot order priority in the last screen of the
>>> BIOS CMOS setup to boot first from CD, then from floppy, and then
>>> from hard disk? If so, the computer should boot from CD. If not,
>>> pressing F12 with a modern BIOS gets it to present a choice of boot
>>> devices, from which you select one... Ben Myers
>>>
>>
>> Hi,
>>
>> Yes, set it up just like you described. No luck.
>>
>> F12 gets me nothing.
>>
>> F8 gets me the Troubleshooting and Advanced Startup screen with Start
>> Up options, as it should, such as Safe Mode, Enable Boot Logging,
>> Debugging Mode, etc.
>>
>> F10 is weird. It gets me the BIOS screen, with the a message as if
>> I've just made changes to the BIOS settings, "Do you want to save
>> changes and exit?"
>>
>> F1 gets me the BIOS setup screen, as it should.
>>
>> By the way, when the machine boots up, it never shows "Hit F8 for
>> Boot Options", or "Hit F1 for Setup" in the upper right hand corner,
>> even if I have it set to go through the long POST, where it shows
>> everything it finds as it boots up. The long boot does show that it
>> found the CD-ROM when set to boot from CD-ROM.
>>
>> I think the book is closed on trying to get this to boot from CD-ROM.
>
> Maybe the CD-ROM drive is bad? The Intel D850 motherboards are new
> enough that they should allow booting from CD-ROM. Most any P4 system
> can, and even some P3 systems... Ben

Hi,

One of the first things I did after discovering that I couldn't boot from
CD-ROM in this P4 was to install a known good CD-ROM from another my
Dim4550, that did boot properly in the Dim4550. But, it wouldn't boot
while in the P4.

"BillW50" <BillW50@aol.kom> wrote in
news:hafe4l$hcu$1@news.eternal-september.org:

> In news:haehj5$mm8$1@news.eternal-september.org,
> Ben Myers typed on Tue, 06 Oct 2009 00:37:57 -0400:
>> Boris wrote:
>>> Hi,
>>>
>>> Yes, set it up just like you described. No luck.
>>>
>>> F12 gets me nothing.
>>>
>>> F8 gets me the Troubleshooting and Advanced Startup screen with
>>> Start Up options, as it should, such as Safe Mode, Enable Boot
>>> Logging, Debugging Mode, etc.
>>>
>>> F10 is weird. It gets me the BIOS screen, with the a message as if
>>> I've just made changes to the BIOS settings, "Do you want to save
>>> changes and exit?"
>>>
>>> F1 gets me the BIOS setup screen, as it should.
>>>
>>> By the way, when the machine boots up, it never shows "Hit F8 for
>>> Boot Options", or "Hit F1 for Setup" in the upper right hand corner,
>>> even if I have it set to go through the long POST, where it shows
>>> everything it finds as it boots up. The long boot does show that it
>>> found the CD-ROM when set to boot from CD-ROM.
>>>
>>> I think the book is closed on trying to get this to boot from
>>> CD-ROM.
>>
>> Maybe the CD-ROM drive is bad? The Intel D850 motherboards are new
>> enough that they should allow booting from CD-ROM. Most any P4
>> system can, and even some P3 systems... Ben
>
> Did you try pressing the ESC key as soon as the screen lites up? As on
> my Gateways and Asus netbooks, this pops up the BIOS boot menu. And it
> shows all devices that the BIOS can see and allows which one you want
> to boot from.
>

I just tried that. Seems that it ignores the ESC key (probably supposed
to), and just boots normally to Windows.

In news:Xns9C9C6A04BF72nospamnospaminvalid@188.40.43. 213,
Boris typed on Tue, 6 Oct 2009 17:25:18 +0000 (UTC):
> I just tried that. Seems that it ignores the ESC key (probably
> supposed to), and just boots normally to Windows.

Well before you give up, the rest of the function keys that you haven't
tried yet. Also worth trying is holding down one of the following: DEL,
Insert, Tab, Shift, or CTRL right after the screen lites up are also
sometimes used to get to other menus like the BIOS boot menu.

--
Bill
Asus EEE PC 702G8 ~ 2GB RAM ~ 16GB-SDHC
Windows XP SP2

In news:Xns9C9C6A04BF72nospamnospaminvalid@188.40.43. 213,
Boris typed on Tue, 6 Oct 2009 17:25:18 +0000 (UTC):
> I just tried that. Seems that it ignores the ESC key (probably
> supposed to), and just boots normally to Windows.

