I have a Compaq Deskpro that won't boot to CD or floppy, and I can't get into setup. How can I rebuild it?

Question

I can't get into setup or bios to change the boot order, no matter what keys I press! I've tried all the Function keys, Ctrl+Alt+Esc, and every other combination I coult think of. During boot up, I do see a message for a split second that says "Searching for boot record from IDE - 0..OK" and then WinXP begins to load. No keys I press will interrupt this process.

Answer 1

The BIOS for the Deskpro is stored on the hard drive. Try all the usual keys if that does not work I sometimes can get into the BIOS by first remove some, but not all the RAM. This will cause you to go into setup with most types of Deskpro.

Answer 2

try pressing F4 when you boot up.. are was it some other key for compaq to go to your bios(alt + something. i can't remember). from your bios tell it to boot your cd-rom first. so you could use your cd-rom to reinstall windows are what you like fromt here.


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Some manufacturers have their own way for entering BIOS as shown below...

Acer - Ctrl+Alt+Esc
Compaq - F10
Compaq Presario - Press at boot when you see the "Compaq" log in big letters
Dell - F1 or Del.
Gateway 2000 - F1, many also use F2
Hewlett Packard - F1
IBM
Older Models - In order to get into the configuration of the IBM setup screen (CMOS) screen you need to hold down both mouse buttons during boot-up.
Aptiva - Press F1
Leading Edge
Fortiva 5000 - or
NEC - F2
Packard Bell - F1 or F2
Sharp Laptop 9020 - F2
Sony - F3, then F2, or F1
Tandon computers - Hold down the key after turning on power
Toshiba Laptops - Toshiba Utility, on selected models you can hold the ESC key during boot which will then prompt you to press the F1 key to enter the BIOS.

Answer 3

Compaq Deskpro En Specs

Answer 4

For a non computer person this is like talking Greek so if your unfamiliar with what your doing chances are whatever we say will only make it worse I would suggest that you find a Friend, coworker anyone who has a little more experience than you to help you with this problem or take it to a shop.

Please please please ... if your unsure and not confident in doing this yourself ask someone else for help hell I'm no jet pilot so I don't fly planes same thing here if your not real familiar with what it is you need to do have someone help you ...

You'll thank me in the long run!!!!!!!

Answer 5

have you changed the boot order in the BIOS to hit the CD before the HDD? If so, are you sure the CD is good, and bootable?