HELP! No BIOS at bootup, PC only shows mobile display

alphanumeric · 05 Oct 2015

bobkn said:

The requirement is that the Windows 10 installation be a UEFI one. I imagine that if your Win 7 installation wasn't UEFI, then the upgrade also wouldn't be. (I'm not in a position to verify that at the moment.)

The free Win 10 installation doesn't give you a unique key. If you install it as an upgrade and activate it, a hardware hash code is retained on Microsoft's activation servers. (That has basically been true since XP, I think.) The big change with Win 10 is that you can clean install and activate online if you do it on the same hardware. A new HD is probably OK. A new motherboard is certainly not. I expect that you could activate by phone if a new HD put you over the top as regards hardware changes.

If it's not a UEFI install you won't see that opt. As you mentioned, the upgrade from a non UEFI install is likely why it's MIA.

alphanumeric · 05 Oct 2015

Once you do the free upgrade and activate Windows 10, your hardware ID is stored on the activation server. You now have a digital entitlement for that version of Windows 10 on that PC. Clean install that same version and you can skip entering a key. It should activate just fine. I've done it a couple of times. You can enter the key if you want, but don't have too. Google the last 5 characters and you'll likely find out its a generic key. My 4 PC's here at home that I did the free upgrade to 10 Pro all have the same generic key that's been posted here on the forums.

alphanumeric · 05 Oct 2015

I've seen this issue of not being able to access the BIOS on boot up posted numerous times. Usually, turning off Windows Fast Startup fixes it. Fast Startup puts the PC in a hybrid sleep mode instead of a full shut down. One way around it is as follows. Shut down windows. Unplug the power plug and remove the battery if its a laptop. Then press and hold down the power button for say 5 seconds. This drains any residual power and forces a cold start. Plug the power cord back in and boot up while pressing the BIOS access key.

JOSHSKORN · 05 Oct 2015

Update: I managed to Clear the CMOS using the CLR CMOS button on the back of my PC. I'd posted the same question here, as well as the ASUS ROG forum. I'm still missing the POST beep, but at least the UEFI appears, and my GPU is recognized, thus I get the desired resolution. I don't think I did the CMOS clearing correctly, otherwise I might have the POST beep back, so I'm still researching that part. I did reset my UEFI to default settings, which did not bring the beep back.

socklosk · 05 Oct 2015

JOSHSKORN said:

Update: I managed to Clear the CMOS using the CLR CMOS button on the back of my PC. I'd posted the same question here, as well as the ASUS ROG forum. I'm still missing the POST beep, but at least the UEFI appears, and my GPU is recognized, thus I get the desired resolution. I don't think I did the CMOS clearing correctly, otherwise I might have the POST beep back, so I'm still researching that part. I did reset my UEFI to default settings, which did not bring the beep back.

The same thing is happening to me. All of the components have been tested to be good. These types of things never happened prior to Windows 10, and I see it happening to a lot of other people with 10. The key is to get into the bios and use the suggested defaults. You can then add certain things, such as the XMP profile (if your motherboard comes with this option. Using one memory stick, try switching the RAM to each of the four slots. I do not know why, and it makes no sense to me, but it got my system going twice.

Gary · 05 Oct 2015

I would think that with a 27" monitor and a GTX 980 you should be at a higher rate than 60Hz.

JOSHSKORN · 05 Oct 2015

Gary said:

I would think that with a 27" monitor and a GTX 980 you should be at a higher rate than 60Hz.

I got the monitor way before the GPU.