18 replies to this topic

[RobinHood2005]

For a couple of days now I have had an issue where my PC would start, the light on the power button would turn on and then everything would seemingly shut down after a second or two. Then, my PC would turn back on and instead of booting normally it would give me an 'American Megatrends' screen which would tell me that I needed to run setup. Upon going into the BIOS, my settings would all be reset. I'd change them, then quit the BIOS and boot up as normal.

 

Apart from this, I have noticed that the time Windows displays seems to be affected and I have to sync it, though the PC otherwise functions normally. I opened up my case yesterday and nothing seemed to be loose or out of place on the motherboard.

 

Help?

 

 

[HeyYou]

How old is the cmos battery?

[RobinHood2005]

How old is the cmos battery?

As old as the motherboard itself, so three years or so, I think. That's when I bought it in new condition.

[RobinHood2005]

Right, pretty much every day since I built the PC I would turn off the PSU and the socket after turning it off. Not doing so seems to fix the issue.

[HeyYou]

Yep, that's a dead cmos battery. They are less than five bucks, and you can get them just about everywhere. Even the local drug store. Quick and easy to replace, reset your bios, and the problem is gone for a couple more years.

[RobinHood2005]

Yep, that's a dead cmos battery. They are less than five bucks, and you can get them just about everywhere. Even the local drug store. Quick and easy to replace, reset your bios, and the problem is gone for a couple more years.

Thanks for the advice. Do I need to buy one specifically for my motherboard or are they all the same?

[leonardo2]

Most motherboards are using the same type of a backup battery, but if you are not sure then read the manual.

[Striker879]

 

Yep, that's a dead cmos battery. They are less than five bucks, and you can get them just about everywhere. Even the local drug store. Quick and easy to replace, reset your bios, and the problem is gone for a couple more years.

Thanks for the advice. Do I need to buy one specifically for my motherboard or are they all the same?

 

 

I've only needed to replace a CMOS battery 2 or maybe 3 times, but each time all I did was pop the old one out (after taking note of which side was down in the holder) and checking the numbers on it. I seem to recall the last one I did I found the replacement at Crappy Tire (Canadian Tire for those not living in the "Frozen North" ... that is not frozen at all at the moment).

[RobinHood2005]

Most motherboards are using the same type of a backup battery, but if you are not sure then read the manual.

 

 

 

 

Yep, that's a dead cmos battery. They are less than five bucks, and you can get them just about everywhere. Even the local drug store. Quick and easy to replace, reset your bios, and the problem is gone for a couple more years.

Thanks for the advice. Do I need to buy one specifically for my motherboard or are they all the same?

 

 

I've only needed to replace a CMOS battery 2 or maybe 3 times, but each time all I did was pop the old one out (after taking note of which side was down in the holder) and checking the numbers on it. I seem to recall the last one I did I found the replacement at Crappy Tire (Canadian Tire for those not living in the "Frozen North" ... that is not frozen at all at the moment).

 

Right, thanks for the advice. Any special way I should store/dispose of the old one?

[HeyYou]

Well, it IS technically considered "hazardous materials", and if you lived in California, it would be carcinogenic. So, supposedly, you can't just throw it in the trash....... If there is a battery wholesale, or similar store near you, they should be able to take it off your hands.