CMOS Battery replacement

Question

Hi, I have a Dell Dimension E521 and I need to change the CMOS battery on the motherboard, but before I take the battery out, it states in the user manual that I have to record the System Setup settings first so I can enter them back in after replacing the new battery. During start up it says to press the F2 button when the blue Dell logo appears to access System Setup. I’ve tried doing this several times, but each time the computer does not respond to the F2 button and frustratingly just carries on booting up Windows as normal. Does anyone know why the F2 button is not working and is there any other way I can access System Setup successfully?  I have read that if you just take the CMOS battery out the BIOS will reset to default settings, but I’m dubious about doing this because it may cause configuration problems... Can anyone help/advise on how to change this CMOS battery and safely. Thanks

SamuraiHQ · Answer

Try F8 instead. Depending on the Mobo manufacturer, it may use F8 instead of F2. Good luck!

speedstep · Answer

Its not F8 its F2. If the system insists on booting disconnect the data cable for the hard drive and turn it on and wait for the error then press F2 and reconnect the data cable.

Helpmem8 · Answer

Hi, thanks for your ideas. I did try pressing F8, but no luck. I was going to try what you said SpeedStep, but I had another idea what the problem could be… I have my keyboard plugged into a USB Hub, so every time I was trying to press the F2 key to access the system setup screens the command, for some reason, was just not registering. I decided to plug my keyboard directly into the front of the computer itself and then when I pressed F2 on start up ‘hey presto’ I was instantly granted access to the system set up screens. The new battery is now in place, and the BIOS set correctly. :emotion-5:

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CMOS Battery replacement

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