Cannot access bios - bypasses Dell logo screen & starts windows

I need to access the bios on a Vostro 460 to change the boot sequence to boot from a CD before the harddirve.

When I start the computer, the Dell logo never displays, so there's no opportunity to press F2 to enter the bios setup. It just goes to the Windows startup and continues. The computer starts and runs normally, except that I cannot access the BIOS.

If I start pressing the F2 key after powering on the computer, it still does not enter the bios and the computer doesn't start. I just sits there with a blank screen.

I removed the CMOS battery and disconnected the power. That did reset the computer's clock back to 2005, which shows the cmos did reset, but when I boot the computer, I still cannot access the bios.

To be completely clear: I am NOT getting a password prompt to enter the bios. I simply cannot access it.

I do not know what happened that would prevent the Dell logo to display.

Does the logo actually have to display before I can press F2? Perhaps, I should try powereing on and then waiting 30 seconds before pressing the F2 key.

Any suggestions on how to fix this or why it is happening would be most appreciated.

Thank you,

Geoff