Assistance needed

patrickv

patrickv

Active Member
Hey all, been away for a very long while.
Am having a problem with a laptop.
Each time the thing turns on i get the "CMOS CHECKSUM BAD"
F1 for Setup
F2 to load defaults.

Thing is none of the above works, i get stuck at this screen. Cannot enter setup or load defaults........
what could have possibly gone wrong ?
 
This usually means that the CMOS battery inside the laptop needs to be replaced. Usually the first several times you see this, you can hit F1 to ignore it. Unfortunately once you ignore it long enough or if the battery is completely shot, it will not go any further. The good news is that this is ususally a very simple and inexpensive fix.

Did you notice the computer losing the date/time a lot before this started? That is a tell-tale sign that the battery is going.

If you have never disassembled a laptop before, and you actually care about keeping this one working, you should contact a local repair shop or a TRUSTED friend that knows what they are doing. Also, you can Google for the brand and model of your laptop along with the words "disassembly" or "repair guide" to see if someone has created a step by step picture guide for you to refer to.

Good luck! :)
 
XCtechST said:
This usually means that the CMOS battery inside the laptop needs to be replaced. Usually the first several times you see this, you can hit F1 to ignore it.
Click to expand...
yeah but when pressed, nothing happens

XCtechST said:
Did you notice the computer losing the date/time a lot before this started?
Click to expand...
This is the first time i put it on and i get that, haven't booted into windows or even the BIOS to check out the date
 
Then I would say that you need to get the battery replaced. The battery helps keep the CMOS settings when the computer is turned off. Unlike desktop computers, however, laptops when off are usually in a bag somewhere without any electrical current at all. Once the battery loses juice, and the battery gets old, the computer cannot keep the previously stored CMOS value.

They explain it better here: http://www.tech-faq.com/cmos-checksum-bad-error.shtml

The only other probable causes that the article states are if someone or a virus updated the BIOS recently or if the computer was shutdown improperly. These are a lot less likely than a failing battery.
 
In rare cases, I suppose the fact that it will not allow you to press F1 or F2 could point to more serious hardware trouble. To be sure it is at least somewhat responsive to keyboard input, read the screen to find out what the "setup" key is (usually F2 or delete or F10) and press that immediately after pressing the power button until you can see if it loads the BIOS screen.

However, the battery would be my first attempt at a resolution.
 
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