I have a Dell Vostro 260 computer. Recently, it was behaving strangely. One of the problems was that it was having trouble booting.
I had Windows 10 on the computer, and I finally tried booting the machine with my Windows rescue disk. The rescue disk got rid of my old operating system, but failed to reinstall Windows. My computer now has no operating system. (Fortunately, I backed up my data.)
I had not tinkered with the settings in the BIOS, and I do not think I created the problem. I suspect my computer might have gotten infected with malware which somehow got past my antivirus software. If that is the case, then perhaps the malware changed the BIOS settings.
I was wondering how to restore the BIOS settings to default values. I found the owner's manual for my computer model. The manual is at
Chapter 18 of the manual is titled, "System Setup," and describes how to adjust BIOS settings. This chapter runs from Pages 59 through 64.
After reading this chapter, it appears to me that there is no single option I can select to collectively restore all BIOS settings to default values. I believe I would have to manually select the default value for each BIOS setting. Is that correct?
I believe the correct procedure is to enter the system setup, and make sure that each setup option is at the default value. I would refer to the manual to get the default values. Is that right?
It looks like the settings I would adjust are under "CPU Configuration," "System Configuration," a second heading for "CPU Configuration," and "Post Behaviour." The manual lists the default values for the settings under these headings. So, I assume these are the ones I would adjust. Am I correct?
I do not have prior experience adjusting the BIOS settings, and I do not want to mess anything up. Do I have the right approach?
After I restore the BIOS to default settings, I will need to install an operating system. I expect that to be the easy part. I had been planning to switch to Linux for some time, but I never got around to it. Now is a good time. I plan to create a Linux installation disk from a public terminal. (In case you are wondering, I am typing from a public terminal.) My first choice is Ubuntu. If that is slow on my computer, I will try Linux Mint. I am not expecting there to be a problem loading my data files onto Linux, and there are no Windows programs I want to keep. I plan to get ESET anti-virus for Linux.
