How to Access the CMOS or BIOS (Basic Input Output System of your Computer)

How to Access the CMOS or BIOS (Basic Input Output System of your Computer)

Accessing the computer’s BIOS can vary depending on the Brand and Model of your computer, as well as the type  of BIOS they use. In this article we will discuss how to access the computer’s BIOS based on the Brand, Make, Model and even Year of the Computer.



bios drivers This is a popular screen commonly found while working with the Award BIOS Menu.



BIOS is the Basic Input Output System and menu-ing system used to define and interface with the various hardware components of your computer: such as Hard Drives, DVD ROMS, as well as Video, LAN and Audio Cards.


The manufacturer typically installs all of this for you but by using the BIOS we can turn these devices ON or OFF or even change their default settings completely to allow for hardware upgrades and greater compatibility.


CMOS – pronounced see-moss, is a  Complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor chip that holds information saved by the menu-ing system of the BIOS. The CMOS retains this information (normally) as longs as a standard PC battery, is charged and in place on the motherboard of the computer.


The CMOS Battery is technically referred to as the CR2032 or Three Volt Watch Battery icon wink


In some cases when the BIOS or CMOS is password protected, you should simply remove this battery to reset the chip to its default settings and thus remove the password completely or reset the password to a default manufacturer’s password as outlined by the makes and model list below.


While replacing the CMOS battery in a Desktop is really very easy; Special care should be taken before trying to remove the same type of battery in a notebook or Laptop.


Special thanks to the Author “kuttus” at MalwareTips.com for providing this list.



FOR Windows 8 and 8.1 user please refer to this demonstration video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlQh1SB_Oj0


FOR ALL OTHER Operating Systems Please Review


Acer – Aspire, Power, Veriton, Extensa, Ferrari, TravelMate, Altos​

  • Press Del or F2 immediately after powering on.

  • The BIOS on the Acer Altos 600 server uses the Ctrl+Alt+Esc key and the F1 key for advanced options.

  • Older Acer computers may use also use the F1 or Ctrl+Alt+Esc keys to access BIOS.





Compaq – Presario, Prolinea, Deskpro, Systempro, Portable​

  • Press F10 while the cursor in the top right corner of the screen is blinking.

  • Older Compaq computers may use the F1, F2, F10, or Del key to give access to BIOS.

Dell – XPS, Dimension, Inspiron, Latitude. OptiPlex, Precision, Vostro​


  • Press F2 when the Dell logo appears. Press every few seconds until the message Entering Setup appears.

  • Older Dell desktops and laptops may instead use Ctrl+Alt+Enter or Del to enter BIOS.

  • Older Dell laptops may use Fn+Esc or Fn+F1.

 


eMachines – eMonster, eTower, eOne, S-Series, T-Series​

  • Press Tab or Del while the eMachine logo displays on screen.

  • Other eMachine computers may use F2 to enter BIOS.

Fujitsu – LifeBook, Esprimo, Amilo, Tablet, DeskPower​


  • Press F2 once the Fujitsu logo appears.

Gateway – DX, FX, One, GM, GT, GX, Profile, Astro​


  • Press the F1 key repeatedly after restarting the computer.

  • Some older Gateway computers use F2 to access the BIOS Setup utility.

Hewlett-Packard (HP) – Pavilion, TouchSmart, Vectra, OmniBook, Tablet​


  • Press the F1, F10, or F11 key after restarting the computer.

  • HP Tablet PCs may use F10 or F12.

  • Other HP computers may allow access to BIOS using the F2 or Esc keys.

IBM – PC, XT, AT​


  • Press F1 immediately after powering on the computer.

  • Older IBM computers (including some laptops) may utilize the F2 key for BIOS entry.

Lenovo (formerly IBM) – ThinkPad, IdeaPad, 3000 Series, ThinkCentre, ThinkStation​


  • Press F1 or F2 after powering on the computer.

  • Older Lenovo products allow access to BIOS using Ctrl+Alt+F3, Ctrl+Alt+Ins, or Fn+F1.

Micron (MPC Computers) – ClientPro, TransPort​


  • Press F1, F2 or Del immediately after powering on the PC.

NEC – PowerMate, Versa, W-Series​


  • Press F2 to enter the BIOS Setup.

Packard Bell – 8900 Series, 9000 Series, Pulsar, Platinum, EasyNote, imedia, iextreme​


  • Press F1, F2, or Del to enter BIOS.

Sharp – Notebook Laptops, Actius UltraLite​


  • Press F2 after the computer starts.

  • Some very old Sharp PCs require a Setup Diagnostics Disk to access BIOS.

Shuttle – Glamor G-Series, D’vo, Prima P2-Series, Workstation, X Mini XPC, Surveillance​


  • Press F2 or Del on startup.

Sony – VAIO, PCG-Series, VGN-Series​


  • Press F1, F2 or F3 after turning on the computer.

Toshiba – Portégé, Satellite, Tecra, Equium​

  • Press F1 or Esc after powering on to access BIOS.

  • Press F12 on a Toshiba Equium.