Can't access BIOS setup screen

Good morning geeks, I'm running XP Home SP3 on a Dell 4600C BIOS v12 which is the latest for this machine.

Start up screen says F2=Setup, F12=Boot Menu. I've tired every way I know of holding and tapping the keys to get the BIOS menu to open but cant get it. I have a black screen with the keys identified in the upper right corner but that screen last only about 1 second, then to the screen which allows for a normal or safe start up.

When and where and how can I access the BIOS? Any ideas?

I've had some win32k.sys BSOD lately and consensus says to disable shadow copying and mem check. And I also want to make sure it stops checking for the old floppy drive A on start, it seems to do that occasionally (still).

 

On a Dell, it IS F2 to enter Setup. But you've got to press it as soon as those choices come up in the upper right during POST. Hover your finger over the F2 key the next time you restart the computer and as soon as you see those choices, press (don't tap) the F2 key. The screen should then say entering setup in the upper right.

You can then disable the floppy by selecting it in the boot sequence and pressing the spacebar as well as change boot sequence order by selecting a boot device and pressing the u or d keys.

 

The BSODs are probably not connected to your inability to access the BIOS but you should look into fixing whatever is causing these errors. Download the following program, run it, and copy down the error codes it retrieves. Post the results here.

BTW, who or what are you referring to when you say "consensus says"?

BlueScreenView
http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/bluescreenview.html