The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    Laptop with no bios, advice on how to install?

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by shogran, Oct 9, 2010.

  1. shogran

    shogran Notebook Guru

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    57
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    Hiya

    I was given a laptop for free by a friend, apparently everything works okay there is just not BIOS installed so it doesn't boot. I have flashed BIOS before on laptops and my desktop but am not sure how to reset/install a BIOS onto a laptop without there being one to begin with. Is it like a desktop where if I open it I can just move some jumpers and it will reset or is there a more difficult problem afoot?

    Thanks in advance

    Josh
     
    shogran, Oct 9, 2010
    #1
  2. leslieann

    leslieann Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    830
    Messages:
    1,308
    Likes Received:
    11
    Trophy Points:
    56
    Explain no bios installed.
    How do you know everything works except the bios?
    Do you mean the screen comes on but is blank?

    You may be able to simply reset the bios, this sometimes can be done externally, but some systems you have to go inside and remove a battery. This may fix the problem, if the bios have a problem.

    If the bios truly are trashed, then you may have a huge problem. You can't really flash them if the system isn't doing anything or you can't see anything. It may require sending it out to be fixed or even a new motherboard. Keep in mind that a bad board, cpu, graphics card, or display will also cause a screen to be blank.
     
    leslieann, Oct 9, 2010
    #2
  3. shogran

    shogran Notebook Guru

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    57
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    I was just told by the friend everything else worked. He could be wrong.. Will have a fiddle and see what I can do.
     
    shogran, Oct 9, 2010
    #3
  4. csavery

    csavery Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    16
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    What make/model?
    According to the service guide for my Acer model it has a BIOS recovery mode that can be entered by holding down certain keys when powering on and having a USB floppy attached. It will use a reduced mode to try and boot from the floppy to flash a new BIOS. I don't know how common that is but you may want to seek out service manuals for the make/model you have and look for anything that may help.
     
    csavery, Oct 9, 2010
    #4