CMOS Incorrect Settings

[Sakuya]

Yesterday when I turned on the computer, it showed this ASUS boot-up screen that I've never seen before and then it said something about CMOS incorrect settings and left me with 2 options. F1 to setup the settings and F2 to boot with default settings. The second option booted into my normal desktop fine (but with the time reset to January 1, 2002). While the first option gives me a setup screen with the incorrect time. I set the correct time and boot up. I do my things and then shut down for the night.

I turned on the computer for the first time today and it's the same problem again! Usually I turn off the surge protector after shutting down for the night. So for start up, I would have to turn on the surge protector, then the computer and the monitor.

I deleted all spyware using Spybot and Ad-aware, scanned for viruses (none), and then ran HDTune (which turned up no errors). Just what is the problem? Too much dust in the computer perhaps? I don't think I've cleaned...

[gadgetguy]

It sounds like your CMOS battery needs replacing. It should be visible on the motherboard, looks kind of like a coin.

[Sakuya]

It sounds like your CMOS battery needs replacing. It should be visible on the motherboard, looks kind of like a coin.

Is the battery available in common stores? Would it harm the computer if I don't replace it immediately?

[AlanHK]

Is the battery available in common stores? Would it harm the computer if I don't replace it immediately?

You find similar batteries in cameras, watches, etc. Buy at computer shops, electronics, hardware, even jewellers. Cost less than $1 usually. Take the old one along, there are several different sizes.

If you leave your PC powered on it will be fine. But if you power off, it will forget its setup and you'll be back in 2002.

[redwudz]

They are fairly common these days. I've got them at Longs Drugs for one. And if there is a Radio Shack around, they should have one also. One common one is a CR2032. The number should be stamped on it.

It won't hurt anything if it's dead. But it will reset the date and time each boot, along with putting all your BIOS settings to default. Having the wrong date can mess up some programs when they think todays date is when the motherboard was built. (Often the default date) Some motherboards don't run too efficiently at default, but no harm.

With all that said, it's unusual for a BIOS battery to die. Some last ten years or more. If changing the battery doesn't fix the problem, then you may have a problem with the motherboard.

[Sakuya]

It won't hurt anything if it's dead. But it will reset the date and time each boot, along with putting all your BIOS settings to default. Having the wrong date can mess up some programs when they think todays date is when the motherboard was built. (Often the default date) Some motherboards don't run too efficiently at default, but no harm.

I see, Longs Drugs has it? Oh yeah, so that explains why my antivirus said my subscription is over. As for BIOS settings, I don't even know what was set before. I don't remember my previous computer getting this problem though and that computer I used way longer than this one.

[Sakuya]

Sorry about the double post but I have to ask this before I start.

How can I avoid static electricity? Also, I will have to unplug everything since it's in a narrow space and the cords aren't long enough for me to pull the thing out of there. But I guess it's more safe if I unplug everything, right?

Edit:
Or rather, how can I avoid static shock? :P

[Joe The Dude]

With everything unlplugged, with the case open and laying on it's side on the floor, with you sitting indian style on the floor in a good position to be able to reach in and remove the battery, use your left hand to touch and hold on to an un-painted surface of The Case, Inside of the case, and count to ten.

After the ten count, you should be good to go.
You can even let go of the case if you need to use two hands, so long as you don't change your seating style and position on the floor.

If you want to be really carefull, you can take off your shirt and remove any watches and jewelry before you do the ten count, and not put them back on until your PC Case is closed.

Edited to Add The Following:
The above is the cheap method.
If you want to spend around $5.00, you can buy an "Anti Static Wrist Wrap" at a PC or Electronics Store.
It's basicly a bracelet that connects to a long wire.
The long wire is attached to an aligator clip, that you should clip onto an unpainted surface inside of your case before ya touch any of the electronics.

[redwudz]

Joe The Dude, it's a good thing he didn't ask how to change out a video card.

Touching the bare metal of the case is probably more than sufficient. The hard part is figuring out how to get the battery out. They usually have a small metal retaining clip that is difficult to release. I often use a small flat bladed screwdriver to release them.

[Sakuya]

They usually have a small metal retaining clip that is difficult to release. I often use a small flat bladed screwdriver to release them.

I thought that would be the case. I guess I will have a go at it tomorrow. Thanks for the help!

Edit:
I just read online that you should move the computer to a more convenient electrical ground outlet and have the computer plugged in when doing it.

[Dr. DOS]

I just read online that you should move the computer to a more convenient electrical ground outlet and have the computer plugged in when doing it.

Personally I wouldn't .... just make sure you are grounded and the machine is off and unplugged.

[Bjs]

Actual replacement when appropriate anti-static wrist strap not available ...

Leave power cord connected ... but turned off at power wall socket .
Place hand on bare metal ... rear cover nearest to power unit (nearest to earth) .
Repeat touch 3 time's minimum ... try not doing this in a room with carpet .

