Something that I need every so often is the correct key stroke needed to open up the BIOS on different computers. If I need it - so might someone else - so I thought I would post these here.
ALR Advanced Logic Research, Inc. ® PC / PCI F2
ALR PC non / PCI CTRL+ALT+ESC
AMD® (Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.) BIOS F1
AMI (American Megatrends, Inc.) BIOS DEL
Award™ BIOS CTRL+ALT+ESC
Award BIOS DEL
DTK® (Datatech Enterprises Co.) BIOS ESC
Phoenix™ BIOS CTRL+ALT+ESC
Phoenix BIOS CTRL+ALT+S
Phoenix BIOS CTRL+ALT+INS
Acer® F1, F2, CTRL+ALT+ESC
AST® CTRL+ALT+ESC, CTRL+ALT+DEL
Compaq® 8700 F10
CompUSA® DEL
Cybermax® ESC
Dell® 400 F3
Dell 400 F1
Dell Dimension® F2 or DEL
Dell Inspiron® F2
Dell Latitude Fn+F1 (while booted)
Dell Latitude F2 (on boot)
Dell Optiplex DEL
Dell Optiplex F2
Dell Precision™ F2
eMachine™ DEL
Gateway® 2000 1440 F1
Gateway 2000 Solo™ F2
HP® (Hewlett-Packard) F1, F2
IBM® F1
IBM E-pro Laptop F2
IBM PS/2® CTRL+ALT+INS after CTRL+ALT+DEL
IBM Thinkpad® (newer) Windows: Programs-Thinkpad CFG.
Intel® Tangent DEL
Micron™ F1, F2, or DEL
Packard Bell® F1, F2, Del
Sony® VIAO F2
Sony VIAO F3
Tiger DEL
Toshiba® 335 CDS ESC
Toshiba Protege ESC
Toshiba Satellite 205 CDS F1
Toshiba Tecra F1 or ESC
Monday, 18 March 2013
Thursday, 14 March 2013
No Good Deed Goes Unpunished
An old TV aerial post on our chimney stack was moving quite a bit in the recent high winds. As the stack passes through our bedroom, it was noisy enough to keep my wife awake, and disturb me a fair bit. It was one of those things that I had been aware of for a while - but it got worse over last weekend.
On Monday I looked up local aerial companies and chose one who said he could come that day and fix it. His price seemed reasonable, so I booked him in. He arrived about two hours later and proceeded to take the aerial post down. All well and good. As I went to see how he was doing as he packed up he said that his hat had blown off in the wind (it was windy, and cold - trying to snow), and was on next doors roof. We had a look, and could see the hat.
I said that I had a long pole in the garage and would fetch it. Going to the garage I spotted the pole behind some furniture that we have stored there (another story), and reached for it - as I did this, I dislodged a spade which had been hanging on a nail in the wall. The spade fell heavily, and I moved it out of the way to reach the pole. We managed to get the hat, I paid the guy, all was well.
Today (Thursday) I was in the garage looking for something else when I noticed that a battery charger which I had charging a battery had no lights. I followed the extension lead into which it was plugged back to the wall socket. What I found was that the lead had been neatly chopped in two by the spade as it fell a few days before. Turning off the socket I removed the plug and rescued the lead - it came completely apart in may hand.
I worked out that if I fitted a new plug, the lead would still be long enough to serve the purpose for which I had been using it. Long story short - it took me another 20 minutes to find a plug and fit it, test the lead and refit it into it's place in the garage. The old plug was really old - so much so that it wasn't a safety plug and still had solid metal live and neutral pins - so I didn't want to use it again. As nearly all new appliances have moulded plugs I ended up cannibalising another, shorter, extension lead.
The battery charger doesn't seem to work any more now. I can only assume that something else blew - but that bears further investigation. The RCD for the garage didn't blow in the main fusebox when the lead got chopped - which is a good thing because our freezer wouldn't like it much if it did.
If I hadn't tried to help the guy get his hat back.............
On Monday I looked up local aerial companies and chose one who said he could come that day and fix it. His price seemed reasonable, so I booked him in. He arrived about two hours later and proceeded to take the aerial post down. All well and good. As I went to see how he was doing as he packed up he said that his hat had blown off in the wind (it was windy, and cold - trying to snow), and was on next doors roof. We had a look, and could see the hat.
I said that I had a long pole in the garage and would fetch it. Going to the garage I spotted the pole behind some furniture that we have stored there (another story), and reached for it - as I did this, I dislodged a spade which had been hanging on a nail in the wall. The spade fell heavily, and I moved it out of the way to reach the pole. We managed to get the hat, I paid the guy, all was well.
Today (Thursday) I was in the garage looking for something else when I noticed that a battery charger which I had charging a battery had no lights. I followed the extension lead into which it was plugged back to the wall socket. What I found was that the lead had been neatly chopped in two by the spade as it fell a few days before. Turning off the socket I removed the plug and rescued the lead - it came completely apart in may hand.
