You're right, small honest computer shops are getting as hard to find as baskin robbins.
I believe the blue screen is almost 90% when it reaches windows phase.
The bios is basically independent of windows before windows takes over.
Your system is like two parts, hardware wakeup and ID'ing and then software control- IE: windows OS- operating system which sits on top of machine language that comes from the motherboard before you see any real graphics on your monitor.
Your motherboard recognizes device stuff in machine code which hardly anyone knows how to read or write and that's where the operating software c comes in allowing users to read in english or whatever they're language is and allows us to see images and type stuff using the keyboard which the machine code already set up for us in bios and that windows operating software goes over again to put the stuff in an understandable UI- user interface so we can post our kitten pictures and pumpkin carvings.
In other words, technically, you should still be able to stop the process at the bios before the screen appears. That's the basics of the oldest DOS user interface since like 1970 something.
Power off your sys, if you can, turn off the strip it's plugged into, whatever it takes to cut the actual power to the computer box. Then plug back in, start the comp and watch the screen for any lines or instructions flashing by that say 'hit del to enter bios' or some such.
While you're checking out a shop, post back your specs if you can go on another comp to the internet... yea, and oops, I forgot you CAN'T get to windows to check 'system information...'. My bad. That was like saying, after you got two flats on the road..."get to a gas station and use their air pump" ...
