Bios Problem

Have XP Pro w/SP-2 installed, and has been working good. Recently it has gotten corrupted and act quite strangely. Opened the bios to be sure it was set to boot from the cd and can't get it to allow me to do that...want to re-install the OS without a complete format of the HD but can't get the setting to allow this to happen.
Thanks for the help.
Rob

 

I can access the bios, but it will not accept a change in the boot up. I have moved the order of the list (to no avail). How do you reset the bios defaults ?
Thanks again,
Rob

 

This a Fujitsu; about 3 years old. Works good 'till recently.
Rob

 

Default BIOS settings

Since you can't seem to make any changes in your BIOS settings, you can easily change the BIOS to default (factory settings) by either removing the CMOS battery - which reverts the settings to default or use the "default reset" (DR). In either case you should remove power from the computer before starting the procedure. The DR appears as a set of three pins, two of which are shorted with a removeable shorting bar. Remove the shorting bar and short the center and the previously unshorted pin. After five or six seconds replace the shorting bar to its original location. Battery removal needs to last about 20 seconds.

This works fine for a desktop computer but may be more difficult on a laptop. Consult your manual or go to the internet and check the computer or motherboard manufacturer's site for the location of the reset and/or battery.

Incidently, there is a way to reinstall WinXP without having to reformat and lose your installation and data. Go to the second link for a detailed "how to ". The first link is for Recovery Console use.

http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=187000225
http://www.informationweek.com/windows/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=189400897


I have used both approaches numerous times without problem.


I also doubt that you have a bad CMOS battery because you could still change your BIOS settings, you just couldn't save them upon reboot.

 

I have read what many people have posted on the net, and have complied with the instructions, and the computer (Fujitsu laptop) simply will not boot from the CD and reveal the menu that is supposed to come up. I am trying to avoid a clean install. The machine has some corruption problems and this is the simplest way to fix them that I know of. Any and all help is greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Rob

 

The bios settings show to boot from the CD first, but when I boot with the disc in place, the computer ignores and boots from the HD. I read the links you listed and copied them to my computer....the only problem is that the screen I'm supposed to get, I don't. Need to know how to force the computer to boot from the CD...possibly in the DOS mode ? That's where I am at the present.
Thanks for all the input,
Rob

 

Hi,
Is that you need to watch the screens during startup. A message comes up "Press any key to boot from CD ". If you do not press a key it will continue to boot to the HDD.

Matt

 

Rob:
You've gotten very good advice from some very knowledgeable members and there's not much I would add as the procedures given are right on the money. One additional thought does come to mind however. Is your Fujitsu one of the ones that has an interchangeable floppy drive and CDROM drive? (can use either/or but not both simultaneously) If yes, what drives are listed or recognized in the BIOS? If no, can you boot to a Win9x boot disk (floppy) with a CD in the CDROM drive and read the CD's directory? note: drive letter will shift up one letter booting this way - ie: D becomes E

 

The CD is removable, and the space will house a 2nd battery. When I open my computer all the drives are there and can be accessed. I'm not experienced in opening up a laptop and don't want to destroy it by ignorance on my part, so removing the cmos battery might be difficult, or even resetting it. I tried to restore the bios defaults but nothing seems to change.
Are there dos commands that can be done thru cmd that will make the machine boot to the CD ? If so, then would that work ?
Thanks again for all the imput,
Rob

 

The CD plays DVD's, CD's, and burns CD's; works well. The machine has the Phoenix bios and have gone in and told it to boot CD 1st, HD 2nd...machine doesn't have a floppy drive. The screens that I am supposed to get do not come up, and I have tried this many times. I have gone back to previous system restore points and get the same result.
Really at a loss at this point. Is there a dos command that will enable me to require the machine to boot from the CD ? If not, then what, format the HD so I can start over...don't really want to do a clean install.
Apparently something got into the machine and corrupted some files and is blocking the setup I want to do. Other than not being able to boot from the CD it seems to do ok (aside from the glitches) that I want to get rid of.
Thanks again,
Rob

 

Where would I look to find the dis-assenbly instructions for a Fujitsu laptop ?
So far, I haven't seen anything on the web like that.
Thanks again for the help,
Rob

 

A Fujitsu S6120D. What can be done to re-install the XP os ? If you can't get the machine to boot from the CD...then what ? Is this some type of virus or some other destructive software that got into the machine ?
This is not the original HD that came with the machine. The original was a 40 G, and I replaced it with an 80 G, then installed XP-Pro and all has been well for quite a while (until a few months ago), the it started acting squirrely (doing all sorts of changes to settings on it's own). Will removing the cmos battery help with getting it back to the default settings ?
Thanks again,
Rob

 

Is it the original factory installation?

From the User Manual:
http://www.fujitsupc.com/www/content/pdf/usermanuals/sseries/S6120,S612D_GINGER_USERGUIDE.PDF

Matt