Well before you give up, the rest of the function keys that you haven't
tried yet. Also worth trying is holding down one of the following: DEL,
Insert, Tab, Shift, or CTRL right after the screen lites up are also
sometimes used to get to other menus like the BIOS boot menu.

--
Bill
Asus EEE PC 702G8 ~ 2GB RAM ~ 16GB-SDHC
Windows XP SP2

"BillW50" <BillW50@aol.kom> wrote in news:hag0og$j1q$1@news.eternal-
september.org:

> In news:Xns9C9C6A04BF72nospamnospaminvalid@188.40.43. 213,
> Boris typed on Tue, 6 Oct 2009 17:25:18 +0000 (UTC):
>> I just tried that. Seems that it ignores the ESC key (probably
>> supposed to), and just boots normally to Windows.
>
> Well before you give up, the rest of the function keys that you haven't
> tried yet. Also worth trying is holding down one of the following: DEL,
> Insert, Tab, Shift, or CTRL right after the screen lites up are also
> sometimes used to get to other menus like the BIOS boot menu.
>

I tried them all:

F1, BIOS Setup Utility
F2, boots to Windows normally
F3, boots to Windows normally
F4, boots to Windows normally
F5, give Windows Advanced Menu Setup (Safe Boot, etc.)
F6, boots to Windows normally
F7, boots to Windows normally
F8, boots to Windows normally
F9, boots to Windows normally
F10, BIOS Setup Utility
F11, boots to Windows normally
F12, boots to Windows normally
Del, BIOS Setup Utility
ESC, boots to Windows normally
Del, boots to Windows normally
ALT, boots to Windows normally
Shift, boots to Windows normally
Pause/Break, nothing ever comes up, not even cursor against all black
screen, held for a minute, when released, still nothing

Boris wrote:
> "BillW50" <BillW50@aol.kom> wrote in news:hag0og$j1q$1@news.eternal-
> september.org:
>
>> In news:Xns9C9C6A04BF72nospamnospaminvalid@188.40.43. 213,
>> Boris typed on Tue, 6 Oct 2009 17:25:18 +0000 (UTC):
>>> I just tried that. Seems that it ignores the ESC key (probably
>>> supposed to), and just boots normally to Windows.
>> Well before you give up, the rest of the function keys that you haven't
>> tried yet. Also worth trying is holding down one of the following: DEL,
>> Insert, Tab, Shift, or CTRL right after the screen lites up are also
>> sometimes used to get to other menus like the BIOS boot menu.
>>
>
> I tried them all:
>
> F1, BIOS Setup Utility
> F2, boots to Windows normally
> F3, boots to Windows normally
> F4, boots to Windows normally
> F5, give Windows Advanced Menu Setup (Safe Boot, etc.)
> F6, boots to Windows normally
> F7, boots to Windows normally
> F8, boots to Windows normally
> F9, boots to Windows normally
> F10, BIOS Setup Utility
> F11, boots to Windows normally
> F12, boots to Windows normally
> Del, BIOS Setup Utility
> ESC, boots to Windows normally
> Del, boots to Windows normally
> ALT, boots to Windows normally
> Shift, boots to Windows normally
> Pause/Break, nothing ever comes up, not even cursor against all black
> screen, held for a minute, when released, still nothing

This is the way the BIOS setup works on Intel D850-series motherboards
(and many other Intel D845 and D865 boards). I worked on a Gateway
board like yours some time ago, and I am nearly 100% certain that
Gateway did not screw around with the Intel BIOS code. I know of no
instance when a Gateway BIOS setup behaved differently from a generic
Intel one. Gateway never had the software engineering expertise to
modify BIOS code.

Okay. So press F1 to enter the BIOS Setup Utility, then use the right
arrow key to highlight the Boot menu. When the word Boot is
highlighted, press Enter.

The Boot submenu will allow you to choose the order in which the BIOS
tries to boot from devices. The default is to try to boot from floppy,
then CD-ROM, then hard drive, then network adapter.

You can find the technical manual for your motherboard on the Intel web
site in the category of archived (e.g. older) motherboards. It is worth
reading, even if it tells you more than you need to know.

