Getting into Dell PC Bios

[rogermatthews]

Maybe someone who owns a Dell PC can help.

My daughter's partner brought home a Dell PC from the office (it's legitimate!) and I set it up for her. It's fine, but no sound, and no audio devices are present - I suspect because it was an office machine.

Maybe the software isn't installed, but it's equally possible that the onboard sound has been disabled in the BIOS. But I can't get into them; on restarting, there is no delay at the opening screen, and no instruction on what key to press. I tried hammering away at DELETE but it just booted up. I've heard Dell's can be laws unto themselves.

Anybody know what keys to press to get into the BIOS? Before I try every possible combination!

Thanks

Roger

[Easilyconfused]

Google led me to this site : http://pcsupport.about.com/od/fixthepro ... ess_pc.htm

F2 sounds familiar from our old Dell desktops at work.

It is highly likely that the devices are disabled in BIOS. The machine should have a service tag on the back - a barcode and a number like DH9QY or something like that. That service tag is the key to finding the right downloads on the Dell website.

[rogermatthews]

Thank you very much, John - I can always count on members of the community!

best wishes

Roger