Forget trying to reset it. cscgal has the perfect and safest way to fix the problem. Flashing the BIOS is different then reseting the BIOS information.
Flashing actually writes to a non-volatile memory, which will remain even if you remove the tiny battery, reset it, remove it from the mother board, run over with a H2, or eat it. It writes the basic program (Basic Input Output System) to a the chip.
Reseting the BIOS simply erases the data from a volatile memory (the CMOS), which is used by the BIOS itself. Sort of a database for the BIOS.
A misnomer, but we have to live with it.
Originally Posted by cscgal
...Go to the website of the motherboard manufacturer and download the latest BIOS flash update onto a floppy. Have your friend run it via DOS and hopefully it'll fix the problem.