In summary, your board is capable of booting from a CD-ROM. You just
have not figured out how to get it to happen. Perhaps the above will
help... Ben Myers

Ben Myers <ben_myers@charter.net> wrote in
news:hah4j4$i2u$1@news.eternal-september.org:

> Boris wrote:
>> "BillW50" <BillW50@aol.kom> wrote in news:hag0og$j1q$1@news.eternal-
>> september.org:
>>
>>> In news:Xns9C9C6A04BF72nospamnospaminvalid@188.40.43. 213,
>>> Boris typed on Tue, 6 Oct 2009 17:25:18 +0000 (UTC):
>>>> I just tried that. Seems that it ignores the ESC key (probably
>>>> supposed to), and just boots normally to Windows.
>>> Well before you give up, the rest of the function keys that you
>>> haven't tried yet. Also worth trying is holding down one of the
>>> following: DEL, Insert, Tab, Shift, or CTRL right after the screen
>>> lites up are also sometimes used to get to other menus like the BIOS
>>> boot menu.
>>>
>>
>> I tried them all:
>>
>> F1, BIOS Setup Utility
>> F2, boots to Windows normally
>> F3, boots to Windows normally
>> F4, boots to Windows normally
>> F5, give Windows Advanced Menu Setup (Safe Boot, etc.)
>> F6, boots to Windows normally
>> F7, boots to Windows normally
>> F8, boots to Windows normally
>> F9, boots to Windows normally
>> F10, BIOS Setup Utility
>> F11, boots to Windows normally
>> F12, boots to Windows normally
>> Del, BIOS Setup Utility
>> ESC, boots to Windows normally
>> Del, boots to Windows normally
>> ALT, boots to Windows normally
>> Shift, boots to Windows normally
>> Pause/Break, nothing ever comes up, not even cursor against all black
>> screen, held for a minute, when released, still nothing
>
> This is the way the BIOS setup works on Intel D850-series motherboards
> (and many other Intel D845 and D865 boards). I worked on a Gateway
> board like yours some time ago, and I am nearly 100% certain that
> Gateway did not screw around with the Intel BIOS code. I know of no
> instance when a Gateway BIOS setup behaved differently from a generic
> Intel one. Gateway never had the software engineering expertise to
> modify BIOS code.
>
> Okay. So press F1 to enter the BIOS Setup Utility, then use the right
> arrow key to highlight the Boot menu. When the word Boot is
> highlighted, press Enter.
>
> The Boot submenu will allow you to choose the order in which the BIOS
> tries to boot from devices. The default is to try to boot from
> floppy, then CD-ROM, then hard drive, then network adapter.
>
> You can find the technical manual for your motherboard on the Intel
> web site in the category of archived (e.g. older) motherboards. It is
> worth reading, even if it tells you more than you need to know.
>
> In summary, your board is capable of booting from a CD-ROM. You just
> have not figured out how to get it to happen. Perhaps the above will
> help... Ben Myers
>

Hi, Ben,

I went here:

http://www.intel.com/support/motherb.../CS-012681.htm

and ran the tool. I got:

"No Intel® Desktop Board was detected in this system."

The instructions say, "If you get the message that an Intel desktop
board was not detected, you likely have an OEM desktop board."

I do have the Gateway E4600 System Manual, and it has very little
information about the BIOS screens. All it says is to press F1 to enter
the BIOS Setup Utility. I've done this many times, and set it as you've
suggested, with no luck. I have BIOS version GB85010A.15A.0011P13. I
updated from P12 a few days ago.The Gateway System Manual says I have an
Intel 850 chipset and an Intel Pentium 4 fc-pga Socket 423 processor
with a 400 MHz system.

The GB850 motherboards listed by Intel are :
D850EMD2
D850EMV2
D850GB
D850MD
D850MV

I checked all the manuals for the above boards, and they all say to
press F2 to enter the BIOS Setup Utility. My Gateway System Manual says
to press F1.

I'm at my wits end with this, because it should be as simple as going
into the BIOS Setup Utility, to the BOOT menu, and setting to boot from
ATAPI-CD. I've done this with many, many machines, including older
Gateways (PII). This should be a no brainer.

I do appreciate all the feed back.

