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SonicExplorer
2 Bronze
‎11-16-2007 06:29 AM

Are BIOS settings lost after changing battery ?

Hello,

I've got a Dimension 8200 which I suspect has a short time remaining before the battery will need replacing.  When the battery is replaced, will the BIOS/CMOS settings be wiped out and revert back to "default" settings, or is there adequate on-board power (in capacitors or whatever) to keep the internal settings in tact during the battery exchange ?

Thanks for any insight....
 
    Sonic
0 Kudos
5 Replies
fireberd
8 Krypton
‎11-16-2007 08:37 AM

Re: Are BIOS settings lost after changing battery ?

They will be reset to the "factory default".  If you have customized the settings you will have to reset them.


I am not a Dell Employee

Dell forum member since 2002

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SonicExplorer
2 Bronze
‎11-16-2007 04:40 PM

Re: Are BIOS settings lost after changing battery ?

Yikes !   Then it's best to write down (and keep safe) any BIOS setting-changes that were made.  Othese if the battery goes south and needs to be replaced, all non-default settings would be lost.  If the machine is subsequently booted into an OS like Windows, it could freak-out over what it would view as "alterations" (depending on how exensive the changes were, especially interrupt re-assignments, etc).

Thanks for the important information...
 
Sonic
delisteh
2 Bronze
‎11-16-2007 05:37 PM

Re: Are BIOS settings lost after changing battery ?

Be extra careful since the BIOS defaults might be really stupid. For example "Halt on Error for floppy detect". See my post on how my system got totally borked by this bug. http://www.dellcommunity.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=dim_bios&message.id=56324 Good luck
NoviceGuy
Not applicable
‎12-31-2008 02:06 PM

Re: Are BIOS settings lost after changing battery ?

I have got the same error message after replacing the cmos battery. Any idea on how to correct this error? It seems like I have lost the ability to use my dvd-rw drive.

Did not realize that I have to write down the BIOS setting before changing the battery. If anyone has the BIOS setting for a Dell Dimension 9100 (2.8GHz, DVD-RW) I would greatly appreciated.

 

RChris
3 Zinc
‎12-31-2008 03:35 PM

Re: Are BIOS settings lost after changing battery ?

Just a tip:  use your digital camera to take pictures of the BIOS screens (and probably store them somewhere other than on your computer!).