Compaq bios caput?

4743hudsonj

right, my girlfriends very old rubbish computer just about running xp is having some issue

it came with no os when she got it and someone put a new hard drive in it and installed xp, and its ran fine for years, then recently someone replaced the hard drive since and put xp back on and xp runs fine

but when you switch the computer on the screen pops up with the compaq logo and then sits and does absolutely nothing

and it takes lots and lots of attempts before it finally begins to boot windows

now my thoughts are this is the bios as at no point can you access the bios screen , it just does nothing even when it does boot into windows after

so, any ideas? fixs?

Taffybiker

The Compaq bios is a pest! The bios is often a loader file located on the hard disk. Because the disk has been changed this file is no longer available, so access to the bios is no longer an option.
My first move in this case would be to reinstall the operating system, without formatting if possible.
If all else fails, you may be able to obtain a bios access program from the Compaq website.

4743hudsonj

Taffybiker wrote: »

The Compaq bios is a pest! The bios is often a loader file located on the hard disk. Because the disk has been changed this file is no longer available, so access to the bios is no longer an option.
My first move in this case would be to reinstall the operating system, without formatting if possible.
If all else fails, you may be able to obtain a bios access program from the Compaq website.

but that wouldnt explain why it still boots up after several trys

and there isnt anything on the compaq site that i can use as all the stickers have been peeled of the computer and every program ive tried to identify the opc with has come up with naff all

and she no longer has the disc

if it were mine id stick kubuntu or xubuntu on and be done with it but she cant use them

Taffybiker

I don't know why it boots up after several tries. If it is a file issue then reinstalling *should* correct it.

4743hudsonj

Taffybiker wrote: »

I don't know why it boots up after several tries. If it is a file issue then reinstalling *should* correct it.

i dont think its a file issue, i have just partitioned the drive and stuck ubuntu on it so its booting from GRUB and still the same

oddly when you have switched the computer off, to have any chance of turning it back on you have to turn it off at the socket and back on and then try several times, otherwise itnever boots


just coincidence or does it point to something else?

Jaffa.

4743hudsonj wrote: »

just coincidence or does it point to something else?

No Compaq really do put the bios files on the hard drive There not like normal computers.

You will find the Bios files on the recovery CD that came with the computer, if I remember correctly the bios is a password protected ZIP so you'll have to Google for the password depending on the model of your system. I think it self-extracts to a floppy and then you boot from the floppy.

If you don't have the recovery's then you'll have to mooch around on the internet and see if you can get a copy of the bios.

4743hudsonj

Jaffa. wrote: »

No Compaq really do put the bios files on the hard drive There not like normal computers.

You will find the Bios files on the recovery CD that came with the computer, if I remember correctly the bios is a password protected ZIP so you'll have to Google for the password depending on the model of your system. I think it self-extracts to a floppy and then you boot from the floppy.

If you don't have the recovery's then you'll have to mooch around on the internet and see if you can get a copy of the bios.

o dear

so why does it boot

usually after a few bashes and a few minutes of verbal abuse mind you

lol

anyways it no longer has a floppy i stuck a disk drive in not to long ago and threw it out

i thought keeping it would be like keeping a betamax player

can i put it on cd?

-TangleFoot-

What model of Compaq is it? There's no way the BIOS is inaccessible - you just need to know which key(s) to press.

Jaffa.

4743hudsonj wrote: »

o dear

so why does it boot

usually after a few bashes and a few minutes of verbal abuse mind you

lol

anyways it no longer has a floppy i stuck a disk drive in not to long ago and threw it out

i thought keeping it would be like keeping a betamax player

can i put it on cd?

I don't fully know how they work, so your guess to why it still sometimes boots is as good as mine . I just remember having one of these Compaq's (it ran Windows 95) and I, well did what you did.

Maybe if you hit the right key to enter the BIOS (now this is either one of the F keys, the delete button or the esc button) and get into the BIOS there might be an option to copy it over from there.

Actually thinking about it you can still boot because it's the BIOS files that are on the HDD wouldn't relate to the booting of the drive because you would need them to boot the drive. The files are most likely what would be knows as the CMOS. (i think, and the GUI of the bios... lol)

If you know your moddle number then you can search for the Compaq utilities that will restore these files (thus giving you access to the BIOS again) But these are normally coppied over VIA floppy, and made the same way a bootdisk would be made...

Taffybiker

As far as I am aware, you need to press F10 as soon as you see the black screen with flashing cursor, but because of the HDD change I am not sure access will be available.

4743hudsonj

-TangleFoot- wrote: »

What model of Compaq is it? There's no way the BIOS is inaccessible - you just need to know which key(s) to press.

well it is:P

it says at the bottom bios: F11

setup (or something similar) F2

i tried these loads

ive hit absolutly all the keys combos i can figure

basically you can tell the computer is going to boot because when the compaq screen appears writing appears at the bottom (copyright stuff) no more than a second later

if it doesnt it wont boot

and ive tried all the keys i can think of and nothing

hitting f11 which says is the bios, just stalls the boot process and it stops responding even when the writing appear (which indicates it will boot)

so im stumped


i have no idea about the model

im a techie and i cant find anything on the inside or outside of the case or on any memory searches or other scanner programs so its very hard to find the correct bios file !

i actually had a feeling it could be something similar to the old CIH (chernobyl) virus as that affected bios data but i guess this comp is a near enough write off