Laptop BIOS Settings

All details below are provided free of charge for both customers and non customers.  No liability is accepted for any damage or data loss resulting from the misuse of this information. 

As with most desktop PC's you can view and alter various settings in your laptop's BIOS.  These settings control the basic operation of the machine.

UNLESS YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING WE STRONGLY SUGGEST YOU LEAVE ALL BIOS SETTINGS SET AT DEFAULT.

That said there a couple of tips and helpful bits of info you may need.

The most common question we're asked is "how do I get into the BIOS of my machine?".  This varies, but in general you will have to press a key as the laptop starts:

Toshiba - press ESC and then F1 when prompted

IBM - press F1 or ESC

Compaq - older models F10, newer models F1

If the Compaq BIOS software is not loaded on some older Compaq's you cannot access the BIOS.  Likewise on some older Toshiba's you need to install TSETUP, which can be downloaded from Tosh's US web site.

Other machines require different keys or combinations, F2 and Del are both common.

The only reason we've included any details of BIOS settings on this site is that many customers will need to access the BIOS to alter their boot order settings.  Most recent machines will boot from CD, which saves having to manually install CD drivers.  Often this feature is turned off.

If you need to boot from your CD access the BIOS as described above and look for Boot Priority or Startup options.  Set the machine to boot from CD, then Hard Drive.

You may want to reset the settings after you have finished.

If your machine has a Pentium processor or older you will probably not have this option.

Some machines (very few models) do not operate properly unless the operating system is selected.  In general this allows a choice between Windows 95/98 and Windows NT.  We've forgotten which models this applies to but it is something to be aware of.  If we come across any we'll list them here.

Two points to note.

Firstly if you set one DON'T forget it.  It will probably need to be removed by the manufacturer who will not only charge you but may well refuse if you can't prove ownership.  DON'T assume that because you know what it is you will be able to remove it.

Secondly NEVER buy a machine with a password set (unless you know what it is of course).  

If you need a password removing you need to contact the manufacturer, not us. 

In general these don't seem to be necessary, however they can occasionally rectify problems.  In particular some older machines don't support Windows 98 very well without an upgrade.

If you decide to carry out a BIOS upgrade you should download this from the manufacturers web site, and follow the instructions supplied with it.

Be warned - if you get it wrong you can damage your machine.

www.laptopbits.co.uk