Changing BIOS settings

[clayfaris]

I'm new to Linux/Knoppix; trying to get my computer to boot from the CD, but it won't. How do I get into the BIOS menu if this POS computer is password protected from the factory? I can pull up the menu, but I don't know the password...ideas? What if I remove this round battery inside the tower next to the BIOS?

[robwelch100]

You don't have to do that that, although you could. Do you know for a fact it is password protected or is there a dell, compaq, or hp logo and no option listed to enter bios? Generally bios, also called cmos, can be entered by pressing one of the following keys after you power on your computer but before the loading of the operating system. Try one of these keys (delete, F10, or F2) My experience is that compaq uses F10. As for me I don't bye cookie cutter computers and build my own. All the motherboards I personally own use the delete key to enter bios. Now, if it is password protected there should be a jumper setting on the board that will restore the bios to factory settings that will clear the password protection (it is gewneraly labeled clear cmos or something similar). You may need to look extensively at the manufacturer web site to find this, if the manual is lacking. When you find the jumper use it to clear the bios by turning the power on to the unit. It most likely wont do anything. Then move the jumper back to its normal possition. now reboot and enter bios again. Change the boot order to boot from your cd and you're off and running.

[shah]

Since it is factory default, I won't touch it. If you willing to take the risk, mobo usually comes with reset jumper.

Another way to boot is using smart boot manager, if you can boot from floppy. You can boot your cdrom through this floppy. Get it from:
http://members.optusnet.com.au/atar/sbootmgr.img

In konsole, change to directory where you save that file, and run this command with blank cd attach to create boot floppy.
dd if=sbootmgr.img of=/dev/fd0

Boot using this floppy and choose boot from cdrom in menu.

If you can't create the boot floppy from linux, you can create it from windows.
Get this tool for windows: http://members.optusnet.com.au/atar/rawritewin.exe

[user unknown]

The factory-password should be known by the vendor, if the machine isn't too old.
With your manufactor/ bios-version, you often find by googling the default-passwords, or some backdoor-passwords (which make the whole idea of bios-password corrupt).