I worked out that if I fitted a new plug, the lead would still be long enough to serve the purpose for which I had been using it. Long story short - it took me another 20 minutes to find a plug and fit it, test the lead and refit it into it's place in the garage. The old plug was really old - so much so that it wasn't a safety plug and still had solid metal live and neutral pins - so I didn't want to use it again. As nearly all new appliances have moulded plugs I ended up cannibalising another, shorter, extension lead.
The battery charger doesn't seem to work any more now. I can only assume that something else blew - but that bears further investigation. The RCD for the garage didn't blow in the main fusebox when the lead got chopped - which is a good thing because our freezer wouldn't like it much if it did.
If I hadn't tried to help the guy get his hat back.............
Wednesday, 13 March 2013
D3dx10_35.dll Missing
I recently had this error code rebuilding my computer after a hard drive problem. I had saved all my files - including some games - to another drive. Whilst trying to start one of the games this error appeared, and it was suggested that I might like to reinstall the game.
What the error actually means is that I don't have part of the dynamic link library for Direct X 10 on my computer. This is fairly easily remedied, with no need to reinstall the game. If you get the update pack from Microsoft here, you can add the missing bits from previous versions of Windows - from 10 downwards. It's a 'one size fits all' update - so give it a go. It certainly worked for me.
What the error actually means is that I don't have part of the dynamic link library for Direct X 10 on my computer. This is fairly easily remedied, with no need to reinstall the game. If you get the update pack from Microsoft here, you can add the missing bits from previous versions of Windows - from 10 downwards. It's a 'one size fits all' update - so give it a go. It certainly worked for me.
Tuesday, 22 January 2013
DgiVecp Service Failed to Start
OK - I'm a bit techie, and am the sort of person who actually looks through the system logs on their computer. When I started getting the above message as an error in my system log with an event ID of 7000 I was a bit concerned - I don't like errors. This one was occurring more than once on a regular basis.
After some searching I found references on the web to this error - the problem is that the service to which it refers does not appear anywhere obvious. I had to resort to the registry (don't do this if you don't know what you are doing - messing with the registry is an instantaneous way of screwing up your computer big time).
I found a reference to the solution given by Shain Wray of Microsoft PSS Security Team. It is as follows:
1. Start the registry editor and find the following
2. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services
3. Look for an entry listed as DgiVecp
4. If you find this, then change the Start data value to 4.
5. Reboot the system and see if the message is gone.
This worked for me, so I thought that I would share it. Thanks Shain.
After some searching I found references on the web to this error - the problem is that the service to which it refers does not appear anywhere obvious. I had to resort to the registry (don't do this if you don't know what you are doing - messing with the registry is an instantaneous way of screwing up your computer big time).
I found a reference to the solution given by Shain Wray of Microsoft PSS Security Team. It is as follows:
1. Start the registry editor and find the following
2. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services
3. Look for an entry listed as DgiVecp
4. If you find this, then change the Start data value to 4.
5. Reboot the system and see if the message is gone.
This worked for me, so I thought that I would share it. Thanks Shain.
Saturday, 20 October 2012
Benefits of Skype
My daughter and her partner have recently moved abroad. I know that with the advent of email, Facebook, Twitter and other stuff even half way around the world isn't as far as it used to be (!). Still - it's good to be able to speak to someone face-to-face. With Skype this is entirely possible. I had to purchase a new web cam - and went for a Logitech C270 - which had been recommended to me. It has it's own microphone and is up to 3.2 mega-pixel. After some fun and games installing it (it didn't like my Canon scanner), it is working fine, and the quality is great.
If you have anyone that you would like to actually see as you speak to them - I thoroughly recommend this system. Perhaps the biggest bonus of all is that Skype to Skype calls are free - even with pictures!
If you have anyone that you would like to actually see as you speak to them - I thoroughly recommend this system. Perhaps the biggest bonus of all is that Skype to Skype calls are free - even with pictures!
Thursday, 18 October 2012
Blackcircles - Job Well Done
I was given a time to attend for my fitting - which is good. The fact that Google maps told me it would take 17 minutes was not accounting for the traffic in Bristol. An 8.30 appointment meant that I had to leave home at about 8 according to Google. I left at about 8 and arrived at 8.50.
The garage that I chose for the fitting was Roadworthy - which was a good choice. They were very polite and efficient. I can recommend them (and no, I am not being paid for this :-)) The whole process was painless - and I saved a heap of money by not using my first - and most obvious choice of supplier. More than happy.
The garage that I chose for the fitting was Roadworthy - which was a good choice. They were very polite and efficient. I can recommend them (and no, I am not being paid for this :-)) The whole process was painless - and I saved a heap of money by not using my first - and most obvious choice of supplier. More than happy.
Friday, 12 October 2012
O2 = Telefonica
My heart goes out to O2 - the mobile network owned by Telefonica - the Spanish Telecommunications Company. They have just announced a profits drop of 47%. This means that they only made a measly net profit of 5.4bn euros ($7.2bn, £4.6bn) in 2011, down from 10.1bn euros in 2010. Shame..........
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