There will be a message during the early stages of POST telling you to "Press Delete for Setup", or something similar. F1 and Delete are the most popular keys and will get you into 95% of all BIOS menus - excluding manufactured peecees.
Sometimes the window of opportunity is very short and you press the key too late - simply press cntrl-alt-delete and it'll restart for ya again.
PS, make sure to check for BIOS updates at the motherboard manufacturer's website. Your current BIOS revision # will be displayed during POST. Look for the date, not the numbers. The numbers may look different but the date never lies. Sometimes there are major bug-fixes and sometimes there are minor revisions that merely add newly released CPU speeds - so they are reported accurately, mostly. Don't waste your time if the update includes no bug fixes.
One more thing...
Your first stop after installing Windows and connecting to the internet should be at WindowsUpdate. Get all the current updates, patches, and (WHQL-only) drivers. Install a firewall such as Zonealarm (excellent freeware! www.zonealarm.com ). Then disable scripting in Outlook Express. yay. virus & worm resistant.
Then check for driver updates for your hardware. Most hardware seems to ship with old-ass drivers. Stick with WHQL approved drivers if stability is paramount, but I've had great luck with non-approved drivers. non-beta ones, anyways. Windows, by default, will install ONLY drivers that are WHQL-approved. It will balk at any attempt to load a non-WHQL driver by throwing up a dialog box warning you of the dire consequences of loading a crappy non-approved driver. You must approve the installation of non-WHQL drivers. The WindowsUpdate feature MAY not offer the newest WHQL drivers. You need to check the manufacturer's website to be sure you have the newest WHQL driver.
Why did I use the term WHQL so many damned times? I dunno. Most folks don't care which drivers they load as long as they work well.
Sometimes the window of opportunity is very short and you press the key too late - simply press cntrl-alt-delete and it'll restart for ya again.
PS, make sure to check for BIOS updates at the motherboard manufacturer's website. Your current BIOS revision # will be displayed during POST. Look for the date, not the numbers. The numbers may look different but the date never lies. Sometimes there are major bug-fixes and sometimes there are minor revisions that merely add newly released CPU speeds - so they are reported accurately, mostly. Don't waste your time if the update includes no bug fixes.
One more thing...
Your first stop after installing Windows and connecting to the internet should be at WindowsUpdate. Get all the current updates, patches, and (WHQL-only) drivers. Install a firewall such as Zonealarm (excellent freeware! www.zonealarm.com ). Then disable scripting in Outlook Express. yay. virus & worm resistant.
Then check for driver updates for your hardware. Most hardware seems to ship with old-ass drivers. Stick with WHQL approved drivers if stability is paramount, but I've had great luck with non-approved drivers. non-beta ones, anyways. Windows, by default, will install ONLY drivers that are WHQL-approved. It will balk at any attempt to load a non-WHQL driver by throwing up a dialog box warning you of the dire consequences of loading a crappy non-approved driver. You must approve the installation of non-WHQL drivers. The WindowsUpdate feature MAY not offer the newest WHQL drivers. You need to check the manufacturer's website to be sure you have the newest WHQL driver.
Why did I use the term WHQL so many damned times? I dunno. Most folks don't care which drivers they load as long as they work well.