I am working on an everex system . I formated the hdd than reinstalled win98 second ed. worked great for a couple of times, than I got a message that the cmos battery was low and it wouldn't finish booting up so I changed the battery .Now I get the message cmos setting is wrong .Press f1 to enter setup and Press f2 to load default settings and continue. only now the keyboard won't work lights won't come on at all on key board. Tried another key board and it wouldn't work either and the lights on it were all on (ie num lock , caps lock , scroll lock:mad:

What kind of keyboard are you using?

If it is a USB keyboard you may have to use a PS/2 style to be able to get into the BIOS setup. Also this may sound a little more trouble than it is worth, but try pulling all the add incards, except the video card, disconnect the drives (not neede to get into the BIOS setup) and then try. It may be that one of the peripheral devices is not being detected because the BIOS has been reset.

Thanks for responding so fast. Its a non usb one, both are.

Ok, do you have a clear CMOS jumper?

Use it to clear the CMOS again.

Also check to see if you knocked anything loose while you were replacing the battery.

Did you completely power down and unplug your system when openning it up?

Yes I powered down and unpluged both the power cord and the monitor so as no power was going to the computer I checked to make sure there was no loose connections. I tried what you sugested , disconnected all cards and drives still doing the same thing as far as the jumper thing I am not sure but will check will also try third ps/2 keyboard ..thanks for your help this has me stump...:(

1. Did you get the battery in backward?

2. You said PS/2 keyboard. Was the keyboard plugged in or unplugged while the power was on? Any time you plug in or unplug PS/2 devices the machine MUST be totally powered down. That means shutting down the main power switch or unplugging it from the wall. If it's still drawing power it will fry the PS/2 port.

Hooray the jumper thingy worked computer is up and running:)

Thanks alot for all your help .. :D