Hey there,
I have a GIGABYTE GA-870A-UD3 (rev 3.1) with the FD BIOS from 2011. I've had some issues with blue screens and such so I recently decided it was time for another fresh install of Windows 7. The problem this time is that I can't access the BIOS and as such I can't boot from CD or USB. The instruction manual and Google says F12 but all that does is enable me to choose which OS to boot (i.e. the current Windows that's installed). Tried a bunch of other buttons with no result, really. I managed to get into it once by pressing Page Up, but only once. And I by mistake selected the wrong device for boot first (Samsung SSD instead of Samsung DVD). Haven't been able to get back since.
I managed to get around this by formating my D drive, install windows on that, boot that windows and then formating C and install windows on that, formating D again and voila - fresh drive and Win 7 install. It did leave me with a weird 100Mb partition that I have no idea where it came from but since I couldn't boot from CD I couldn't get to the normal disk management when you install Windows.
Anyway, after about two weeks I'm still running into some issues that I hope are software related. I have a new graphics card (ASUS, AMD) that's been working fine except I've gotten some occasional freezes when playing games or videos which could be software related of course. Latest Microsoft C++ 2015 doesn't wanna install period. And after switching the socket for my sound card (Creative Sound Blaster Z) to get better airflow between it and the graphics card, the sound card is no longer recognized. Tried uninstalling drivers and re-installing. Sound card not found, so that didn't work. Tried restarting, switching back to old slot, re-inserting again. Same issue. Tried booting up a restore point from last week. Well that enabled me to install drivers but the card can still not be found. Google tells me I should make sure the PCI slots are enabled but again, I can't access BIOS so... yeah. I'm gonna check the card itself on my girlfriend's computer to make sure the card itself isn't busted but it seems unlikely since all I did was switch slots, shouldn't have damaged it.
So at this point the problems are mounting up and I'd rather not spend the money to get another Motherboard if I can keep this one running for a few more years but I can't run a system like this either.
And that brings me to here. Anyone have any ideas for how to access the BIOS after having tried pretty much every key available? I'm running a wireless keyboard, would it help to try with a wired one for some reason?
Some more system info:
OS: Windows 7 (64bit)
Processor: AMD Phenom II X6 1090T
Graphics Card: ASUS Radeon R9 380X 4GB
16 GB RAM
Also my computer knowledge level is kinda basic, I guess. Especially when it comes to Motherboards so I appreciate any extra explanations for solutions that require... more than the minimum amount of tinkering, I guess, whether it be hardware or software-related.
Like I said, if I can access BIOS and get another clean windows install going and my sound card gets back on track, I might be able to keep going with current rig. Or maybe it's just better to spend some money on another mother board?
