Cmoss battery

Hello!

I was just told by the place I purchased my computer that "check sum bad" means my Cmoss (spelling?) battery is bad.

I have this computer since August 2003. With my former computer, I had to replace this battery every 6 months or so.

No one I know has ever heard of changing this battery at all. Does anyone know what might be causing this?

Thanks - I seem to get more help here than the computer store!

Karen

 

Hi Karen,
Yes it could be a dead BIOS battery, although they should last for a few years. 6 months on you old system indicates a motherboard fault draining the battery. This battery is a button battery, probably a CR2020 or similar. As it will only be 2 or 3 dollars to replace it, I would.

Is this error message appearing at the BIOS boot before windows loads?

It could also indicate a bad (faulty) BIOS. Indicating a failed flash of a new BIOS or a corrupted existing BIOS.

Is the PC under warranty? The place of purchase should fix it if it is, although replacing the battery takes only a couple of minutes. But a BIOS upgrade (flash) is more tricky.

 

Paul,

Thanks! I did replace my battery and, as usual, all is well. The message comes up while booting, before Windows. This computer went out of warranty in August.

I don't understand "faulty BIOS," so, do you feel I need a local computer person to check out my system? Does this indicate a crash? Is is possible for a mother board to be having problems at one year?

Sure do appreciate the help and any further information you can give. Have a great day!

Karen

 

A "Faulty BIOS" is just that. A BIOS that is faulty. BIOS stands for "Basic Input/Output System ", and it is the basics of how your computer interacts with itself. the BIOS tells the motherboard what to do with all those PCI cards, and tells Windows what your hardware is. If there is a problem in your BIOS, your system will probably have all kinds of trouble. I suggest that you take your computer to a local repair shop and have them flash your BIOS, unless you feel comfortable doing it yourself. Your motherboard user manual or manufacturers website should have instructions.

 

Aku,

Thank you. I'll probably find a good support person instead of trying to do this. As I've said, I know program applications. But, the workings like this are over my head.

You people are to be congratulated. No one has ever been able to give me any reason, answer or anthing about this.

Have a great day! And, I look forwad to becoming a contributing member, it's the least I can do as a thank you for the help.

Karen