# BIOS Safe mode?



## throoper (Oct 20, 2006)

Hi all,
I have a problem that I'm out of my depth on. A couple days ago my computer started making a strange squealing sound. My first thought was that it sounded like a fan and I immediatly shut down. When I took the computer apart I found the fan on the motherboard seemed quite stiff. I cleaned it and got it spinning freely and couldn't find anything else wrong.
When I Booted up, a screen came up on the advanced page of the BIOS Safe Mode. On the right side I think it said I had a system failure due to excessive CPU speed or something to that effect, and to check the settings. I went through the BIOS screens and couldn't find anything that looked wrong to me so I exited and it booted into windows normally and everything seems to be working except that when I went to call up System Information I wound up with Help and Support.

I have three questions.

What happened and how do I prevent it from happening again.

How do I get into that BIOS screen again ( I should probably know but I don't)

How do I get my System Info back.

My specs:
Motherboard: ASUS CUBX
Intel Pentium III 701MHz
512 MB RAM
S3 Graphics Savage 4 PCI Graphics Card

OS: Windows XP Pro
Service Pack 2
Thanks,
T.


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## cconner6156 (Feb 12, 2006)

Well Here in arizona Were thes alot of dust u need to clean ur Case alot frequently So try that
Normally When the computer first starts up you'll keep taping "Delete" for the green bios screen to come up

I dont get what u mean about hte other one


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## MaverickUK (Sep 9, 2005)

Hey Throoper,

First of all, make a note of your BIOS settings and reset your CMOS - if you dont know how to do either of the above just ask and i will let you know how. The squeeling sound may be the alarm on your CPU telling you that it is not connected properly, make sure all connections are secure and sitted in their places correctly. 

What system info are you referring to?

Regards,
Nick.


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## throoper (Oct 20, 2006)

> cconner6156 Well Here in arizona Were thes alot of dust u need to clean ur Case alot frequently So try that
> Normally When the computer first starts up you'll keep taping "Delete" for the green bios screen to come up
> 
> I dont get what u mean about hte other one


Thanks, that was simple. :grin: I do clean out my case every couple months because I have cats and the hair always finds it's way in even with it off the floor and vacuuming around it. That's what was inside the fan, along with dust, where you could only get it by taking the fan out and pulling it apart.:upset: I'll have to remember to do that once in a while.


> MaverickUK Hey Throoper,
> 
> First of all, make a note of your BIOS settings and reset your CMOS - if you dont know how to do either of the above just ask and i will let you know how. The squeeling sound may be the alarm on your CPU telling you that it is not connected properly, make sure all connections are secure and sitted in their places correctly.
> 
> What system info are you referring to?


This is new territory for me but surprisingly I almost understand it. There's probably an easier way to do this than writing it down but :4-dontkno There's a lot of info so I noted what pertained to the CPU.
Setup Advanced Tab:
CPU Speed [700MHz]
CPU Bus/PCI Freq.(MHz) [100.3/33.431]
CPU Core:Bus Freq.Multiple[7.0x]
CPU Vcore [1.65v]
CPU Level 1 Cache [Enabled]
CPU Level 2 Cache [Enabled]
CPU Level 2 Cache ECC Check [Disabled]
BIOS Update [Enabled]
OS/2 Onboard Memory > 64M [Disabled]
Chip Configuration:
SDRAM Config. [By SPD]
SDRAM CAS Latency [3T]
SDRAM RAS to CAS Delay [2T]
SDRAM RAS Precharge Time [2T]
DRAM Idle Timer [10T]
SDRAM MA Wait State [Normal]
Snoop Ahead [Enabled]
Host Bus Fast Data Ready [Disabled]
16 Bit I/O Recovery Time [1BUSCLK]
8 Bit I/O Recovery Time [1BUSCLK]
Graphiccs Aperture Size [64MB]
Video Memory Cach Mode [UC]
PCI 2.1 Support [Enabled]
Memory Hole at 15M-16M [Disabled]
Onboard PCI IDE Enable [Both]
Also while in there, I found the Hardware Monitor>Power and th MB Temp was 77 F and CPU Temp was fluctuatung between 86 F and 93.5 F. I think that's OK but not sure. The CPU is firmly seated.
I'm guessing everything is OK and my problem was the fan malfunctioned and CPU heated up but I shut it down before any serious damage happened. I hope.

I used to be able to get to System Properties by Start>Programs>Accessories>System Tools>System Information. Now when I click System Info I get the Help and Support Center instead. I can,however, still get System Properties by right clicking My Computer and also through the Control Panel. Very weird.

Sorry about the long post, but I wanted to give enough Info so you could tell if something looks really wrong.

Thank you both for your replies, I learned a lot of very useful info. 
T.


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