Changing boot order on old laptop?

[gganault]

Hello,

I guess this is the best section of the forum to ask a boot-related question.

Someone who doesn't live nearby got a second-hand Toshiba Satellite L10-121 laptop with XP but was not provided with the admin password, so she can't log on.

Before I send her a bootable CD that'll let her reset the password, I need to find how she can change the boot order and boot from either device (It's probably too old to boot from a USB flashdrive, but it should boot from CD).

According to the user's manual, it doesn't provide the now-usual F11 or F12 to choose the boot device, so she'll have to enter the BIOS through F2, navigate to the Boot menu, change the order, save, reboot, and hope for the best.

I have a couple of questions:

1. Is the boot order determined by the BIOS or the motherboard?

2. Since this information is not available in the user's manual provided by Toshiba, is there a way to find the BIOS and/or mobo's mfg + model, so I can tell for sure how to check the boot order, and change it if necessary?

Thank you.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been moved from the section CPU & Components to section Laptops & Notebooks by Mousemonkey