[qpaulina42]

Not sure if this is the right section to post this in, but my bios is gone and I need to get it back. My step dad was updating it, and while it was searching or thinking he felt it had taken too long so he just turned off the computer and now the bios must either be gone or turned off or I don't know what because nothing is being recognized. I have looked into how to fix it. We do not have a floppy drive, so we tried to burn the bios file onto a CD and put it in the CD drive, but the drive does not spin when computer is turned on. I have also tried to look for the BIOS reboot jumper. I have found two things. I found three pins labeled "clear password mmode" that have a jumper you can move. I have also found the more appropriate looking one square and two circles labeled J9H2 - clear CMOS (1-2 normal, 2-3 clear), but they are not pins, they are solder looking spots. So how do I reset it? Do I need to short them? With what? In what order? I tried to find the motherboard manual, but I can't even find my motherboard model number anywhere. The only thing that is there is E210882, which I guess is the manufacturer. The computer is a dell, the board is intel. I run XP home edition. Beyond that, I have no idea what to do.
Thanks for any advice.

[frankjohn]

Remove the battery for 20 min and re install, se if that helps if it does make sure you re set time in bios if needed

[Triple6]

You can try popping out the CMOS battery for several minutes or use a metal screw driver to short(connect the two) pins that are labelled for clear CMOS(2-3).

Also, your best bet to find a manual is by the Dell Service Tag that shoudl be on the side or back of the PC and then find the manual on the Dell website.

[frankjohn]

Thinking the same on this 1 triple6

[qpaulina42]

if I succeed with the shorting or taking battery out, what is my next step? Can I just turn on the computer and it will work, or should I place a CD with the bios in the drive? Many thanks.

[frankjohn]

when you re install battery try going into bios using no disc POPWER OFF

[frankjohn]

Power off when working on the PC

[qpaulina42]

ok, am trying. have taken out battery.

[qpaulina42]

have turned it back on, had the cd still in it and saw something on screen. then tried to take cd out everything went dead again. put cd back in, it spun a bit and nothing. does it take a certain period of time? is there something else I should be doing? do I need to redo taking battery out?

[qpaulina42]

never mind, the thing on the monitor was just the monitor powering on when I put the power back on...

[frankjohn]

re boot without cd as computer is turning on keep tappping Del key on keyboard [could be F1] see if the bios screen displays on monitor

[qpaulina42]

out of curiosity, why 20minutes, and why no CD?

[qpaulina42]

Del / F1 do not seem to have worked.

[frankjohn]

Im thinking you might have a hardware issue. So ,when you turn on the pc do you get any display on monitor? Does the monitor light work?

[Triple6]

A bad BIOS flash can render a motherboard dead/useless. There are sites that can sell you a new BIOS chip if the board has one that is socketed.