Cannot Access BIOS after changing into CMS Boot Mode. Please help (details below)

[ossamaminecraft]

I was trying to download Windows 7 on my old laptop and was getting help from my friend because hes done it over and over again. He told me that if i wanted to actually boot into the next part of the Windows 7 install i had to change to CSM Boot Mode. So i went into the BIOS and turned it on and it showed the whole "No boot disk detected, please insert your boot disk" spiel so i put in my windows 7 disk and realized that none of my drives are MBR and now i cant access the BIOS no matter what i do. Ive tried holding down F2 and ESC while it was booting up and nothing happened. I tried holding F2 and ESC while it was showing the whole "no boot disk detected" thing. Still nothing happened. I tried going into the cmd in the Windows 7 installation and i cant even get into it. At this point all i want to know is a way to get into the BIOS to change it back to UEFI mode.

 

[mortemas]

You could try to disconnect the RTC battery inside the laptop in order to reset the BIOS settings to default.

 

[ossamaminecraft]

You could try to disconnect the RTC battery inside the laptop in order to reset the BIOS settings to default.

Can you tell me what the RTC battery is? (if it isnt the laptop battery itself. if it is it hasnt worked in the laptop since 2015)

 

[mortemas]

It's a small "coin cell" type battery inside that preserves BIOS settings and keeps the proper date and time. You may have seen one on a desktop motherboard, but the one in the laptop might be more difficult to access and is sometimes soldered onto the motherboard. Actually, you might want to try F10 as described here first: https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/enter-bios-computer/

Apparently, some systems allow you to reset BIOS by holding down F10. Give that a shot first. Also, what's the model of your laptop so we can find the service manual?

 

[ossamaminecraft]

It's a small "coin cell" type battery inside that preserves BIOS settings and keeps the proper date and time. You may have seen one on a desktop motherboard, but the one in the laptop might be more difficult to access and is sometimes soldered onto the motherboard. Actually, you might want to try F10 as described here first: https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/enter-bios-computer/

Apparently, some systems allow you to reset BIOS by holding down F10. Give that a shot first. Also, what's the model of your laptop so we can find the service manual?

The most i know about the version is that the brand is Toshiba and its a Sattelite. I know that won't help any bit but just incase. The reason i can't get the model is i ripped off the sticker on the bottom a few years ago because im stupid and i cant run the program Toshiba made so you know the model from that because of obvious reasons. Also F10 didnt work.

 

[mortemas]

No worries, we'll get this fixed for you. Some Toshibas rely on the main battery for these settings. You could try removing the main battery and leaving it out of the laptop overnight (don't leave the charger connected, either). You might have to wait a while for the BIOS settings to clear because there still might be a battery capacitor inside. We'll look into it, but for now try starting the laptop after having the main battery uninstalled overnight. It is removeable, right?

Other Toshiba laptops could have very easy access to the RTC (CMOS) battery. It might be under a cover on the back. Just google "toshiba satellite cmos battery" and look at the YouTube video results. There are videos for a few different models. Hopefully one of them is yours and you will discover how to remove the CMOS battery. Again, make sure the main battery is also removed and that the charger is not plugged into the laptop. Now, press the power button for a few seconds. Keep the CMOS battery out for an hour or so and then put it and the main battery back in and boot up.

 

[ossamaminecraft]

No worries, we'll get this fixed for you. Some Toshibas rely on the main battery for these settings. You could try removing the main battery and leaving it out of the laptop overnight (don't leave the charger connected, either). You might have to wait a while for the BIOS settings to clear because there still might be a battery capacitor inside. We'll look into it, but for now try starting the laptop after having the main battery uninstalled overnight. It is removeable, right?

Other Toshiba laptops could have very easy access to the RTC (CMOS) battery. It might be under a cover on the back. Just google "toshiba satellite cmos battery" and look at the YouTube video results. There are videos for a few different models. Hopefully one of them is yours and you will discover how to remove the CMOS battery. Again, make sure the main battery is also removed and that the charger is not plugged into the laptop. Now, press the power button for a few seconds. Keep the CMOS battery out for an hour or so and then put it and the main battery back in and boot up.

Now i would like to mention that the battery has not been in the computer for about 3 years. I removed it because for some reason one day nothing worked when it was inserted. I removed it and voila it worked. It did remove the whole "lap" part of the laptop tho so now its just a top. Because of this should i just put it in and then remove it?

 

[mortemas]

No, it seems like the battery is dead so installing it won't help here. So, it seems your laptop may in fact have a CMOS battery which we have to find. Not sure what you mean by "lap" part of the laptop. Do you have pictures? Can you search the web to get a better idea which model it is? With some laptops you only need to take a small cover off the bottom to reach the CMOS battery, while others require removing the entire bottom. Sometimes the battery is readily visible and sometimes it is covered by another part which must be removed first. Sometimes it can just be popped out and sometimes it is soldered onto the motherboard. You are looking for something like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=227UWKDfnzQ

There are good visuals in that video to help you but one thing I would say is that he is not removing or inserting the battery correctly. You don't have to push the metal tab with a screwdriver. You put the screwdriver in the notch opposite the metal clip, then push the battery away from the plastic edge that is holding it in. When inserting the battery, you make contact with the metal clip first and gently push toward the metal clip so it flexes a bit. This allows you to slip the opposite side of the battery under the plastic ridge (the side with the notch).

Anyway, let me know if any of this helps.

