There are hundreds of computer manufacturers out there and each seem to have their own idea when it comes to designating a key sequence to enter BIOS. There are often even huge differences in BIOS access methods between different models made by the same company!
Acer – Aspire, Power, Veriton, Extensa, Ferrari, TravelMate, Altos
- Press Del or F2 immediately after powering on.
- The BIOS on the Acer Altos 600 server uses the Ctrl+Alt+Esc key and the F1 key for advanced options.
- Older Acer computers may use also use the F1 or Ctrl+Alt+Esc keys to access BIOS.
Compaq – Presario, Prolinea, Deskpro, Systempro, Portable
- Press F10 while the cursor in the top right corner of the screen is blinking.
- Older Compaq computers may use the F1, F2, F10, or Del key to give access to BIOS.
Dell – XPS, Dimension, Inspiron, Latitude. OptiPlex, Precision, Vostro
- Press F2 when the Dell logo appears. Press every few seconds until the message Entering Setup appears.
- Older Dell desktops and laptops may instead use Ctrl+Alt+Enter or Del to enter BIOS.
- Older Dell laptops may use Fn+Esc or Fn+F1.
eMachines – eMonster, eTower, eOne, S-Series, T-Series
- Press Tab or Del while the eMachine logo displays on screen.
- Other eMachine computers may use F2 to enter BIOS.
Fujitsu – LifeBook, Esprimo, Amilo, Tablet, DeskPower
- Press F2 once the Fujitsu logo appears.
Gateway – DX, FX, One, GM, GT, GX, Profile, Astro - Press the F1 key repeatedly after restarting the computer.
- Some older Gateway computers use F2 to access the BIOS Setup utility.
Hewlett-Packard (HP) – Pavilion, TouchSmart, Vectra, OmniBook, Tablet
- Press the F1, F10, or F11 key after restarting the computer.
- HP Tablet PCs may use F10 or F12.
- Other HP computers may allow access to BIOS using the F2 or Esc keys.
IBM – PC, XT, AT - Press F1 immediately after powering on the computer.
- Older IBM computers (including some laptops) may utilize the F2 key for BIOS entry.
Lenovo (formerly IBM) – ThinkPad, IdeaPad, 3000 Series, ThinkCentre, ThinkStation
- Press F1 or F2 after powering on the computer.
- Older Lenovo products allow access to BIOS using Ctrl+Alt+F3, Ctrl+Alt+Ins, or Fn+F1.
Micron (MPC Computers) – ClientPro, TransPort
- Press F1, F2 or Del immediately after powering on the PC.
NEC – PowerMate, Versa, W-Series
- Press F2 to enter the BIOS Setup.
Packard Bell – 8900 Series, 9000 Series, Pulsar, Platinum, EasyNote, imedia, iextreme
- Press F1, F2, or Del to enter BIOS.
Samsung – Series ‘x’ laptops
- Press F2 to start the BIOS setup utility.
Sony – VAIO, PCG-Series, VGN-Series - Press F1, F2 or F3 after turning on the computer.
Toshiba – Portégé, Satellite, Tecra, Equium
- Press F1 or Esc after powering on to access BIOS.
- Press F12 on a Toshiba Equium.
The following companies are either closed for business or no longer manufacture or support mainstream computers systems so verifying the following BIOS access information is nearly impossible. I have included what I could dig up for anyone who might be interested:
ARI / ALR / AST (Advantage) – Press the Ctrl+Alt+Esc or Ctrl+Alt+Del keys.
Cybermax – Press the Esc key.
Tandon – Press the Ctrl+Shift+Esc keys.