how to start my computer

  • Thread starter Thread starter Elmo89m
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Elmo89m

Elmo89m

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A little nephew of mine got onto my recording computer and got onto the setup menu while the computer was booting up and messed some stuff up. now the computer wont even turn on. How can i set the computer back to default if i cant get it to turn on?
 
umm... need some more info. "wont turn on"... can you specify? will the power turn on, but the hard drive wont boot? will fans run?

yeah, definately need more info.
 
You need to use whatever hotkey your manufacturer utilizes to get into the BIOS setup screens. Often it's F2, F8 or F12.

There should be an option to restore default settings somewhere in there.

If it doesn't come on at all you have a totally different problem.

Good luck.
 
More info is definately necessary. wont turn on could mean
1. computer stays completely lifeless when power button is pushed.
2. power comes to computer when button is pushed but screen is black
3. power turns on, things are on the screen but it freezes or shows an error before the OS
4. gets to the OS but cant log in

which of those seems most like your problem?
 
If you mean it wont turn on as in there is no power going to it, then its a hardware problem, the first port of call I guess would be to check the power supply. However if its to do with some kind of configuration screwing up, then I'm not sure it will be that.

If its that you can't boot to windows, I had the same problem once. I bought a cheap IDE drive and installed windows on it.
Then using that install of windows I looked on the other hard drives to check everything was ok. Then I salvaged my data and reinstalled windows on the original drive. Luckily it was partitioned between my OS and everything else in this case, so I was able to just format the OS partition and reinstall windows on it, and my music etc was still sitting in the other partition where it was before.

If its switching on, but you aren't even getting to BIOS then it sounds like your motherboard could possibly be screwed, or your memory or your CPU.

From what you say tho it sounds like your nephew was screwing with the BIOS. There is way to reset the BOIS but its a little dodgy and you might want to get an 'expert' to oversee while you do it. Basically if you drain the BIOS battery, it will completely reset the BIOS back to default. This involves some kind of short circuiting of the battery. Thats why I say get some who know a lot to oversee it. I'm not going to go through the exact procedure because I don't want you to total your PC on my account as I may be wrong. I would look on google about it. The only time I drained my BIOS is when I knocked my power cord in and out by mistake, and sent a surge through my pc, luckily it merely reset the BIOS. Luckily.
 
legionserial said:
Basically if you drain the BIOS battery, it will completely reset the BIOS back to default. This involves some kind of short circuiting of the battery.
Click to expand...
right track, wrong train.

all you have to do to reset the BIOS is pull the CMOS battery (the watch battery about the size of a nickel on your mobo).

you could call me one of those computer-geek "experts" on this.

still need more info...........
 
the thing powers up completely. The light even blinks on the cdrom, but nothing comes up on the screen
 
Never underestimate the power of resetting CMOS. It amazes me how many silly little problems can be fixed with a 30 second operation, and people still pay big bucks for someone else to do it!


Glad you got your rig fixed!
 
BillyBo said:
right track, wrong train.

all you have to do to reset the BIOS is pull the CMOS battery (the watch battery about the size of a nickel on your mobo).

you could call me one of those computer-geek "experts" on this.

still need more info...........
Click to expand...


I'm sure most "computer-geek "experts" realise there's a CMOS reset jumper on most motherboards...saves fuckin about pulling batteries :p
 
LemonTree said:
I'm sure most "computer-geek "experts" realise there's a CMOS reset jumper on most motherboards
Click to expand...
hehe... yeah, but it could be in diff places for each mobo, so i wasnt about to try to figure out what mobo and all he had, :p


glad you're back up and running!



Bless.
 
That's what manuals are for :)

FWIW, I would not recommend people pulling those batteries as it is quite easy to damage its connectors.

The jumpers are the way to go.
BillyBo said:
hehe... yeah, but it could be in diff places for each mobo, so i wasnt about to try to figure out what mobo and all he had, :p


glad you're back up and running!



Bless.
Click to expand...
 
For someone who doesn't know much about PCs, CMOS esspecially, do you honesty think that they

A) know what a motherboard is in the first place?
B) know what model mobo they have?
C) know where to find the manual for their mobo?
D) know how to identify the jumper to reset CMOS?

They should however, be able to follow simple instructions.

Turn off PC, unplug PC, hold in power button for 20-60 seconds, Look for the watch battery looking thing-a-ma-hoochy, (ground yourself by touching something metal) take said thing-a-ma-hoochy out, count to 30-60, put said thing-a-ma-hoochy-back in, plug in PC, turn PC on.

All in about the same ammount of time as it will take someone to locate a manual :D
 
to redeem myself, i know what a motherboard is, however, i dont have a manual because i put the computer together from parts i got from random people.
 
Elmo89m said:
to redeem myself, i know what a motherboard is, however, i dont have a manual because i put the computer together from parts i got from random people.
Click to expand...


Not dogging you, just pointing out my observations with friends, family, etc.

Someone of higher PC learning may indeed find that resetting the jumpers works best for them, however, as long as they aren't using pliers to pull the battery, there isn't anything wrong with the battery method.
 
Maybe he should put a password on his BIOS so his little nephew doesn't do the same thing...then again I doubt he will let the little guy near the PC again..lol
 
ha, actually, i did put a password on as soon as i got back into bios and got everything working again.
 
Creamyapples1 said:
They should however, be able to follow simple instructions...........

All in about the same ammount of time as it will take someone to locate a manual :D
Click to expand...
yeah, that was the point i was trying to make. it would be difficult to get someone nearby to do this using their manual and such with a house call, but on these forums, you gotta go with the easiest solution, as you are unaware of the type of people you are dealing with.

eh - it's fixed. who cares, lol.
 
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