Boris

Boris wrote:
> Ben Myers <ben_myers@charter.net> wrote in
> news:hah4j4$i2u$1@news.eternal-september.org:
>
>> Boris wrote:
>>> "BillW50" <BillW50@aol.kom> wrote in news:hag0og$j1q$1@news.eternal-
>>> september.org:
>>>
>>>> In news:Xns9C9C6A04BF72nospamnospaminvalid@188.40.43. 213,
>>>> Boris typed on Tue, 6 Oct 2009 17:25:18 +0000 (UTC):
>>>>> I just tried that. Seems that it ignores the ESC key (probably
>>>>> supposed to), and just boots normally to Windows.
>>>> Well before you give up, the rest of the function keys that you
>>>> haven't tried yet. Also worth trying is holding down one of the
>>>> following: DEL, Insert, Tab, Shift, or CTRL right after the screen
>>>> lites up are also sometimes used to get to other menus like the BIOS
>>>> boot menu.
>>>>
>>> I tried them all:
>>>
>>> F1, BIOS Setup Utility
>>> F2, boots to Windows normally
>>> F3, boots to Windows normally
>>> F4, boots to Windows normally
>>> F5, give Windows Advanced Menu Setup (Safe Boot, etc.)
>>> F6, boots to Windows normally
>>> F7, boots to Windows normally
>>> F8, boots to Windows normally
>>> F9, boots to Windows normally
>>> F10, BIOS Setup Utility
>>> F11, boots to Windows normally
>>> F12, boots to Windows normally
>>> Del, BIOS Setup Utility
>>> ESC, boots to Windows normally
>>> Del, boots to Windows normally
>>> ALT, boots to Windows normally
>>> Shift, boots to Windows normally
>>> Pause/Break, nothing ever comes up, not even cursor against all black
>>> screen, held for a minute, when released, still nothing
>> This is the way the BIOS setup works on Intel D850-series motherboards
>> (and many other Intel D845 and D865 boards). I worked on a Gateway
>> board like yours some time ago, and I am nearly 100% certain that
>> Gateway did not screw around with the Intel BIOS code. I know of no
>> instance when a Gateway BIOS setup behaved differently from a generic
>> Intel one. Gateway never had the software engineering expertise to
>> modify BIOS code.
>>
>> Okay. So press F1 to enter the BIOS Setup Utility, then use the right
>> arrow key to highlight the Boot menu. When the word Boot is
>> highlighted, press Enter.
>>
>> The Boot submenu will allow you to choose the order in which the BIOS
>> tries to boot from devices. The default is to try to boot from
>> floppy, then CD-ROM, then hard drive, then network adapter.
>>
>> You can find the technical manual for your motherboard on the Intel
>> web site in the category of archived (e.g. older) motherboards. It is
>> worth reading, even if it tells you more than you need to know.
>>
>> In summary, your board is capable of booting from a CD-ROM. You just
>> have not figured out how to get it to happen. Perhaps the above will
>> help... Ben Myers
>>
>
> Hi, Ben,
>
> I went here:
>
> http://www.intel.com/support/motherb.../CS-012681.htm
>
> and ran the tool. I got:
>
> "No Intel® Desktop Board was detected in this system."
>
> The instructions say, "If you get the message that an Intel desktop
> board was not detected, you likely have an OEM desktop board."
>
> I do have the Gateway E4600 System Manual, and it has very little
> information about the BIOS screens. All it says is to press F1 to enter
> the BIOS Setup Utility. I've done this many times, and set it as you've
> suggested, with no luck. I have BIOS version GB85010A.15A.0011P13. I
> updated from P12 a few days ago.The Gateway System Manual says I have an
> Intel 850 chipset and an Intel Pentium 4 fc-pga Socket 423 processor
> with a 400 MHz system.
>
> The GB850 motherboards listed by Intel are :
> D850EMD2
> D850EMV2
> D850GB
> D850MD
> D850MV
>
> I checked all the manuals for the above boards, and they all say to
> press F2 to enter the BIOS Setup Utility. My Gateway System Manual says
> to press F1.
>
> I'm at my wits end with this, because it should be as simple as going
> into the BIOS Setup Utility, to the BOOT menu, and setting to boot from
> ATAPI-CD. I've done this with many, many machines, including older
> Gateways (PII). This should be a no brainer.
>
> I do appreciate all the feed back.
>
> Boris
>

Boris,

From the BIOS code, the E4600 board is a D850GB.

Last ditch try. Unplug from wall. Remove the CR2032 battery. Let
system sit there for a half hour. Put battery back in. You will surely
be prompted to enter the BIOS setup because the CMOS settings have
become corrupted due to loss of battery power to keep them OK.

Even before the last ditch try, power up the system and quickly hold
down several keys on the keyboard at once. This should cause a keyboard
error with the chance to enter the BIOS CMOS setup... Ben Myers