 

[ossamaminecraft]

No, it seems like the battery is dead so installing it won't help here. So, it seems your laptop may in fact have a CMOS battery which we have to find. Not sure what you mean by "lap" part of the laptop. Do you have pictures? Can you search the web to get a better idea which model it is? With some laptops you only need to take a small cover off the bottom to reach the CMOS battery, while others require removing the entire bottom. Sometimes the battery is readily visible and sometimes it is covered by another part which must be removed first. Sometimes it can just be popped out and sometimes it is soldered onto the motherboard. You are looking for something like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=227UWKDfnzQ

There are good visuals in that video to help you but one thing I would say is that he is not removing or inserting the battery correctly. You don't have to push the metal tab with a screwdriver. You put the screwdriver in the notch opposite the metal clip, then push the battery away from the plastic edge that is holding it in. When inserting the battery, you make contact with the metal clip first and gently push toward the metal clip so it flexes a bit. This allows you to slip the opposite side of the battery under the plastic ridge (the side with the notch).

Anyway, let me know if any of this helps.

I would just like to say that the "lap" part was a joke because removing the battery partly also removed the portability because i always need the wire now. I will watch the video and try tho. I will update this comment after i tried and say if it helped or not

UPDATE 1:
i found the battery. It was under the cover where the hard drive and ram are. What do i do after this? do i just leave it out for a bit, put it back in and then power up the laptop?

 

[mortemas]

Great! Yes, leave the coin battery out for an hour or so and make sure the laptop charger is not plugged in. Then, put the battery back, plug in the charger, and try booting the laptop.

 

[ossamaminecraft]

Great! Yes, leave the coin battery out for an hour or so and make sure the laptop charger is not plugged in. Then, put the battery back, plug in the charger, and try booting the laptop.

Im gonna leave it out for max 2 hours because im not good at timing things and its already nearly 8pm here

 

[ossamaminecraft]

Great! Yes, leave the coin battery out for an hour or so and make sure the laptop charger is not plugged in. Then, put the battery back, plug in the charger, and try booting the laptop.

is it supposed to say "rtc battery is low"

update:
I think i just broke the laptop more by doing that

 

[mortemas]

Yes, "RTC battery is low" means it was removed. Did you put it back in again before starting up? The message may appear once after first starting again to let you know it was removed, but the message should be gone after that.

 

[ossamaminecraft]

Yes, "RTC battery is low" means it was removed. Did you put it back in again before starting up? The message may appear once after first starting again to let you know it was removed, but the message should be gone after that.

sorry for the late reply, I did put it back in and when i clicked F2 it showed a singular dash in ASCII

 

[mortemas]

How old is the laptop? It is possible the battery is in fact too low. This could prevent a computer from booting. Can you check the voltage on the coin cell battery with a volt meter? It should be over 3 volts when new. They have been know to work down to as low as 1 volt or so, but should definitely be changed if anywhere near that level or less.

 

[ossamaminecraft]

How old is the laptop? It is possible the battery is in fact too low. This could prevent a computer from booting. Can you check the voltage on the coin cell battery with a volt meter? It should be over 3 volts when new. They have been know to work down to as low as 1 volt or so, but should definitely be changed if anywhere near that level or less.

Sorry for the late reply again, I live in Egypt. Anyways Im not exactly sure when it was manufactured but I do know that I got it in January - February 2014. I dont have a volt meter so I cant check how much juice it has left. But I believe it probably is pretty low. Also just incase its a CR2032.

 

[mortemas]

OK, if you can't test the battery then the only way to rule it out as a problem is to replace it with a new one. It's the least expensive solution to try next.

At first it does sound like fast boot is enabled on your laptop, but you already tried holding F2 before pressing the power button. I found this similar problem and that's what fixed it for them: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/306267-30-bios-laptop

My motherboard has a fast boot option that must be disabled by resetting the BIOS, but you've already tried that. It is possible that your BIOS is corrupted, or maybe the hard drive. Are you posting messages from a mobile? Do you have another PC to work on? You could try to check the laptop hard drive by plugging it into a desktop with a drive dock or adapter cable. Do you have any important data on the drive? You should copy it to another drive.

You might also try making a bootable thumb drive to see if the laptop will boot, but the fact that you can't get into the BIOS is still going to be problematic, I believe. Download the free edition of memtest and make a bootable usb and see if you can boot to it: https://www.memtest86.com/download.htm

 

[ossamaminecraft]

OK, if you can't test the battery then the only way to rule it out as a problem is to replace it with a new one. It's the least expensive solution to try next.

At first it does sound like fast boot is enabled on your laptop, but you already tried holding F2 before pressing the power button. I found this similar problem and that's what fixed it for them: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/306267-30-bios-laptop

My motherboard has a fast boot option that must be disabled by resetting the BIOS, but you've already tried that. It is possible that your BIOS is corrupted, or maybe the hard drive. Are you posting messages from a mobile? Do you have another PC to work on? You could try to check the laptop hard drive by plugging it into a desktop with a drive dock or adapter cable. Do you have any important data on the drive? You should copy it to another drive.

You might also try making a bootable thumb drive to see if the laptop will boot, but the fact that you can't get into the BIOS is still going to be problematic, I believe. Download the free edition of memtest and make a bootable usb and see if you can boot to it: https://www.memtest86.com/download.htm

You see, the reason i keep saying "Old Laptop" is because i got a new one last year. Im using it to post these. The hard drive has been corrupted alot. And when it does it forces me into the windows repair place thingy mabob i dont know what its called. And when it does i just leave it on my shelf for a while and somehow that keeps fixing it and i really dont know how. The bios is probably corrupted because of the amount this has happened but i dont really know much about computers at all so yeah.
UPDATE:
just remembered that if the bios were corrupted the laptop probably wouldnt boot at all
UPDATE 2:
I tried it again and it worked perfectly! My other laptop broke in the process of fixing this one, but I tried removing the battery again and it worked! I put it back to UEFI boot and now im back in windows 10.

 

[mortemas]

Great news! Glad it works again!