I was playing Max Payne, and now I'm stuck at one of the bootup screens, where it says what Monitor I have and my processor. It lists my processor as a 533 mhz, yet it's really a 800 mhz celeron- hence the problem. I can't get into DOS because it doesn't load that far' and I can't access the Windows CD from where it is. All I can do is keep rebooting, hoping it will recognize the full 800mhz neeeded to continue.
I think Max Payne screwed up my Processor speed settings. Oh- It says press DEL to enter BIOS, but that doesn't work, so it seems I can't even get into BIOS or DOS. So it would seem that I'm pretty f*cked. Any help would be much appreciated.
open the pc case, use the cmos jumpers to clear the bios and set it back to default or take out the cmos battery for a minute or so then put it back in
After fiddling with the jumpers and battery, nothing happened until this morning when it mysteriously decided to boot up. I defaulted the settings best I could in BIOS, and got rid of Max Payne. If it happens again, I think I'll replace the battery.
WM- please tell me just what the battery is for, and how often it needs replacing.
very rarely will it need replace but it does happen.
Also known as a RTC/NVRAM or CMOS RAM, CMOS is short for Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor. CMOS is an on-board semiconductor chip powered by a CMOS battery inside IBM compatible computers that stores information such as the system time and system settings for your computer. A CMOS is similar to the Apple Macintosh computer's PRAM.
Actually, (WM- if you're still around), the problem seems to be software related. After downloading and installing Direct X 9, it happened again. Just after it says "Intel Celeron 800 Mhz, and is about to count the RAM, it stalls. Do you have any further suggestions? All I can hope for is that it will choose to start up again as it did before, but how long that will take I have no idea.
I've totally run out of ideas. I've tried every combination of ctrl/shft/ f1, f11, etc. imaginable to get into BIOS. My computer is my life! Please help if you can. I'm grabbing at straws now.
big problem booting up 
Linear Mode