In news:Xns9C9CD651AEE84nospamnospaminvalid@188.40.43 .213,
Boris typed on Wed, 7 Oct 2009 04:04:05 +0000 (UTC):
> "BillW50" <BillW50@aol.kom> wrote in news:hag0og$j1q$1@news.eternal-
> september.org:
>
>> In news:Xns9C9C6A04BF72nospamnospaminvalid@188.40.43. 213,
>> Boris typed on Tue, 6 Oct 2009 17:25:18 +0000 (UTC):
>>> I just tried that. Seems that it ignores the ESC key (probably
>>> supposed to), and just boots normally to Windows.
>>
>> Well before you give up, the rest of the function keys that you
>> haven't tried yet. Also worth trying is holding down one of the
>> following: DEL, Insert, Tab, Shift, or CTRL right after the screen
>> lites up are also sometimes used to get to other menus like the BIOS
>> boot menu.
>>
>
> I tried them all:
>
> F1, BIOS Setup Utility
> F2, boots to Windows normally
> F3, boots to Windows normally
> F4, boots to Windows normally
> F5, give Windows Advanced Menu Setup (Safe Boot, etc.)
> F6, boots to Windows normally
> F7, boots to Windows normally
> F8, boots to Windows normally
> F9, boots to Windows normally
> F10, BIOS Setup Utility
> F11, boots to Windows normally
> F12, boots to Windows normally
> Del, BIOS Setup Utility
> ESC, boots to Windows normally
> Del, boots to Windows normally
> ALT, boots to Windows normally
> Shift, boots to Windows normally
> Pause/Break, nothing ever comes up, not even cursor against all black
> screen, held for a minute, when released, still nothing

Both F8 or the CTRL key should show the Windows start menu. Holding down
the shift key while Windows boots should stop all programs from
auto-running.

The Pause/Break key should freeze the screen output. And it will set
there until another key is pressed. It only works in the BIOS and DOS
though, maybe at the Command Prompt too under Windows. The old way to do
the very same is CTRL-Q to freeze and CTRL-S to continue. These keys
should still work today.

Back in the early days, graphic cards were so slow that you could see a
list scrolling on the screen. Usually too fast to read, but slow enough
that you can pause and continue the list. Not too handy nowadays, as you
have to be really quick before the screen starts to scroll off and you
missed a lot of what you wanted to read. Although they put a switch
later on for most of those commands anyway to help in these cases. Like
"dir /p" for example.

--
Bill
Asus EEE PC 702G8 ~ 2GB RAM ~ 16GB-SDHC
Windows XP SP2

BillW50 wrote:
> In news:Xns9C9CD651AEE84nospamnospaminvalid@188.40.43 .213,
> Boris typed on Wed, 7 Oct 2009 04:04:05 +0000 (UTC):
>> "BillW50" <BillW50@aol.kom> wrote in news:hag0og$j1q$1@news.eternal-
>> september.org:
>>
>>> In news:Xns9C9C6A04BF72nospamnospaminvalid@188.40.43. 213,
>>> Boris typed on Tue, 6 Oct 2009 17:25:18 +0000 (UTC):
>>>> I just tried that. Seems that it ignores the ESC key (probably
>>>> supposed to), and just boots normally to Windows.
>>> Well before you give up, the rest of the function keys that you
>>> haven't tried yet. Also worth trying is holding down one of the
>>> following: DEL, Insert, Tab, Shift, or CTRL right after the screen
>>> lites up are also sometimes used to get to other menus like the BIOS
>>> boot menu.
>>>
>> I tried them all:
>>
>> F1, BIOS Setup Utility
>> F2, boots to Windows normally
>> F3, boots to Windows normally
>> F4, boots to Windows normally
>> F5, give Windows Advanced Menu Setup (Safe Boot, etc.)
>> F6, boots to Windows normally
>> F7, boots to Windows normally
>> F8, boots to Windows normally
>> F9, boots to Windows normally
>> F10, BIOS Setup Utility
>> F11, boots to Windows normally
>> F12, boots to Windows normally
>> Del, BIOS Setup Utility
>> ESC, boots to Windows normally
>> Del, boots to Windows normally
>> ALT, boots to Windows normally
>> Shift, boots to Windows normally
>> Pause/Break, nothing ever comes up, not even cursor against all black
>> screen, held for a minute, when released, still nothing
>
> Both F8 or the CTRL key should show the Windows start menu. Holding down
> the shift key while Windows boots should stop all programs from
> auto-running.
>
> The Pause/Break key should freeze the screen output. And it will set
> there until another key is pressed. It only works in the BIOS and DOS
> though, maybe at the Command Prompt too under Windows. The old way to do
> the very same is CTRL-Q to freeze and CTRL-S to continue. These keys
> should still work today.
>
> Back in the early days, graphic cards were so slow that you could see a
> list scrolling on the screen. Usually too fast to read, but slow enough
> that you can pause and continue the list. Not too handy nowadays, as you
> have to be really quick before the screen starts to scroll off and you
> missed a lot of what you wanted to read. Although they put a switch
> later on for most of those commands anyway to help in these cases. Like
> "dir /p" for example.
>

True. But that is not his problem. His problem is getting the system to
boot from a CD... Ben