Doesn't go into BIOS: what to do and how to force the computer to enter BIOS? When you turn on the computer, the BIOS constantly starts. The motherboard BIOS does not start.

Sometimes after some laptop models stop loading the operating system. Instead, when turned on, they immediately automatically enter the BIOS. There, if you look at the boot list (), you will notice that it is empty. That is, it does not have a hard drive, DVD drive, or bootable flash drive that you could insert into a USB port. Although they are all connected and can even be displayed in the BIOS among the connected devices.

What to do in this situation and how to return the laptop to working condition yourself at home?

Why is this happening?

In most cases, this situation occurs, as mentioned above, after resetting the BIOS settings. Moreover, it is not necessary to do this through the corresponding menu. It is enough to remove the battery from the laptop for a few minutes and disconnect it from the electrical network. Updating the BIOS and removing dust also often leads to its reset.

In some versions of laptops, especially after 2016, the BIOS contains various options, the incorrect installation of which will prohibit booting from a hard drive or flash drive. Therefore, when turned on, the laptop itself enters the BIOS, since it does not see a single device from which it could continue booting.

How to fix this situation?

To do this, in the BIOS settings that appear on the screen immediately after turning on the laptop, you need to find the option and disable it, that is, set it to the Disabled state. It may have a slightly different name, such as Fast Boot, and is usually located on the Advanced or Boot tab. On Asus laptops with UEFI, you need to press F7 in the main window to activate advanced mode.

Fast Boot Option

As soon as you have disabled Fast Boot, immediately save the settings with the F10 button, then restart the laptop and go into the BIOS again.

Next, on the Boot or Security tab (possibly in our case on other tabs), you need to find the option and also disable it by moving it to the Disabled state, and the UEFI and Legacy OS (CSM - Compatibility Support Module) (OS Mode Selection) parameter should be set to CMS OS or Other OS or Legacy.

Secure Boot Option

OS Mode Selection Option

Now we save the settings using the same F10 button, reboot and check. The laptop should start loading Windows.

If this does not happen, then try to find the Legacy Support option in the BIOS and set it to Enabled. Also, if there is a parameter

Unfortunately, sometimes you can encounter quite serious problems with turning on computers and starting operating systems, although until a certain point there were no signs of trouble. It happens that most often the computer turns on, but the operating system does not start. It is these situations that will be discussed further. Let's look at questions related to why the computer won't boot and what to do in such situations. There are several universal solutions here.

The computer turns on, but the operating system does not start: reasons

Among all the possible situations when failures occur at the loading stage, several typical cases can be identified.

There are three options:

• a black screen appears;
• Blue screen BSoD occurs;
• The operating system starts, but cannot fully boot.

In the first case, when the computer does not start (the boot does not turn on), messages may appear on a black screen indicating physical or software problems. In the simplest case, when nothing serious happens, the system may report that, for example, the keyboard is missing (for desktop PCs). The simplest solution is to connect it and reboot.

If the computer turns on, but the boot does not start, and instead warnings about software failures or missing files appear on a black screen, there can be many reasons for this system behavior. Among them, first of all, we can highlight problems with the hard drive, damage to the operating system (accidental or intentional deletion of system components or registry entries), exposure to viruses, incorrect boot sector entries, RAM conflicts, etc. By the way, if a blue screen pops up, this mostly applies to the RAM or recently installed device drivers, which cause conflicts not at the software level, but at the physical level.

What to do if the computer does not boot and the operating system does not start for the above reasons? Depending on the situation, there are several solutions. To an uninitiated user, they may seem quite complicated, but in certain situations only they can be used to resuscitate the system. Therefore, you will have to spend both time and effort.

The computer turns on but does not boot: what to do first?

So, let's start with the simplest thing. Let's assume that a short-term technical failure has occurred in the system, for example due to incorrect shutdown or power surges.

As a rule, almost all Windows modifications used today usually automatically activate startup upon restart. If this does not happen, before starting the system you will have to use the F8 key to call up the additional boot menu (Windows 10 uses a different method).

The computer turns on, but the operating system does not start? There's no need to get upset. Here, in the simplest version, you can select the line to load the last working configuration. If everything is in order with the system components, the system will boot without problems. If this does not help, you will have to use the troubleshooting section, and sometimes even trying to boot into safe mode may be successful.

Possible viral infection

Unfortunately, viruses can also cause such situations. What to do if the computer does not turn on? Ways to solve this particular problem boil down to using a powerful one that could check for threats even before the OS itself starts.

