Simviation Forum - massive problem in BIOS

Oct 7^th, 2005 at 10:39am

EirePlane Offline
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London, UK

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I'm having a problem on a computer at home and don't know how to resolve it.
While making some changes in my BIOS I changed my VGA Memory to Disabled by accident, Now my screen will not display and i can't do anything.

I was thinking of putting my hard drive in another computer to rescue my documents as I have some important information which is not backed up.
Is it safe to do this or will it erase the hard drive?

Also, Is there a way of resetting the BIOS without erasing the Hard Drive?
I was thinking of removing the CMOS battery to revert it as this seems to happen with another computer I own when the CMOS battery runs out.
Would This be possible?

Thank you
Mitchel Moriarty

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Reply #1 - Oct 7^th, 2005 at 12:14pm

Weather_Man Offline
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Yes, you can reset the BIOS to defaults by either setting jumpers on the motherboard to clear CMOS, or removing the battery for several minutes (be sure to unplug the PC first).

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Reply #2 - Oct 7^th, 2005 at 1:52pm

EirePlane Offline
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thanks for the help but I have just fixed it anyway.

Just for reference, no, taking out the CMOS battery will not erase your hard drive if you unplug it from the motherboard first

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Reply #3 - Oct 7^th, 2005 at 2:10pm

RollerBall Ex Member

Taking out the CMOS battery won't erase your hard drive anyway.

There's no need to remove the CMOS battery for any reason unless it is very old and is losing power. You can tell because the PCs clock begins to slow down eg you set the time today and in a week its 15 minutes behind.

If you make a cockup in a BIOS setting you will find that there is always a jumper labelled CLEAR CMOS that sits on 2 of a group of 3 pins.

First, switch off the PC then REMOVE THE POWER LEAD. It is essential for the mobo NOT to be receiving any power except from the CMOS battery when you clear CMOS.

Do it by removing the jumper and replacing it so it shorts between the middle and the other pin in the group of 3. Leave it for a few seconds then replace it, reconnect the power and boot up the machine.

All of the CMOS settings will have reverted to default - you can tell because in the Standard BIOS settings the year, month, day and time will all have reverted to something like January 1st 2001 00:00 hrs.

All you have to do then is recreate all of the settings to make the machine work properly.

Simple.. Wink

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Reply #4 - Oct 7^th, 2005 at 2:50pm

JBaymore Offline
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Quote:

All you have to do then is recreate all of the settings to make the machine work properly.

Simple.. Wink

Easy for you to say! Wink

best,

................john

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Reply #5 - Oct 7^th, 2005 at 4:06pm

RollerBall Ex Member

Quote:

Easy for you to say! Wink

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Reply #6 - Oct 7^th, 2005 at 5:35pm

EirePlane Offline
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didn't see any jumpers in there but it seems easier to take out the battery and pop it back in again anyway
thanks though

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Reply #7 - Oct 7^th, 2005 at 5:50pm

Fozzer Offline
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An elderly FS 2004 addict!
Hereford. England. EGBS.

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Quote:

Easy for you to say! Wink

best,

................john

Tee-Hee... Grin

...!

...anything to do with Motherboards, BIOS, and Batteries fills me with fear... Shocked

...

...!
LOL...!

Paul.... Grin

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Reply #8 - Oct 9^th, 2005 at 3:01pm

congo Offline
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Make BIOS your Friend
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Fear comes from the unknown, I know perfectly well I can bugger it up, so I'm not scared. Grin

EirePlane, If you ever lost data on your hard disk after taking the battery out, it was an unfortunate co-incidence with another event, unrelated to the battery removal.

Delete, format, partitioning, virus and physical (including electrical) damage are usually required to lose data, though Fozzer is working on new ways at this very moment! Grin

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Reply #9 - Oct 17^th, 2005 at 8:29pm

the_autopilot Offline
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Quote:

thanks for the help but I have just fixed it anyway.

Just for reference, no, taking out the CMOS battery will not erase your hard drive if you unplug it from the motherboard first

Like stated above, removing the cmos battery does not screw your HD. However, what might have happened is when you opened your computer, you touched the HD and fried it (or part of it) with a static charge. This is extremely unlikely, but it has happened before.

Link to sig:&&Click here&&(Cannot post signature here due to current forum restrications on linked images).

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