Gary Cahill curled in a fine 20-yard effort on the stroke of half-time, and once defender Danny Gabbidon, making his debut, had put through his own net, there was no way back for Rangers.
QPR lost summer signing Kieron Dyer to a metatarsal injury after just five minutes and finished the afternoon with 10 men after defender Clint Hill was shown a red card in stoppage time, for putting his head into the chest of Martin Petrov.
Warnock, however, insists all is not lost for his side.
"It was disappointing how we capitulated at 2-0 and we are going to have to learn lessons quickly," he said.
"We defended poorly and got punished, which is what happens in the Premier League.
"Up until the second goal, we created some chances and could have scored, the crowd got behind us.
"You have to look at all that really and rather than commit suicide, you have to say 'how can I eliminate the errors?' and that is what I am going to try to do.
"I am not happy we lost 4-0, but sometimes you have to smile through adversity.
"We do need one or two players, and I am confident we can get them in the next fortnight before the end of the window.
"There is something to work on and with the players I want, I still think we have an outside chance (of staying up)."
Warnock revealed there was positive news on Dyer.
"The good news is there is no break on the bones and might just be a soft tissue injury, which is not a long-term thing," said Warnock, who intends to appeal Hill's dismissal.
"We just have to cross our fingers that he has a bit of luck for a change."
Bolton went on to secure a comfortable victory through Ivan Klasnic's deflected strike ahead of a fourth for Fabrice Muamba following a swift counter-attack with 11 minutes left.
Some of the 15,000 home support had seen enough by then and headed for the exit - venting their frustrations at shareholder Flavio Briatore, who could soon sell up to Lotus Formula One boss Tony Fernandes, watching from the directors' box.
Warnock revealed he had "private but very positive" discussions over the club's future.
"Right from day one he has been extremely supportive," he said.
"I have just got to hope things get sorted and we move on."
Bolton manager Owen Coyle maintains Cahill once again showed he has the quality to "play for anyone" with his performance - but insists there have been no formal bids for the England centre-back, who had been linked with a summer move to Arsenal.
"Gary Cahill has put himself in the shop window year after year," Coyle said.
"I love having him in my team, but he could play for anybody - and I mean anybody.
"He has got feet which belong to a centre-forward, he has got pace, tremendous timing in the air."
Coyle added: "If anything concrete happens, Gary will be the first to know.
"Some of the stuff I read daily is embarrassing and has no foundation.
"I am so transparent and up front - five or six weeks ago there were a couple of notes of interest with Gary, but there has not been one firm offer.
"I am very relaxed about it, Gary knows that and that is why you go out and see the performance you did today."
Source: Team Talk
Source: Team Talk