Among the variety of anti-virus software, it is worth noting specially disk utilities that start directly from an optical media or USB device, have their own boot records and even a graphical interface like Windows. One of the most powerful tools is Kaspersky Rescue Disk. Its use can guarantee almost one hundred percent detection of viruses, even those hiding in RAM.

RAM conflicts

Now let's see what to do if the computer does not boot and instead a blue screen appears. As already mentioned, most often this indicates problems with drivers and RAM. We’re not touching the drivers yet, but let’s look at the RAM.

The proposed solution to the issue of if the computer does not boot is mainly designed for stationary PCs. In this situation, you should remove all memory sticks, and then insert them one by one and check the load. Perhaps one of them is the link that causes failures. This may occur when trims from different manufacturers are added.

If the system can somehow be loaded using the same safe mode, the RAM should immediately be checked using the Memtest86+ utility, which will help identify the true cause of the problem.

The system does not see the hard drive

Now the worst situation is when the computer does not boot. The causes and solutions may be related to the hard drive.

A hard drive can have both software and physical problems, although sometimes that’s not even the issue. The problem may be completely trivial: the user in the BIOS settings has set the priority for booting from a removable device, for example, from an optical disk, which is currently in the drive, but is not a system one. You just need to remove it and download again.

On the other hand, another problem that the computer does not start (the system does not start) may be due to the fact that the bootloader and the records of the corresponding sector are damaged. The solution to this situation will be discussed a little later. But in the simplest case, you can try to recover disk data using Recovery utilities.

Sometimes changing the settings of the primary BIOS input/output system also helps. Here you need to find the section related to setting up the hard drive, and in the SATA configuration parameters, deactivate the use of AHCI mode.

Finally, the hard drive may also have purely physical damage, and this cannot be done without outside intervention.

Using the installation disc

Many users clearly underestimate the help that the installation or system image can provide in solving problems associated with situations when the computer turns on, but the operating system does not load.

Firstly, almost any kit includes a so-called recovery console, with which you can eliminate many software failures, and secondly, you can use the command line here. This, by the way, is the most effective method. Next it will be clear how this works.

Problems with the BOOTMGR bootloader

It is believed that the most common problem when the computer turns on, but the operating system does not start, is damage to the Windows boot manager (Boot Manager). In this case, the system just writes that there is no system partition (it simply does not see the hard drive).

You can fix this problem by starting from the boot disk and going to the command line in the recovery console, to open which you press the “R” key. Next, you need to first use the check disk command and then fix (restore) boot records.

The whole sequence looks like this:

• chkdsk c: /f /r;
• Bootrec.exe /FixMbr;
• Bootrec.exe /FixBoot.

After entering commands, punctuation marks are not placed, but the enter key is pressed. If for some reason executing these commands does not have a positive effect, you can alternatively use a complete rewrite of the boot sector, which is performed by the Bootrec.exe / RebuildBcd command. If the hard drive is not physically damaged, this should work, as they say, one hundred percent.

You can also use some third-party utilities. The most suitable program seems to be a tool called MbrFix, which is included in the Hiren’s Boot CD. After calling it, for example, for Windows 7, provided that this particular system is installed, and only on one disk (there is no partitioning), the following should be written:

• MbrFix.exe /drive 0 fixmbr /win7.

This will save the user from having to make changes to boot records, and the boot will be restored.

Problems accessing the NTLDR file

When a message appears that a given component is missing from the system, a boot commit is first applied, as in the previous case.

However, if the result is not achieved, you will need to copy the original file to the root of the system partition. For example, if the drive is "C" and the drive is "E", the command would look like this:

• E:\i386> copy ntldr C:\ (after copying, the system will boot without problems).

Damaged or missing HAL.dll file

If the computer turns on, but the operating system does not load in normal mode, the reason may be a damaged component HAL.dll (a corresponding notification may be displayed on the screen).

In this situation, you need to boot the system in safe mode, call the command console and write the following line in it:

• C:\windows\system32\restore\rstrui.exe (then press the Enter key and restart).

Instead of a total

Here is a brief summary of everything that concerns solving the problem of the inability to start the operating system. Naturally, the issues that the cause could be low power, CMOS battery failure, loose cable connections, dust inside the system unit, or other malfunctions were not addressed here. But in software terms, the above methods work flawlessly.

BIOS is a basic input/output system, as this term is literally translated from English. This is a firmware hardcoded into the flash memory on the motherboard (system) board, which is responsible for starting the computer when turned on. With its help it is produced initial equipment analysis, its configuration in automatic mode or according to specified parameters. Incorrect configuration or failure of a piece of equipment leads to failures when loading the operating system or prevents it from starting.

