How to Access the BIOS of Your Computer

Oct. 19th, 2016 by Admin

 

Two of the most common functions why you might access your system’s BIOS are changing the boot order to allow a CD/USB or other device to boot before a hard drive or supplying a security password to lock your computer.

Unfortunately, the BIOS and the way we access the BIOS is far from standardized. Any of the following keyboard keys can invoke the BIOS (sometimes referred to as system setup): F1, F2, F10, F12, Del, Esc, or Ins. Once in the BIOS, you must use the keyboard to navigate the menus and change the settings. Again, this isn’t standardized either and there are at least a dozen implementations of the BIOS interface.

Here’s a list of the ways and access keys to press to access BIOS Setup Utility on variety of popular OEM computer systems, motherboard makers and major BIOS brands. Note that some BIOS or computer systems may have more than one method of accessing BIOS depending on when the BIOS is released.

Acer (Aspire, Power, Veriton, Extensa, Ferrari, TravelMate, Altos): Press [F2] or [Del] Immediately After Power Up

Acer (Altos 600 Server): Press [Ctrl]+[Alt]+[Esc] or [F1] During Boot (for Advanced Options)

Acer (Older PC): Press [F1] or [Ctrl]+[Alt]+[Esc] to Access BIOS

AMI (American Megatrends AMIBIOS, AMI BIOS): Press [Delete] During Boot AMI

AMI (American Megatrends AMIBIOS, AMI BIOS) – Old Version: Press [F1] or [F2] During Boot
Award BIOS (AwardBIOS): Press [Del] After Powering Up Computer

Award BIOS (AwardBIOS) – Old Version : Press [Ctrl]+[Alt]+[Esc] During Boot

ALR: Press [Ctrl]+[Alt]+[Esc] or [Ctrl]+[Alt]+[Del] During Boot

ARI: Press [Ctrl]+[Alt]+[Esc] or [Ctrl]+[Alt]+[Del] During Boot

AST Advantage: Press [Ctrl]+[Alt]+[Esc] During Boot

Compaq (Presario, Prolinea, Deskpro, Systempro, Portable): Press [F10] When Blinking Cursor Jumps To Top Right Corner of Screen

Compaq (Presario, Prolinea, Deskpro, Systempro, Portable): Press [F10] When Logo Screen Is Displayed

Compaq (Older Computers): Press [F1], [F2], [F10], or [Del] Key

Cybermax: Press [Esc] Key

Dell (XPS, Dimension, Inspiron, Latitude. OptiPlex, Precision, Vostro): Press F2 When Dell 

Logo Is Displayed Until “Entering Setup” Appears

Dell (Older 486 Models): Press [Ctrl]+[Alt]+[Enter] During Boot

Dell (Some Models): Press Reset Button Twice (i.e. Power Reset Button)

Dell Dimension L566cx System: Press [Del]

Dell (Older Laptop Models) : Press [Fn]+[Esc] or [Fn]+[F1]

DTK (Datatech Enterprises): Press [Esc] Key Right After Powering On the PC.

EISA Computer: Press the Reset button on the Front of the Computer, then Press [Ctrl]+[Alt]+[Esc] immediately when the memory count begins or Press [Crtl]+[Alt]+[S].

eMachines (eMonster, eTower, eOne, S-Series, T-Series): Press [Tab] or [Del] During Boot

eMachine (Some Older Computers): Press [F2]

Fujitsu (LifeBook, Esprimo, Amilo, Tablet, DeskPower): Press [F2] When Fujitsu Logo Is Appearing.

