ENTERING CMOS AND/OR BIOS SETUP

[NOMEN]

I have attempted (unsuccessfully) to enter my CMOS setup. I have tried all the recommended "F" keys as well as "ESC","DEL" and various Ctrl+Alt combination.

Thus far I have not been able to access it. I have Windows XP Pro SR 2, Pentium 4 and Microsoft Natural Multimedia Keyboard.

           Looking  for Guidance!

[ojas25]

Most computers running Windows XP you can get there by pressing F2 at the post screen

[NOMEN]

I appreciate your amazingly rapid reply to my inquiry, however a resultant problem has occurred.

When I pressed F2 upon appearance of the post screen, the appropriate menu that allows me entrance to the CMOS/BIOS quickly flickers On & just as quickly flickers OFF!

 Any suggestion?

[pcdoc4christ]

Nomen:

What is the name of the BIOS maker?  Award? Phoenix? Dell?  The name of the manufacturer of the BIOS may appear at the top of the display when you first turn on the computer.  If you tell us the manufacturer's name it may help us determine what key (or combinations of keys) you need to press.

Regards,
Doc

[NOMEN]

I  should have provided you with the following info in my original inquiry.- so here goes! The BIOS manufacturer is the Intel Corp; Bios Vendor is American Megatrends Inc; Bios Name is AMIBIOS.
Boot Features: DOES supports Selective Booting, CD/DVD Boot, LS-120 Boot, ZIP Boot, BIOS Boot Block and Interactive Network Boot.

It does NOT support PCMCIA/CardBus Boot, Supports i2o Boot and FireWire/1394 Boot.

By the way, your directive to use the F2 key coincides directly with the support directives from Intel
(“enter BIOS SETUP by pressing F2 repeatedly after booting the system”).

The reason I am trying to resolve this is because I am ready to do a Flash Bios Upgrade. Prior to upgrading I  want to write down all settings that are unique to my system in case these settings will be needed later to reconfigure the system.

Could either of the following two conjectures have anything to do with my difficulties?  The Boot Block support listed above and/or the procedures of my computer’s Boot  procedures?

My normal Boot sequence: 1 Starts with Nvidia GeForce descriptive (version, copyright, MB);  2.Intel Pentium4 splash screen  3.XP or Windows Recovery Choice or *F8 for advanced settings  5. Win XP Screen  6. Windows Sign On (requiring Password). *the F8 settings produces the following options: Safe Mode (with networking; with Command prompt); Enable Boot Logging; Enable VGA Mode; Last Known Good Configuration; Directory Services Restore Mode; Debugging Mode; Disable Automatic Restart on System Failure; Start Windows Normally; Reboot and Return to OS Choices Menu.

I hope this info is not an “over kill”.  I am extremely grateful for your previous professional guidance.
My gratitude will still persist even if this problem cannot be solved.

[pcdoc4christ]

Nomen:

Try the Delete (Del) key, which is the most frequently used key to enter the AMI BIOS setup.  

Regards,
Doc

[Computer_Commando]

...The BIOS manufacturer is the Intel Corp...

Did you mean to say, the motherboard manufacturer is Intel?  Intel motherboards seem to use F2, no matter which BIOS they have.

[NOMEN]

Even tho the "Delete" key did not resolve the issue--

   GUESS WHAT!!!!

       THE  ISSUE IS NO LONGER AN ISSUE !!!!

Since we had tried several alternatives & I had eliminated all sources of the difficulties -- but one -!

              THE KEYBOARD !!!!

I recently replaced my other keyboard with  the
Ms Natural Multi-Media Keyboard. Iwas determined to experiment with every *&!@&#!" key & key combination on the board upon rebooting.

The first key I started the experiment with was "F1".
   "VOILA!   EUREKA!  BINGO!  SUCCESS! THERE IT WAS!"

   I thank you  for your responses to my inquiry and your help in assisting me in pursuing this endeavor to a successful conclusion.    You do great work!