Why won't the BIOS start?

As a rule, loading data and settings from the BIOS occurs so quickly that the user does not have time to read most of the information about the process displayed on the screen. In the BIOS of modern motherboards there is a setting, hiding this information behind the full-screen manufacturer's logo. If the normal startup process is interrupted, and the monitor displays information about problems that have arisen, you will have to take measures to eliminate the failures. The reasons may be overheat components, incorrect configuration or their failure. Among the common problems are:

• partial or full hard drive failure;
• reduction in frequency rotation or stop of fans;
• failure system clock;
• partial failure power supply;
• conflict newly installed equipment.

Having detected a critical BIOS fault pauses the launch operating system and displays messages about detected errors. In some situations, problems exclude this possibility; in this case, the BIOS does not load on the computer and the user sees a black screen. To make changes to the settings, you need to enter the control menu using specially assigned keys or their combinations on the keyboard.

Entering the BIOS if it cannot be loaded correctly

If the settings fail to load, if the problem can be fixed, the following displays are displayed at the bottom of the screen: possible key combinations, which provide access to parameters. In the illustration, this information is outlined in red, but describes only a special case. Motherboard manufacturers assign their own combinations, and this must be taken into account.

Typical keys for accessing settings F2 or Delete(Del). In the case of a laptop, options are added Ctrl+F1, Esc and others, which is necessarily reported on the screen menu or this information is indicated in the device passport.

On the keyboard of almost all laptop models there is a key for activating function buttons. In this case, the top row of keys (F1-F12), in addition to standard instructions, contains small icons corresponding to an additional function. If pressing a combination (for example, Ctrl+F1) does not enter the basic I/O system configuration, first press and hold function selection key. It is standardly denoted by the symbols Fn.

The BIOS may not turn on when keyboard failure or disturbances in the operation of the port to which it is connected. A simple way to verify functionality is to press a key Capslock or Numlock, at which the corresponding indicator light. If this does not happen, you can replace the keyboard PS/2 to a device with a USB connector or vice versa. USB keyboards should be switched to free ports.

Failure components, both as a result of power surges and due to manufacturing defects, disrupts the correct startup of the operating system. In some cases, such a failure can also be diagnosed or eliminated using the BIOS.

The above malfunctions can appear either in a frozen initial BIOS screensaver (after which the computer does not start further) with a prompt to use the keys to enter, or complete absence any image on the monitor. This is often accompanied by beeps from the speaker connected to the motherboard. Also, the computer may turn on, but will not boot into the BIOS.

The correct sequence of actions in such cases is complete shutdown all additional components: hard drives, optical drives and expansion cards (sound, network). Recommended disconnect cables peripherals: external modems, printers, other devices.

Only the main devices are left connected: monitor, keyboard and mouse, if the BIOS is equipped with a graphical menu. Preferably use devices connected to PS/2 ports instead of USB, if appropriate connectors are available.

Having gained access to managing settings, they connect previously disconnected devices one by one, assessing which of them is malfunctioning and disrupting the correct operation of the BIOS.

Having entered the settings management, check in the corresponding section output voltage power supply, make sure that the cooling fans are connected and rotating. Here you can control and configure the devices from which the operating system is loaded, and the order in which they are polled.

The problem with the computer freezing due to overheating of the processor or motherboard chips is not necessarily solved cleaning the case or replacing fans. By adjusting the rotation speed of coolers and choosing a hard operating mode, results are sometimes achieved without financial costs.

Correcting the problems listed above or entering incorrect settings into the BIOS when installing new equipment can also disrupt the correct operation of the computer. For modern motherboards, it is possible to manage some of the BIOS functions programmatically from the operating system. If you enter incorrect parameters, the start of the computer and BIOS may be disrupted. In this case, it is recommended to remove the battery inside the system unit to reset the settings. After a few minutes, replace the battery and try to start again.

Computer won't boot past BIOS

First of all, you need to determine why the problem occurred. The following illustration shows a special case in which both incorrect configuration of the OS boot device and the failure of the hard drive are possible.

In the first case they try choose the right device, in the second it is only possible replacement or repair.

The design of modern motherboards includes many elements, the correct configuration of which requires high qualifications. In addition, correct diagnosis of these parameters is also important. The BIOS itself will help with this.

