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Thread: compaq bios

  1. #1
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    compaq bios

    A friend of mine asked for help reformatting a drive and re-installing windows.
    The computer is a Compaq Presario 5184 (shudder).
    I can't get the damned thing to let me into bios....for all intents and purposes bios seems to no longer exist on the computer.
    I tried booting to windows installation cd and got an error that file i386/bios (something to that effect....unfortunately I didn't write the exact file name down.) could not be found.

    I've never run into non-existant bios before, possibly the cmos battery?

    I want to exhaust all options before trying to replace the battery...it's a compaq and they do't make the motherboards overly easy to see....let alone replace something on.
    Faqt


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  2. #2
    Just a Virtualized Geek MrLinus's Avatar
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    Umm... I always thought that Compaq's BIOS are usually kept on the drive itself. It's one of those ugly "proprietary" things that people often forget. Might want to check the HP/Compaq Presario 5184 website. Might be something there that could help (assuming you're installing Win98?)
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  3. #3
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    MsM got it right, they usually have a 1GB or so partition that encases the BIOS and the recovery cd all in one.
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  4. #4
    MsM got it right, they usually have a 1GB or so partition that encases the BIOS and the recovery cd all in one.
    Nope not me, i have a presario 80US. I only have 7 MB's unpartitioned space. And i have formatted and delete and made and everything you can image to both my hard drives, you would think the BIOS would be deleted if it is on the HD ! (Or is it some partition that is extremely protected ? )

  5. #5
    Just a Virtualized Geek MrLinus's Avatar
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    Well they may have changed it at some point that's why I'm not sure if the BIOS partition is still a "feature" of Compaqs' anymore. Depends on how old this machine is (given that the website shows support for Win95 for this version it might still be one of those that required a BIOS partition). Are there any recovery diskettes or CDs?
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  6. #6
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    I KNOW the recovery cd is on that 1GB partition, at least on the three I have worked on lately. All were P3's, all had the recovery cd on the 1gb partition. I don't know about the BIOS thing for certain though.
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  7. #7
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    no, there are no diskettes or cd's to work with....I can't even boot to DOS to get partition info to work with.
    I havn't been able to find a download for the compaq partition ya'll speak of, the downloads on the compaq site are all .exe files that have to be run from the compaq itself (does me little good since I can't boot the thing.)
    Faqt


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  8. #8
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    Gotta love big computer companies. Try www.bootdisk.com. Maybe that will help some. I hate compaq.
    [H]ard|OCP <--Best hardware/gaming news out there--|
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  9. #9
    Just a Virtualized Geek MrLinus's Avatar
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    A little more info:

    How to find the BIOS on the Presario 5184

    BIOS Configuration Options for the Presario 5184

    Exactly how did you erase the hard drive?
    Goodbye, Mittens (1992-2008). My pillow will be cold without your purring beside my head
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  10. #10
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