abit 1c7 max3 startup issues, please read

Lo

I understand this may be minor but I really dont know.
The problem is until recently my abit 1c7 max 3 would show the intel branding screen at startup, my cpu is an 3.2 extreme edition so the EE logo would be shown, the option is still enable in my bios but there is a blank screen where the intel branding logo would normally have been displayed, this is the screen that says press del for bios etc.
I do know that recently I pressed tab to show my post, which didnt work, but the problem seems to have started since that time.
Is it possible the screen has been hidden or is there something else im not aware of.
The post will not work when i press tab, the machine goes ahead and powers up to load windows, there are no other issues past that.
Does anyone know how to resolve this, am i missing something, or did i maybe acidently auto hide the POST screen, any help is much appreciated.

thanks in advance

rikman18