Compaq Presario 5333CL (vintage 2002) XP SP3

Tapping F10 has always been the key to get me into BIOS Setup. The post screen agrees it's F10.

Tried it today to check boot sequence, and it doesn't work anymore.

Don't think the keyboard is bad because holding down the F10 key prevents the PC from booting to Windows, so the F10 key seems to be functioning.

Tried unplugging my new wireless USB mouse and using original Compaq mouse PS/2 mouse, but no change. Keyboard is original USB that came with PC.

Tried a generic PS/2 Keyboard... no luck.

Something has changed.

Help!! Thanks...

Hi there, try booting your computer while constantly holding down the left control (CTRL) button. That should bring up a special menu, rom which you can choose before the machine continues booting.

"From which you can choose" Sorry for my mis-typing on my last post!

I'll try it right now.

Will this "special menu" have the solution to this problem?

Thanks...

Tried it on Compaq USB keyboard, nothing. Just booted to Windows.

Tried it again on generic PS/2 keyboard. This time the CTL key caused the screen to "hold" long enough for me to read a keyboard error message saying I had the wrong / or defective keyboard.

On this screen, it clearly said press F10 for Setup, so I let go of the Ctl key and pressed F10, but it just went on and booted to Windows.

Any idea why I can't get into BIOS setup?

Some viruses (and/or malware) can actually make changes to the bios code (bios = "basic input - output system). Try booting to a bootable CD (or DVD) such as a windows installation disk. Or perhaps download the "free" version of DrWebCureIt which can scan your entire hard drive for all viruses, malware and adware. Here is a link to download it:

Dr.Web CureIt! — ??????? ????????? ?????????! ??????? ???????, ?????? ?????????? ?????????!

Thank you.

Pehaps this is a better hyperlink, with English already pre-selected as the language:

Dr.Web CureIt! — download free anti-virus! Cure viruses, Best free anti-virus scanner!

Tried it. No infection.

Does this problem sound like a corrupted BIOS?

If so, is flashing necessary or would just a reset do it?

Have you tried using a bootable CD or DVD? It may be that some software component such as might be found in a "service pack" is intentionally preventing you from getting into setup on the machine, to attempt to prevent somebody from "accidentally" messing up critical system settings. On any normal day, I would not think a BIOS was corrupted just because a function key is being ignored. Try using a bootable (software) CD (or DVD) and try getting into setup before the hard drive is accessed. Meanwhile, if you will tell me the OS (operating system) and the "service pack" level (if any), I may be able to give you better answers. I have been servicing computers for decades, from DOS 2.2 through Windows 7, inclusive, but detailed info always makes the job much easier and faster.

Thanks InfoGuy.

Compaq Presario 5333CL (vintage 2002) XP SP3

UPDATE: I've been experimenting with every conceivable combination all day. Made some progress that perhaps you can interpret.

I was finally able to get into the BIOS Setup as a one shot deal:

Unplugged AC power from PC
Removed lithium CMOS battery
Pressed PC's power button for 10 seconds to discharge capacitors
Pressed mobo's CMOS reset button (no jumpers)
Waited 45 minutes (Burger King)
Reinstalled lithium CMOS battery
Powered on PC
It went through a 4 minute DOS screen counting up from 0 to 1536MB in the upper left corner of screen
Then just held position.
Lower right corner had the same <F10 for Setup> message
Pressed F10 (fully expecting a Windows boot as was happening every other time for 2 days)
Shockingly, it opened the BIOS Setup which worked normally. (WOW!)

Thought the problem was solved. However... tried to access BIOS Setup in the prescribed manner, tapping F10 (which has always worked for me in the past on this PC). It went right back to the same problem of just launching Windows.

If I said the keyboard was unresponsive earlier, that was incorrect. The Function Keys are working.
The precise problem: Pressing or tapping F10 at the appropriate time, just causes Windows to boot up.

I haven't tried the "Remove Battery" procedure again, but for now will assume it would work again.
I suppose if I must, I can live with this, but it is troubling that this has happening.
I've considered flashing the BIOS, but that always makes me nervous. I have a functioning PC, and if I must access BIOS Setup, at least I know it's possible.

If you have any suggestions for a fix, it would be greatly appreciated! (Sorry for the long post, but wanted to give you all details to assist with troubleshooting)

Thanks again...

Ah-ha, OK. You have a Presario! My info tells me that, depending on the year of manufacture of the MB (motherboard, AKA mainboard), the machine might be configured to respond to a setup request via CTRL+ALT+ESC (control and alt and escape keys, all simultaneously). It is puzzling, however, that it has responded to the F10 key in the past, and that is, in fact, typical of Compaq NON-Presario models. The method is worth a try, if you have not tried it already.