Leave one hand on case at all time's (nearest to power supply) .
Use the other too remove and replace battery .

Turn power back on ... reset bios settings ... reboot .

It's how it should be done .

Leaving the power cord connected between pc and power outlet (off) , gives proper grounding of any static electrical charge

--------------

The antistatic wrist strap I use is directly connected to the earthing point on the power wall socket .

[Sakuya]

Okay, I replaced it. That was the most scariest ordeal I've ever gone through.

The first time, I think I put the battery in the wrong way and it wouldn't boot up. So I had to reopen the case and flip it. But in the process, I knocked down this "serial ATA connector". The manual says there are 2 sockets for this connector, one called P31 and the other P30. I think it came from the bottom one, P30, so I plugged it into that and the computer seems to be running fine...

The stupid manual didn't specify which one to use. And who knows what static damage I unknowingly inflicted on the computer. I did follow Bjs' instructions. I hope it worked.

[TimA-C]

For future reference, if you leave the pc plugged into the mains but turn it off at the mains socket then, providing your sockets are wired up correctly, you won't electrocute yourself but will leave the PC's case earthed. If you're really nervous then you may want to leave the PC like this for an hour or more before opening it - just to let the capacitors in the power supply discharge themselves. (This should be so for 3-pin plugs & sockets in the UK. Not sure which other countries have a seperate earth in their mains sockets.)

Edit: Obviously missed BJ's post as I've repeated a fair bit of it. Anyway, well done Sakuya, you've just taken your first steps into a much larger universe!

[Sakuya]

Anyway, well done Sakuya, you've just taken your first steps into a much larger universe!

Haha, I feel proud of myself. Thanks for helping a noob guys!

[redwudz]

I wouldn't worry much about 'electrocution'. The highest voltage on the motherboard is 12VDC. But there is enough amperage there to melt off the end of a screwdriver, so caution is in order when using metal objects unless the power supply has bled off completely. Inside of the PS cage there are lethal voltages, so never stick anything in there or open that without knowing what you are doing.

With SATA connectors, it doesn't seem to matter much what socket you use for the cable. That's one of the advantages of the interface. One of the disadvantages is that they come unplugged easily.

Now that you have changed the battery, your date and time probably needs resetting, and your BIOS is probably set at default. But that may be OK if that's what it was set at before.

Let us know if that fixed the problem. If not, you can try some other things.

[Sakuya]

Now that you have changed the battery, your date and time probably needs resetting, and your BIOS is probably set at default. But that may be OK if that's what it was set at before.

Yes, I set the date and time correctly as well as disabling the boot up screen (since it was disabled before). So now it pretty much looks like how it was before this problem appeared.

I also used HD Tune and it didn't turn up any problems except that it has reached critical temperature and is now 59 degrees Celsius! Actually it changes the temperature every few minutes for the last several hours but it always stays in the critical area. It didn't always change so much before and before, it would occasionally go way below the critical point.

I'm not even sure if the computer's fan is working. On the side of the case there's this wired circular thing and inside is this spiral thing which I think is the fan. Not entirely sure. It's not spinning and it has some dust inside.

Is there a program that can check if the fan is working? Heck, the computer is not even warm when I touch it. How can it be past critical temperature?

[Scorpion King]

I once went to repair a computer for a 'friend of a friend'. I diagnosed the problem as a dead battery. I unhooked the tower and pulled it out of the shelf and removed the case. I could not believe my eyes..... that thing was so full of dust you couldn't hardly see the motherboard. Every fan and heatsink was completely full of dirt. It had to be running hot. I cleaned it out and replaced the battery just to find the OS and hdd was just as bad as the inside of the case....

My only regret is that I didn't take a photo of it.

and thats all Ive got to say

Good luck.

[Sakuya]

The inside was full of dust? Nope, mines is definitely not that bad. I already cleaned out the dust that I could reach.

[TBoneit]

It is monitoring the CPU and the Motherboard temperatures not the actual air inside the case. You need to change the fan on teh ide of the case. Should be two or three wires running to it. Check the Motherboard manual to locate the CPU and see if it is dust free and that the fan runs properly, Check to see if teh power supply fan is running, Air should be coming out next to where the power cord plugs in.

If it is saying critical, then it is running hot and shortening the life of the CPU and or the Chipset on the motherboard.

When it is running look for any metal parts that have fins and feel if they are hot. Those will be heatsinks, usually one on the CPU with a fan and one on one of the chips of teh motherboard that may or may not have a fan on it. And also many of the Videocards these days have fans that clog up with dust or stop running which will damage the video card.

This page has various CPU fans and heat sink combos, http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/category/category_slc.asp?CatId=493

and this one has case fans, http://www.kids-online.net/learn/clickjr/details/fan.html

This way you'll know what you are looking at.
Good luck

[Sakuya]

Check to see if teh power supply fan is running, Air should be coming out next to where the power cord plugs in.

