CMOS battery

[andreadebiase]

Hi,
is the CMOS battery supposed to keep the Bios settings while the PC is off only? or is also important for other things while the PC is running? which is the best way to change the battery without loosing everything? pc off or on?
thanks


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#!@$*%.....just format the damn C:

[mjc]

Very quickly...you have about 5 to 10 seconds on some systems before it looses everything, except if you are tring to clear a password then it seems to take forever.... http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

The best thing to do would be to copy on paper the BIOS settings and then just re-enter them after the change. And do it off, it is never a good idea to be mucking around in a powered machine....

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mjc
Links list:Computer Links (http://www.dreamwater.org/tech/mjc/index.htm)

Celts are the men that heaven made mad, For all their battles are merry and their songs are all sad.

[iisbob]

originally ( many moons ago ) the CMOS was an actual physical seperate chip on th motherboard that , as mjc stated, contained all your variable settings { date/time-Hardrive type, etc.). Because the BIOS itself is ROM ( read only memory ) it does not get "lost " when it has no power-but at the same time you couldn't change any settings without special equipment; hence the CMOS.

The battery used to actually control all of the saved settings for CMOS/BIOS-now with todays chipsets the CMOS is actually part of the physical BIOS chip and the Battery is really there more for date/time than anything else. This is why they include a " CMOS short "jumper on modern boards-this is what truely clears the settings in your CMOS today.

NEVER work on a PC with the power on! Make sure it is off, it is umplugged, and you properly ground yourself before you touch anything inside.



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iisbob
""I was gratified to be able to answer promptly, and I did. I said I didn't know."
Mark Twain

[This message has been edited by iisbob (edited 12-03-2001).]

[iropnman]

Originally posted by andreadebiase:
Hi,
is the CMOS battery supposed to keep the Bios settings while the PC is off only? or is also important for other things while the PC is running? which is the best way to change the battery without loosing everything? pc off or on?
thanks


NEVER CANGE ANYTHING IN THE COMPUTER WHEN IT IS ON ALWAYS TURN IT OFF ALSO THE OTHER REPLY YOU GOT WAS RIGHT ABOUT WRITTING THE CMOS SETTINGS DOWN SO IF YOU DO TAKE TO LONG TO CHANGE IT YOU WILL BE ABLE TO SETIT BACK UP AS BEFORE