Gateway Using Phoenix BIOS (DX, FX, One, GM, GT, GX, Profile, Astro): Press [F1]

Gateway (Some Older PCs): Press [F2]

Hewlett-Parkard (HP Pavilion, TouchSmart, Vectra, OmniBook, Tablet): Press [F1] Upon Startup or Bootup

Hewlett-Parkard (HP Alternative): Press [F2] or [Esc]

Hewlett-Parkard (HP) Tablet PC: Press [F10] or [F12]

IBM ThinkPad using IBM BIOS (Early Models): Press [Ctrl]+[Alt]+[Ins] When Cursor Is At Upper-Right Corner of Screen

IBM ThinkPad using IBM BIOS (Later Models): Press and Hold [F1] When Powering Up Laptop

IBM ThinkPad using Phoenix BIOS: Press [Ctrl]+[Alt]+[F11] from DOS Prompt

IBM PS/1 (Late Models), PS/ValuePoint and 330s: Press [Ctrl]+[Alt]+[?]

IBM PS/2 with Reference Partition: Press [Insert] During Boot

IBM PS/2: Press [Ctrl]+[Ins] When Pointer Is At Top Right of Screen

IBM PS/2: Need Reference Disk and ADF Disk for Setup

IBM PS/2 75 and 90: Press [Ctrl]+[Alt]+[?]

IBM (PC, XT, AT): Press [F1] Immediately On Powering On the Computer

IBM (Older Computers or Notebooks): Press [F2]

Lenovo (ThinkPad, IdeaPad, 3000 Series, ThinkCentre, ThinkStation): Press [F1] or [F2] on Boot Up

Lenovo (Older Products): Press [Ctrl]+[Alt]+[F3], [Ctrl]+[Alt]+[Ins] or [Fn]+[F1].

Microid Research MR BIOS: Press [F1]

Micron (MPC Computers ClientPro, TransPort): Press [F1], [F2] or [Del] On Startup

NEC (PowerMate, Versa, W-Series): Press [F2] During Boot

NEC Versa Notebook: Press and Hold Down [F1] Upon Startup or Bootup

Olivetti PC Pro: Press [Ctrl]+[Alt]+[Shift]+[Del](in Num Pad) During Boot

Packard Bell (8900 Series, 9000 Series, Pulsar, Platinum, EasyNote, imedia, iextreme): Press [F1], [F2], or [Del].

Packard Bell (Early 386 and 486 Dodels): Press [Ctrl]+[Alt]+[S] Sequence

Phoenix BIOS (Phoenix-Award BIOS): Press [Del] During Power On Self-Test

Phoenix BIOS (Phoenix-Award BIOS) – Old Version: Press [Ctrl]+[Alt]+[S], [Ctrl]+[Alt]+[Esc], [Ctrl]+[Alt]+[Ins] or [Ctrl]+[S] During Power On Boot Self-Test Right After Startup

Sharp (Notebook Laptops, Actius UltraLite): Press [F2] On Computer Starts

Sharp (Old PCs): Require Setup Diagnostics Disk to Access BIOS

Shuttle (Glamor G-Series, D’vo, Prima P2-Series, Workstation, X Mini XPC, Surveillance): Press [F2] or [Del] on System Startup

Sony (VAIO, PCG-Series, VGN-Series): Press [F1], [F2] or [F3] After Turning On the Computer

Sony Vaio 320 Series: Press [F2] During Boot

Tandon 386: press [Ctrl]+[Shift]+[Esc]

Tandon: press [Ctrl]+[Shift]+[Esc]

Toshiba (Portégé, Satellite, Tecra): Press [Esc] During Boot

Toshiba (Portégé, Satellite, Tecra with Phoenix BIOS): Press [F1] during Boot

Zenith, Phoenix: Press [Ctrl]+[Alt]+[Ins] During Boot

Miscellaneous and Other Common BIOS Key Sequences:

[Ctrl]+[Esc]
[Ctrl]+[Ins]
[Ctrl]+[Alt]
[Ctrl]+[Alt]+[+]
[Ctrl]+[Alt]+[F3]
[Ctrl]+[Alt]+[Del]
[Ctrl]+[Alt]+[S]
[Ctrl]+[Alt]+[Enter]
[Ctrl]+[Alt]+[Ins]
[Ctrl]+[Alt]+[Esc]
[Ctrl]+[Shift]+[Esc]
[Tab]
[F1]
[F3]
[F4]
[F10]
[F12]
[Fn]+[Function Key]