Ive got an old HP Pavillion with a 133mhz... windows 98 second edition..... trying to get into my BIOS so i can fine tune a few things.... mainly disable the onboard video chip so that i can use the new video card i put in it instead..... ((see my other lengthy post a few threads down 'cant get 256 colors' )) The start up info says to hold down CTRL to get to display ... but all that shows is a few items, nothing i can change.. no blue screen with CMOS, Peripherals, PCI/Plug n Pray..... any help is, as always, greatly appreciated...
~shauna

If it is anything like a Compaq, the HP BIOS probably does not have the heck of a lot in it.

The following worked for me when dealing with on-board video, and wanting to install a video card:

Disabling the onboard video:
1. Right-click My Computer, select Properties.
2. Select the Device Manager tab.
3. Scroll to the desired device category: Display Adapters.
4. Click the plus (+) sign to expand the list.
5. Double-click the item.
6. Select the "Disable in this Hardware Profile" option or deselect the "Exists in All Hardware Profiles" option.
7. Click OK and then click OK again.
8. Restart the computer.

As soon as the computer starts to boot, maybe hold down a key on the keyboard. The BIOS should give you a keyboard error and may give you an option to enter the BIOS.

After reading your last posts I have the following;

Older hp's had a startup disk which loaded a program that allowed you to change some bios settings. But those HPs were not like bios's today. Being HP there were not a lot of settings you could change. I would suspect you would need a motherboard diagram with the jumper settings to disable onboard video. That vintage used jumpers not the bios to set the hardware.

Add to this that being a propriety system you can not just load a MS OS and expect it to work like on a clone. You must have the correct HP drivers. This is why you do not have 256 colors.

My suggestion is do a post of the HP model and ask if someone has the driver disks and setup disks for this model. Otherwise you have a boat anchor. Realize for the future that compaq, gateway, dell and other name brands are the same way especially for their older models. Compaq required their own dos and windows versions.

Sorry for not having good news for you.

In order to get to your BIOS when you first start your computer it may be at the bottom of the screen or in the middle but you would have to hold down the button that allows you to go to setup.....most of the time it's the delete button.....Press and hold this button down and you will end up at the CMOS screen that is where you want to be to disable your card and to do the rest of your fine tuning.