Guide to Compaq BIOS Settings

These questions and answers are from the Compaq website

How do I access the CMOS setup utility?

For older product models, like the Deskpro 286 or 386, place the Diagnostics disk in the disk drive, reboot your system, and choose computer setup from the menu.

For newer products like the ProLinea, Deskpro, Deskpro XL, Deskpro, or Presario, press the F10 key while the cursor is in the upper right hand corner of the screen. This happens just after the 2 beeps when booting.

Why can't I get into CMOS Setup by pressing the F10 key at boot. How can this be fixed?

First, check your hard drive for a Non-DOS partition of about 3 MB. To do this, run Fdisk and select option four, "display partition information". The setup utilities are located in this partition. If this partition is not there, run setup from the diskettes.

If the diagnostics partition is OK, you may have a Virus. In order for Setup to run 640K of conventional memory must be free. If you have a virus you need to remove it from the system before setup will run.

What is the most current setup utility or EISA configuration utility?

SoftPaqs SP1723 and SP1363 contain the ISA configuration utility, and SP1971 contains the EISA configuration utility. You can download these files from the Compaq Internet Site at Compaq