The power supply fan is running! But the case fan is not. I think I should get one of those compressed air cans with the needle coming out of the tip. Do you just spray it on the dust? Would that cause the dust to fall inside the case?

Sorry, I haven't used one of those since so many years ago. I thought it was fun to squeeze the cans as a kid.

[redwudz]

Probably the best way is to have a vacuum cleaner running with the intake just inside the case to suck out the dust you blow loose, then start blasting around with the air can. I would also let the computer cool off for a half hour before doing this, and turn if off, off course. Those cans can put out very cold air (and liquid if you don't hold them upright.), that can damage hot parts. If you are blasting into any of the fans, I put a small piece of plastic into the blades to temporarily keep them from spinning the wrong way or too fast when the air blast hits them. You can damage the fan bearings if you overspeed or run them backwards too much.

You may have a tube from the side of the case to your CPU fan, otherwise you should be able to see it easily. If so, you would want to remove it to blow dust out of the CPU fan and heatsink. And make sure the CPU fan is turning when the computer is powered on. If it's not, it will need replacement before the CPU burns up.

The case fans are easy to replace, you just need a Phillips screwdriver. Just get one the same size with the same power connector and install it the same direction as the old one.

[TBoneit]

Just to clarify by direction redwudz means that the label faces the same way as the old fan. The air is blown out the side of the fan with the label.

Follow the above advice and you should be good to go. redwudz has given excellent advice. Just be carefull not to let the vacuum cleeaner hit any of the electronics as the parts can be knocked off easily.

Be sure to hold the can upright, the gas is created by the liquid inside the can boiling off at room temperature. Holding the can so the liquid comes out is wasteful and will really chill whatever it lands on as it boils off. Also read the can carefully, some of them are flammable.

Good Luck

[Scorpion King]

Most times I use a 1inch or so wide new clean paint brush and canned compressed air. With these tools I can do a nice job. Just unhook, unplug, let it cool down, and most importantly --- touch bare case metal first to discharge any static electricity you may have. I usually just keep that one hand on the case anyway.

Also most times I hear someone from behind me saying, "You're not doing that in this house!!!!". So I usually wind up doing my case cleaning in the garage, unless that certain 'someone' should happen to be at the market that day.

Good luck.

[Sakuya]

I turned on the computer just now and it gave me the same error. I guess the first time I inserted the battery it was correct. So I flipped it again, shut down, and waited several seconds before turning on the power and the computer. I think it's fine now...

The battery was actually an old battery from several years ago that I found handy in my cupboard. It wasn't opened yet. Is it possible that old batteries don't work?

[TBoneit]

hopefully you haven't damaged anything by reversing the battery. Electronics in general does not like reverse polarity or AC voltage.

Looking at the battery the + side should face away from the motherboard.

Yes batteries can wear out from age.

Note. In computers and anything else it is important to observe the proper polarity. They could design so it doesn't matter what way the battery goes, however that would also raise the cost to make the device.

Cheers

[Sakuya]

The + side as in the side with the text on it? The battery metal retainer clip thing is perpendicular to the motherboard. There's an opening to the right where the battery can be taken out. I believe currently, the + side is facing to the right. Before when it was the opposite, the battery seemed to be stuck. It took a while before it finally came out. Right now with the + side facing the right, it's not stuck but it's in place inside the retainer clip. Is this normal?

I will have to check after I get home to see if it gives me the error again.

[Scorpion King]

I also used HD Tune and it didn't turn up any problems except that it has reached critical temperature and is now 59 degrees Celsius! Actually it changes the temperature every few minutes for the last several hours but it always stays in the critical area. It didn't always change so much before and before, it would occasionally go way below the critical point.

If this is the error you're talking about then I would suspect maybe two possibilities.

1. The BIOS defaults to alert CPU critical temperature @ 59C. Someone had raised this value in the BIOS at some point but when the battery went dead and the BIOS reset to default values it now is using that 59C mark.

--or--

2. During the battery replacement you somehow unhooked the power cord to a cooling fan(s) and now, without those fans running, is allowing the CPU to reach critical temperature.

59C is 138.2 degree Fahrenheit. Your 138 is pretty warm compared to what my P4 runs but I don't think thats hot enough to damage it yet. But its not summertime either.... lol

I'd get all the fans working then go from there.

Good luck.

[Sakuya]

I just started my computer and I got no errors! So that means I put the battery in right this time.

1. The BIOS defaults to alert CPU critical temperature @ 59C. Someone had raised this value in the BIOS at some point but when the battery went dead and the BIOS reset to default values it now is using that 59C mark.

The temperature alert is part of the program, HD Tune, and its critical temperature setting is 55C. I am not sure why the temperature was in critical range during all of that day. But right now, it is at 41C.

Oh, and it seems only the case fan is not working and I did not see any dust in the hard drive area.