Very interesting news update:

I extended the Post Delay from 0 to 5 seconds so I could actually read what was going on with the Post Screen.

Unfortunately, Ctl+Alt+Esc did not change the prompt "F10=Setup" to the title: "Setup".

However, pressing F10 on the Post Screen DOES change the prompt "F10=Setup" to the title of "Setup", just as it would going into the Setup screen. BUT... instead of going to the Setup screen, it launches Windows.

When I remove the battery, etc, I get the same prompt and it changes to the same title of "Setup" when I press F10, but it actually does go into "Setup".

So there you have it. The precise moment and conditions under which the problem occurs.

I'm beat and am going to crawl under a rock for the night. Thanks InfoGuy. If you have any other suggestions, I shall eagerly await them.

Thanks again...

One thing occurs to me that may have started the ball rolling on your unfortunate computer experiences. By any chance, did all the prolems start right after you installed any "Windows Updates" such as a service pack or security updates? I will offer two possible explanations at this point. The first is, if you are using a USB keyboard, the driver for the keyboard cannot be loaded from the BIOS, but can only be loaded from the hard drive, as a Windows driver. Thus, the TIMING of your key-press of F10 becomes very critical. Look for a small white box (or block) somewhere in the upper right area of the screen, as the machine begins to boot, and don't touch the F10 key until that box appears. You may only have about a one-second window of time in which you can access the setup. If you hit the key BEFORE the USB driver is loaded by Windows, the system will not see your keypress because the keyboard is not yet fully active, not having the driver active yet. If you hit the F10 key after the white box (if any) disappears, then your keypress was probably too late to access the BIOS setup routine. If no white block (or box) appears at all, you may have a corrupted (possibly hidden?) partition on the hard drive, which also serves as the partition from which the OS (operating system) can be "restored" to factory conditions. You know, the "factory reset" conditions with all your data and customization settings completelly wiped out, and also with all the programs you personally installed completely gone without a trace! There is a free analytic utility called Tesdisk (from CG Security) which you could download and run, but with XP on SP3, you would have to run Testdisk in a "DOS window" to be effective. Testdisk can analyze hard drives for lost partitions and restore them (if recoverable at all), but with a hidden partition, revival gets a little tricky, and the sequential steps you take to restore the partition have to be very precise. Before we jump off the deep end, let's first see if the little white box pops up during the boot process. You may simply have a timing issue with the F10 keypress!

Thanks for all the detailed info, InfoGuy. I really appreciate it.

Please take a look at paragraphs (sentences) 2 and 4 on my last post. It seems that this may have already answered your questions. If not, I may be misunderstanding something. Please let me know... and thanks again.

Mitchsc, I understood sentence 2, which was, "Unfortunately, Ctl+Alt+Esc did not change the prompt "F10=Setup" to the title: "Setup". I also understood sentence 4, which was, "When I remove the battery, etc, I get the same prompt and it changes to the same title of "Setup" when I press F10, but it actually does go into "Setup". If you are using a "cache" (temporary files in memory) so that the computer does not have to re-read the hard disk, then the computer will use the temp. file to save HD access time. But if you disconnect the battery, then all the "cache" (temp. files in memory) are totally wiped out, and the BIOS is FORCED to re-read the hard drive to get the info. So, there could be corruption or severe fragmentation in a hard drive partition, or there could be cache memory locations with "stuck bits."

Hi InfoGuy. I apologize. I wasn't clear in referring to my paragraphs by number. I really must learn how to do the quotes on this forum.

I was responding to your previous post where you were alluding to the very short time in which to press F10.

I had mentioned that I changed the post screen time from 0 to 5 seconds, which now gives me plenty of time to press F10. (There is no white block in the upper right corner) I had also commented: "However, pressing F10 on the Post Screen DOES change the prompt "F10=Setup" to the title of "Setup", just as it would going into the Setup screen. BUT... instead of going to the Setup screen, it launches Windows."

So, it would seem that the keyboard is active, and it is changing the prompt to indicate it is going to go into Setup, but it just boots to Windows instead.

Your last post describes some things that are beyond the scope of my knowledge. The very last thing I want to do is a fresh install. That is my absolute last resort. I don't have a copy of Windows on a CD, just the Recovery Disk which pulls a fresh copy of Windows off my D partition. But the last time I tried to use it, I had some problems getting access to that function. So I may be stuck there too.

Can you recommend anything I can do at this point to fix this problem, short of a fresh install?

