Windows 2000 goes into CMOS/BIOS set up at start
February 18, 2007 8:22 AM Subscribe
One of my PCs running Windows 2000 Professional has been a stable workhorse for several years. However, beginning a few days ago, it has not been booting properly - it heads to the CMOS/BIOS set up menu after the memory test rather than log in.
It's not making any BIOS error beeps - only the one happy successful POST beep. No recent hardware or peripheral changes; the only software added in the last week was Kapersky's online virus scan (which I have since removed). Oddly, the only thing that gets me into the normal boot and log in is doing a Ctrl+Alt+Del just before drive detection. I have Googled and searched on Microsoft over the past few days and have not found any useful information, and I honestly don't have a clue whether this is an OS, hardware or other problem. Perhaps a kind soul here can hope me?
It's not making any BIOS error beeps - only the one happy successful POST beep. No recent hardware or peripheral changes; the only software added in the last week was Kapersky's online virus scan (which I have since removed). Oddly, the only thing that gets me into the normal boot and log in is doing a Ctrl+Alt+Del just before drive detection. I have Googled and searched on Microsoft over the past few days and have not found any useful information, and I honestly don't have a clue whether this is an OS, hardware or other problem. Perhaps a kind soul here can hope me?
I would also poke around in there for some kind of event log. There could be an error being thrown that you're not seeing.
posted by saraswati at 8:32 AM on February 18, 2007
posted by saraswati at 8:32 AM on February 18, 2007
Response by poster: Thank you for your quick response, Saraswati. The BIOS is from Award Software International, Inc. 4.51 PG.
I do have an error in the event log that I am suspicious of - but it's been happening far longer than the recent start up issue:
The Automatic Updates service hung on starting.
If there's further info that would be helpful, I'm happy to provide -
posted by vers at 8:40 AM on February 18, 2007
I do have an error in the event log that I am suspicious of - but it's been happening far longer than the recent start up issue:
The Automatic Updates service hung on starting.
If there's further info that would be helpful, I'm happy to provide -
posted by vers at 8:40 AM on February 18, 2007
Your CMOS settings may have been corrupted. In the CMOS menu try resetting to defaults. It has worked for me in the past.
posted by notpeter at 8:42 AM on February 18, 2007
posted by notpeter at 8:42 AM on February 18, 2007
Years, you say? Checked your CMOS battery?
posted by Smart Dalek at 8:59 AM on February 18, 2007
posted by Smart Dalek at 8:59 AM on February 18, 2007
Response by poster: I hadn't suspected the battery, Smart Dalek, though the motherboard in this machine is 5 to 6 years old. If it were the battery, wouldn't I lose the clock setting or other settings on the machine, or is that erroneous?
posted by vers at 9:08 AM on February 18, 2007
posted by vers at 9:08 AM on February 18, 2007
It certainly isn't an O/S problem. Your BIOS hasn't started your operating system yet, so that can be successfully ruled out.
Here are things I would try (in order of ease/cost and likelihood of result):
- Reset the BIOS. Write down all your settings or record them in some way before doing so. Doing a hard reset could clear up some minor glitch that is causing it to go into setup.
- Change keyboards/mice. There's a chance your keyboard or mouse is sending a weird signal that the BIOS is interpreting as F8 or whatever the command is to get to setup.
- Put in a new BIOS battery. This seems like a possibility, but I agree that you should be seeing some other indicators (like a reset clock) if your BIOS battery is failing.
- Re-flash the BIOS. Notice this is different than resetting the BIOS. This actually writes a new BIOS file to your computer. It's a fairly risky procedure and I wouldn't do it before backing up ALL my data first to a device that's disconnected from your computer.
- Get a new motherboard.
posted by onalark at 9:24 AM on February 18, 2007
Here are things I would try (in order of ease/cost and likelihood of result):
- Reset the BIOS. Write down all your settings or record them in some way before doing so. Doing a hard reset could clear up some minor glitch that is causing it to go into setup.
- Change keyboards/mice. There's a chance your keyboard or mouse is sending a weird signal that the BIOS is interpreting as F8 or whatever the command is to get to setup.
- Put in a new BIOS battery. This seems like a possibility, but I agree that you should be seeing some other indicators (like a reset clock) if your BIOS battery is failing.
- Re-flash the BIOS. Notice this is different than resetting the BIOS. This actually writes a new BIOS file to your computer. It's a fairly risky procedure and I wouldn't do it before backing up ALL my data first to a device that's disconnected from your computer.
- Get a new motherboard.
posted by onalark at 9:24 AM on February 18, 2007
yeah, check that you have the latest bios and reset to defaults.
posted by rhizome at 9:32 AM on February 18, 2007
posted by rhizome at 9:32 AM on February 18, 2007
Response by poster: Thank you all -- I'm off to try (some of) these suggestions. If I'm not back soon to mark best answers, you know what I'm doing...
posted by vers at 10:29 AM on February 18, 2007
posted by vers at 10:29 AM on February 18, 2007
i'm nthing the battery issue. bet that's it.
posted by lester's sock puppet at 11:11 AM on February 18, 2007
posted by lester's sock puppet at 11:11 AM on February 18, 2007
Oops, I should've been specific. I meant an event log in the BIOS. CMOS battery was what I was getting at, although I don't think I've ever seen a BIOS that goes into the menu system automatically on error. Typically you get a notification and an option to continue or enter setup. If it was something as simple as the battery I can't imagine the BIOS vendor would've made it so non-trivial to just ignore the error and continue on.
posted by saraswati at 2:36 PM on February 18, 2007
posted by saraswati at 2:36 PM on February 18, 2007
You know, if it's not the battery, you could have a stuck key on your keyboard.
posted by kc0dxh at 8:07 AM on February 19, 2007
posted by kc0dxh at 8:07 AM on February 19, 2007
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by saraswati at 8:30 AM on February 18, 2007