Upon entering the control menu, immediately select shutdown section, depending on the BIOS version it looks different. The following are two possible options:

Can't enter BIOS after update

Replacing BIOS firmware can activate previously unavailable settings, disable support for some devices, or enable new modes of their operation. As a result, not only the correct operation of the OS may be impossible, but even entering the BIOS settings management menu may become unavailable.

The first thing you need to do is reset settings using a jumper on the motherboard. Indicated by the inscription Clear CMOS or similar abbreviation.

Switch the jumper according to the motherboard manufacturer's instructions, wait a few minutes and return to its original position. If you are still unable to enter the menu, disconnect from the motherboard sound cards, hard drives, printers connected to USB ports and other equipment, except the keyboard. Repeat the steps above.

If they also do not lead to the desired result, testing of the processor and memory modules is required, in extreme cases, BIOS firmware using a programmer. It is better not to perform such actions yourself, but to contact a service center or workshop.

The primary BIOS input/output system or its improved, newer modifications UEFI is an integral part of any desktop personal computer or laptop and is very often used to set some important parameters that cannot be changed in other ways. In addition, it is this chip and the software shell “built into it” that are responsible for storing data about all “hardware” equipment and testing the main components when the computer device is turned on. But it also happens that the BIOS does not start on a laptop, and it becomes impossible to change the settings the user needs. What is the reason for this phenomenon, and how to independently eliminate possible problems and failures, then we will try to figure it out.

Why the BIOS does not start on a laptop: the main reasons

There can be quite a lot of situations in which access to the primary system is denied. As for the main reasons for this phenomenon, most experts identify the following:

• access using an incorrect key combination;
• inoperable or conflicting equipment;
• physical damage to the chip, motherboard or excessive overheating;
• incorrectly set settings of the primary system itself;
• outdated or damaged firmware.

Based on the points presented in the list above, we will try to understand each situation and try to find out in what ways we can fix the problems without contacting the service center.

Nuances of accessing BIOS on laptops

First of all, let's look at the situation when the BIOS does not start on an ASUS laptop or a laptop from any other manufacturer. Each user must clearly understand that, unlike stationary computer terminals, where a single Del key is used to enter the primary system (and on an external keyboard), for laptops their manufacturers themselves set completely different combinations. Most often, you use either one function key, or a button for calling a special start menu located on the main keyboard panel, or a combination with the Fn, Alt, etc. keys.

If you see that the BIOS does not start from the keyboard on an HP laptop or laptop from any other manufacturer (entering the settings of the primary system with a standard combination is impossible), pay attention to the start window that appears when you turn on the device, on which an item describing the combination will be presented entrance. True, you should be very careful here, since it appears for a very short period of time, and the user does not always have time to notice the necessary information on the screen. As a last resort, you can go to the manufacturer’s official Internet resource and find the necessary data there or look at the technical documentation for the laptop, if available.

Is it possible to get to the BIOS without a keyboard?

Part of the problem that the BIOS does not start on an Acer laptop (or any other model) may be due to the failure of the keyboard. In this case, it is strongly recommended to check for functionality. You never know, maybe the button you need simply doesn’t function? The same goes for using wired or wireless keyboards. But the situation can be further complicated by the fact that the USB port or wireless adapter does not work. As is already clear, they will also have to be checked, which will require, if possible, to fully load the operating system and use at least the “Device Manager” to check the status of the device itself and its installed driver.

As for accessing the primary system without using any keyboard at all, it is believed that there are several ways, but they are so labor-intensive that the average user will not understand them. And that is why they are not considered. In 95% of cases, it is impossible to get to the BIOS settings without a keyboard.

But on non-standard models, special attention should be paid to special buttons located on the main panel and designed to call up special menus, through which you can often get to the parameters of the primary system. But not all laptops have such buttons.

Problems connecting an additional monitor

You can also very often encounter situations where the BIOS does not start on a Lenovo laptop or a model from another manufacturer, where some function keys, when used together with Fn, are assigned the function of duplicating the screen or projecting an image onto a second connected monitor.

Here the situation can be resolved quite simply, and you do not need to have any special knowledge to perform further actions. If the BIOS does not start on the laptop (the black screen appears on the laptop), it is quite possible that projection is still active, and the second monitor is not currently connected. As is already clear, the solution will be to deactivate this function (Fn + F5, Fn + F8, etc.). If the user still needs a second monitor for work, he should simply turn it on and check if there is an image on it.