BTW: I keep a clone of my entire HDD on a separate drive in my desk. It has never been used other than to add new programs and Windows Updates. No user files on it. Just XP, programs, and configurations. If I ever have a crash, or my PC slows way down, I just pop in the "Master HDD" and clone it back to my "Everyday HDD". Then just restore my files and I have a totally fresh drive. Unfortunately, I popped in my Master HDD to test this BIOS Setup issue, and it did the same thing. (maybe that is useful info?? )

Do you think it's more likely to be a Windows / HDD problem, or could it possibly be a corrupted BIOS? I was considering flashing the BIOS to see if that would solve the problem. What do you think?

Thanks... IG

Update:

I don't know if this is related, but it certainly is a coincidence.

Now I can't boot from my CD/DVD drives. It just goes on to Windows.

On 4/7, I did a RAM test and it booted fine from the CD, so this is quite recent.

Geez!

Does your computer have a PS2 jack on, through which you could connect a PS2 keyboard? If something corrupted the USB driver (software file(s), early launch (in the boot-up phase) may not be possible. At this juncture, I would consider a "brute force" method of going into setup. You can "simulate" a defective keyboard by holding down serveral keys at the same time, until the system "hickups" (complains of defective hardware). Atthough the scenario never made any logical sense to me, that is the way it works anyway! The system will detect a "defective keyboard" (stuck keys), probably flash a brief error message on the screen, and go into setup, expecting you to FIX the problem using your "defective" keyboard! At that point (provided all is well with both the USB driver and the USB keyboard), you should be able to change the boot sequence. My suggestion would be that the internal hard drive should be the very last device to boot, and a floppy (if present) should be the first device, and a usb device (such as a bootable USB stick (flash drive), and CD or DVD should all precede the hard drive, in booting sequesnce. You may be able to prevent the computer from booting to the hard drive at all by deselecting it altogether, which is the ideal situation whenever you need to troubleshoot by separating hardware and configuration problems from software and operating system problems. Try the brute force method of going into setup first. If that works, AND, in setup, the computer is fully responsive to commands (sequential keypresses), then you can use the USB keyboard. But that seems unlikely to me, because how can the USB keyboard even be active without a Windows driver loaded? If you have (or can borrow) a PS2 keyboard, try using that instead of the USB keyboard. The USB keyboard may, however, be loaded by the BIOS, especially if it came OEM that way. Finally, try tapping F8 instead of F10, and see if you can access other Windows boot options (such as safe mode and command prompt). Keep me posted, and I will try to help you. If I misunderstood your references before, I apologize. But as far as I know, I left questions "on the table" that received no response, such as, is there any correlation between Microsoft updates and the onset of your inability to access setup? But since I say a lot most of the time, trying to explain things, my questions may have gotten "lost in the shuffle" so-to-speak.

First off, thanks for hanging in with me. I really appreciate the help. I will address each of your questions in order, and hope it will make some sense. At this point, I'm lost.
1) Yes to PS/2. In fact, when there is a hardware change of any kind, or a "stuck key" (see below) I must hit F1 to accept. My USB keyboard is unresponsive to this F1 prompt. Must use PS/2 keyboard (only for this one prompt).
2) I've done the "stuck key" trick. It prompts me to press F10 to get into Setup, but this just launches Windows. (The key press DOES switch the prompt from "Press F10", to the word "SETUP" just as it normally would before entering Setup, but it goes to Windows instead)
3) I set the boot sequence to CD, Floppy, HDD, USB. Still won't boot with a bootable CD.
4) Both the PS/2 and the USB keyboards are responsive in Setup. (Just a reminder, the ONLY way I can access Setup at this time is to remove the CMOS battery. That gives me one shot to get in. After that, every key press on both keyboards launches Windows.)
5) Since this may be a BIOS problem, and I can barely access Setup, I'm hesitant to disable the HDD in Setup. Although I fully appreciate the value in this troubleshooting. I was wondering if I could just unplug the HDD to achieve the same result. Please let me know about that.
6) The USB keyboard is active before Windows loads (except in that one situation of a stuck key or a hardware change, where it asks me to press F1 to Accept. In that single situation, I must use the PS/2 keyboard.)
7) Will get back to you on tapping F8. I remember getting into Safe Mode, but it may have required the PS/2 keyboard. I don't remember now.
8) It's been months since I went into setup and there have been many "High Priority Windows Updates" since then. I wouldn't have a clue if one, or which one, may have caused this. I have a laptop and two other PC's that are all getting the same updates, and have not been affected this way. As mentioned previously, I was able to boot from my MemTest86 CD on 4/7, so if the inability to boot from CD is related, that narrows the time frame. I find it odd that my boot sequence starts with my CD drive, but it won't boot from there.

Hope I got it all this time.
Thanks again IG...