Re: Can't get XP to go away

Seeing as how your Dell is not working as it should (remove the cmos battery
WILL clear the bios), why don't you call Dell?

--
Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User

If you knew as much as you think you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!

"gsulliv4" <gsulliv4@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:35743279-61D3-43D5-9795-0181AAB03110@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>
>
> "Shenan Stanley" wrote:
>
>> gsulliv4 wrote:
>> > I have a Dell Dimension 8300 running XP Home. I want to wipe my hard
>> > drive (C:) and start with a clean slate. Somehow a BIOS password got
>> > set, I don't know it, and I am not able to set the PC to boot from
>> > CD. I tried removing the battery for a day and a few other things to
>> > reset the BIOS. No go.
>> >
>> > I also do not have a floppy drive. And my disks do not seem bootable.
>> > When I enter the boot options during startup, I am not given the
>> > choice of "Boot from CD" no matter what I have in my drive.
>> >
>> > So I tried installing Recovery Console and formatting the drive from
>> > there. It lets me in, lets me run format, but nothing happens. I
>> > tried a clean install, and all my XP files went away, but all the
>> > other garbage on C: is still there.
>> >
>> > My latest idea was to install an eval version of XP Pro on my Seagate
>> > external drive (G:), boot from that, and format C: from there. Well,
>> > it will apparently not let me install on the external drive. It says
>> > startup cannot see it, even though it is listed as an option.
>> >
>> > I am clueless as to what to do next. Can anyone give me an idea of
>> > how I might be able to wipe my C: drive and start with a clean
>> > install of XP?
>>
>> Tried this?
>>
>> 1.. Restart your computer.
>>
>> 2.. At the first text on the screen, or when the Dell logo appears,
>> press
>> the <F2> key every three seconds until the message Entering Setup
>> appears.
>>
>> 3.. When the System Setup screen appears, press the <Alt> + <F> keys at
>> the same time to load the factory defaults.
>> A beep sounds to indicate the defaults have been loaded.
>>
>> 4.. Check and, if necessary, reset the time, date, and year.
>>
>> 5.. Change the Secondary Drive 0 setting to Auto.
>>
>> 6.. Change USB Legacy Support to Enabled.
>>
>> 7.. Press the <Alt> + <B> keys at the same time to save changes and
>> reboot.
>>
>> 8.. Proceed with the installation or troubleshooting that you were
>> attempting.
>>
>>
>> --
>> Shenan Stanley
>> MS-MVP
>> --
>> How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
>> http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html
>>
>>
>>
>
> Hitting <ALT> + <F> does nothing. When I hit <F2> during startup it puts
> me
> in the main BIOS screen with a prompt for the System Password. Without
> that,
> I can't change any of the settings. Hitting <ALT> + <F> on this screen is
> not
> doing anything. No beep, and the password prompt is still there.


.

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