Resetting the primary system to factory settings

Quite often you can observe that the BIOS on a laptop does not start under any pretext due to incorrectly set parameters in the primary system itself. The situation is quite serious, since some “too active” users sometimes set such options that the primary system simply “crashes”. The same applies to carrying out the firmware process when the power supply suddenly turns off. But this mostly applies to situations where the laptop’s battery operation is not provided for at all, or it is almost completely discharged (we’ll look at the firmware separately).

In this case, it makes sense to perform a complete reset of all parameters to factory settings.

Since the BIOS on the laptop will not start, you will have to disassemble the laptop and remove the CMOS battery from the socket on the motherboard for 10-15 minutes. In this case, all parameters will be reset automatically and without the necessary user access to the software shell of the primary system.

The BIOS does not start on the laptop (black screen): how to update the firmware?

Now a few words about updating the firmware. As mentioned above, its obsolescence can lead to the fact that the BIOS on the laptop does not start. Unfortunately, it is not always possible to update the software shell of the primary system directly in the Windows environment, although there are no problems with UEFI. However, you can download the update and burn it to removable media. For example, if the BIOS does not run on a laptop or another model of the same serial line, you first need to download the firmware from the official website, change its extension to BIN or ROM (depending on the flasher used) and copy it to removable media.

Now the most important thing! As a removable device, you must use either regular flash drives or SD memory cards with a capacity of no more than 2 GB, pre-formatted exclusively in FAT16! If this is not done, the device will simply not be recognized by the primary system. After this, you need to completely turn off the power to the laptop, remove the battery, insert the media into the desired port, hold down the Ctrl + Home keys and, while holding them, first plug the power supply into the outlet, and then press the power button directly on the laptop. After the indicator on the flash drive lights up, release the pressed keys.

After a couple of seconds, a reboot should follow, followed by the start of the proprietary built-in Easy Flash applet. Here you just need to wait for the firmware process to complete. When the laptop reboots again, you should turn it off, insert the battery back and turn it on again.

Note: Sometimes the device may not be recognized the first time. In this case, you will have to look for a suitable port yourself, and the actions on laptops from different manufacturers may differ quite significantly.

Determining conflicting devices

Now let’s assume that everything is in order with the software environment, but the BIOS does not start on the laptop even after flashing it. What could be going on here? Apparently, there is some device in the laptop that is causing conflicts.

Disconnect all external devices, and then disconnect the hard drive, optical drive, wireless adapter, discrete graphics card, etc. (anything that can be removed from the motherboard). After that, turn on the laptop again. If logging into the primary system becomes possible, turn off the laptop and replace the removed devices one by one. When the problematic device is found, it will have to be replaced.

Non-working video cards

You can often encounter situations where the BIOS on a laptop does not start due to a non-working video card. Unfortunately, such problems have been noticed with NVIDIA GeForce 8-series graphics chips and outdated AMD cards that are installed on Acer laptops. In this case, the easiest way would be to remove the problematic adapter immediately and try to enter the BIOS. If the firmware is not damaged, the card will have to be replaced. If failures occur, you can try to reflash the software environment of the primary system. Again, you need to look at the instructions for installing the updated software in advance.

Some experts recommend using special flashers like Flash Utility for DOS, but you must use only those versions that are suitable for the BIOS of a certain developer (Phonix, InsiderH2O, etc.). The process is quite complex and can be launched, as the name suggests, exclusively from the command console, but it is first recommended to create a special Crisis Disk media with a flasher and firmware file recorded on it.

Overheating of chips

This is perhaps the simplest situation, but overheating can relate to both the graphics adapter and the BIOS chip itself. In this case, it is best to let the laptop “rest” for a while by completely de-energizing it and removing the battery to get rid of residual currents. Only after this can it be turned on again, after which one of the above actions can be taken. In particular, this helps Acer Aspire 7220, 7520, 5220, 5520, 4220 and 4520 laptops with NVIDIA MCP67 graphics cards. But it should be noted that such resuscitation is only temporary.

Manual BIOS recovery

Finally, you can try your hand at restoring the primary system yourself. Again, the process is quite complex, and to carry it out you need to use a special Crisis Recovery Mode. If the BIOS BootBlock is damaged, the procedure becomes even more difficult, so it’s better not to experiment with such things. In addition, if the microcircuit “dies,” a special programmer may be required.

What to do if nothing helps?

Finally, if none of the above helped, or you were unable to perform some operations yourself, the easiest way is to contact the nearest service center or a qualified technician who can even replace the microcircuit soldered into the motherboard. This will, of course, not be cheap, but it’s still better than buying a new motherboard, which is almost comparable in price to buying a new laptop.