BIOS issue.

Ive recently just got a old pc of a friend of mine.
Im wanting to install linux onto it but it doesnt seem to boot from CD-rom or floppy.
Do very old pc's come with BIOS? Is there anyway of install BIOS?

Thanks. ;)

Hi,

How "old" is old? (what processor)...................what make is it?

Does it have a hard drive?.................can you boot from that?

If it is an old corporate box the CD and floppy boot options might be disabled in the BIOS.

What happens when you power it up, do you see anything on the screen and do you get any "beeps"

Typical keys to get into the BIOS are F1, Delete, F10, Escape and F2 just keep tapping them during power up or if you get a prompt.

Do you get any lights come on, and can you hear the fans?

:)

VERY old, its got some buttons ive never even seen before. Yea its got a HD.
When i boot it says to press delete to enter setup. But when i do press it nothings happens
it just boots into windows. Ive tried numerous keyboards. :)

Hi Mate,

What version of Windows does it boot into?

Try <start> <settings> <control panel> <system>

That should give you information on the OS version, RAM and processor.

Also, go into Windows Explorer, right click on your HDD and select properties.............that should tell you HDD capacity and available space.

How comfortable are you with opening it up?

The first thing I would do is replace the CMOS battery. You might looking in contol panel at the date/time settings......................it will probably say something like January 1 1980

;)

Try tapping the Delete key as you switch it on, and keep tapping it until it either goes into setup or Windows...............let me know which it does.

:)

What brand is it? I know some old Compaq machines had a ~2MB partition on the harddrive that contained the setup.. This might have been deleted..

SirDice

That is possible, but it won't be a Compaq.....................I have 286, 386 and 486's of theirs and they all use F10 for setup...................so did the later Pentiums.

My guess is that the battery is dead and the BIOS has reverted to some sort of default which you probably can't change without putting a new one in?

:)

Thanks for the help nihil and SirDice, but the pc doesnt seem to want to turn on anymore... :(
Guess ill just use it for spare parts...

If it's that old what kind of spare parts would be useful in a new box? I'm a recovering packrat.

however I got the idea of building up an old Apple II plus box with a new MB just to filp people out, just haven't got arounfd to it.

I was thinking the HD and powerpack for my other fairly old PC.
Alot of the parts would be useful. ;)

Hi,

Are you getting any lights come on at all, and does the PSU fan run?

If not, it sounds like a PSU problem. If you do then I would try replacing the CMOS battery, as I have come across some old machines that won't come out to play if that is flat.

It may have had a small charge in it, particularly if it had been left for some time, and now that you have used it a bit you have flattened it againt?

;)

Yea, everything lights up then turns of and on. :(

howdy.

Quote:

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Yea, everything lights up then turns of and on. :(

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I would defiantly say that the PSU is cooked. Any chance that you are able to put another PSU into it, and see if that does the trick?

f2B

Hmmmm......................

The machine won't boot but the lights come on, and the fans spin? That doesn't sound like the CPU to me..................with an old machine I still go for a dead CMOS battery.

If you have a multimeter/battery tester or know someone who does then check it out.

Better still, remove the battery and take it to the shop where you would buy a replacement and ask them to test it for you to see if you need to buy a new battery from them

;)