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• WARNING! USE CAUTION!
  Changing BIOS settings can cause your computer to fail to boot properly and turn it into a big, useless paperweight.
• Find the BIOS settings you want to change, write them down, then change them.
• If you change the BIOS and the computer won't boot up any more, don't blame me. You can reset the BIOS to factory settings, but these may not be the settings your computer needs

Quick and Dirty

1. Shut down and restart your PC
2. Watch the screen for a message, usually across the bottom, telling you which key to press.
3. Quickly press the indicated keys
4. A special screen will appear

The Full Explaination

The BIOS or Basic Input/Output System (sometimes referred to as CMOS, incorrectly) is a piece of firmware used on all IBM-compatible personal computers and most non-Itanium server systems. The BIOS controls everything that happens from the moment the power is turned on, until the computer begins to load the operating system. The BIOS comes with a setup utility used to configure various system settings stored in the BIOS configuration memory.

BIOS is supplied to motherboard manufacturers who then configure the BIOS to suit their motherboard design. They configure or add their own settings in the BIOS and these settings may, or may not, have saved been saved as defaults.

Restart Your Computer

1. To access the BIOS, you must restart your computer.

Windows Users:

• Click Start
• Click Shut Down
• Select Restart

Watch for an On-Screen Message

2. Watch for an on-screen message that tells you which key(s) to press to access "BIOS", "setup", "system settings", "system configuration" or something similar.

One of the following messages will appear:

• [key] = Setup
• Enter BIOS by pressing [key]
• Setup: [key]
• Press [key] to enter BIOS setup
• Press [key] to enter setup
• Press [key] to access BIOS
• Press [key] to access system configuration

 

The most common keys used are:

KEY(S)	Computer or BIOS Vendor
DEL	Phoenix/Award (Companies have since merged) American Megatrends Inc (AMI)
F1	Older AMI BIOS IBM and Lenovo Microid Research
F2	Older AMI BIOS Dell Laptops
ESC	DTK BIOS
Fn + F1 (or) Fn + F2	Old Dell Laptops

 

Press the Indicated Key

3. Press the key(s) indicated in the message.

Why all these different messages? Each BIOS manufacturer uses a different key combination to trigger the BIOS setup utility. Below is a table listing the keystroke used to enter the BIOS when the computer is starting up.

Problems

1. There is no text, only an image
   1. Press the [ESC] or [TAB] key
2. The computer boots too quickly or the text disappears too quickly to read
   1. Press the [Pause/Break] key to pause the system during startup
   2. If that fails:
      1. Shut down the computer
      2. Turn the power off on the computer
      3. Unplug the keyboard
      4. Start the computer again
      5. The computer will stop with an error for the keyboard, but the key for the BIOS setup message should also be visible.
      6. Read the message, note the key
      7. Shut down the computer
      8. Shut down
      9. Turn the power off on the computer
      10. Plug the keyboard back in
      11. Start the computer again
      12. Press the key(s) indicated in the on-screen message.

Safety Note:

Plugging and unplugging the keyboard can ONLY be done if you have a USB keyboard. PS2 keyboards can fry the motherboard if they are unplugged while the computer is on. If you don't know which one you have, see our computer ports tutorial, or just turn the computer off before unplugging or plugging the keyboard.