«

Hello,

In my 70's now, so please bear with me.

a. What key do I press on startup to get to the BIOS screen to see (and
possibly change) the boot order that it goes thru on starting ?

b. Per my older post, seems likely that the CMOS battery is getting weak.
About 5 years old now, apparently.

If I change it, I guess I have to re-do all the System Setup Screens.
Is this true ?

All of them ? Seems like an awful lot of settings.
Do all of them have to be reconfigured / reset ?

Any gotchas when putting in the new battery (Dell XPS, and running XP) ?

Thanks,
Bob

"Robert11" <> wrote in message
news:gplfnb$mpt$...
> Hello,
>
> In my 70's now, so please bear with me.
>
> a. What key do I press on startup to get to the BIOS screen to see (and
> possibly change) the boot order that it goes thru on starting ?
On most Dells it's F2 for BIOS and F10 or F12 for Boot Menu. It should tell
you in the lower right hand corner of the frst screen when booting up

> b. Per my older post, seems likely that the CMOS battery is getting weak.
> About 5 years old now, apparently.
>
> If I change it, I guess I have to re-do all the System Setup Screens.
> Is this true ?

If you do it fast enough...about 30 seconds...it probably won't change
anything. If it does change it will revert back to default settings...most
of which you are probably using anyway. If you want to be safe copy down
your current BOIS settings before you swap the battery
>
> All of them ? Seems like an awful lot of settings.
> Do all of them have to be reconfigured / reset ?
Probably not
>
> Any gotchas when putting in the new battery (Dell XPS, and running XP) ?
>
> Thanks,
> Bob
I'm also in my 70's and running an XPS 400 with XP Pro. So if you have any
other questions post back

On Mar 16, 6:12*am, "Robert11" <rgs...@xnotme.invalid> wrote:
> Hello,
>
> In my 70's now, so please bear with me.
>
> a. *What key do I press on startup to get to the BIOS screen to see (and
> possibly change) the boot order that it goes thru on starting ?
>
> b. *Per my older post, seems likely that the CMOS battery is getting weak.
> About 5 years old now, apparently.
>
> If I change it, I guess I have to re-do all the System Setup Screens.
> Is this true ?
>
> All of them ? *Seems like an awful lot of settings.
> Do all of them have to be reconfigured / reset ?
>
> Any gotchas when putting in the new battery (Dell XPS, and running XP) ?
>
> Thanks,
> Bob

Hi Robert,

In order to get into BIOS there should be a prompt on your screen
telling you which key to hit, if you can't see it try pressing all
these buttons several times right when you turn on your computer: F2,
F10, Delete key. From there you can navigate around and see where the
boot options are, some BIOS menus have a tab for "Boot" where you can
assign boot priority to different devices.

I would not be worried about your CMOS battery going dead, I have
never heard of that happening.
What leads you to believe it is going bad?

Hi cizzo,

I asked this question a few posts back (probably should have appended this
post to that one, but didn't)
One of the answerers suggested that it might be the battery.

Here's my original question from the older post:

Getting an error msg each time I turn on PC that is white text on the black
screen.

Says it cannot find Drive 1, and references some SATA drive.

Then, "Press F1 to continue, or F2 for Setup."

If I press F1, everything from then on is totally normal.

What's happening, please ?
Drive about to quit, or...?

Thanks for help,
Bob
-----------------------------------------------------------


"cizzo" <> wrote in message
news:839c23ba-8a67-4b15-b3a9-...
On Mar 16, 6:12 am, "Robert11" <rgs...@xnotme.invalid> wrote:
> Hello,
>
> In my 70's now, so please bear with me.
>
> a. What key do I press on startup to get to the BIOS screen to see (and
> possibly change) the boot order that it goes thru on starting ?
>
> b. Per my older post, seems likely that the CMOS battery is getting weak.
> About 5 years old now, apparently.
>
> If I change it, I guess I have to re-do all the System Setup Screens.
> Is this true ?
>
> All of them ? Seems like an awful lot of settings.
> Do all of them have to be reconfigured / reset ?
>
> Any gotchas when putting in the new battery (Dell XPS, and running XP) ?
>
> Thanks,
> Bob

Hi Robert,

In order to get into BIOS there should be a prompt on your screen
telling you which key to hit, if you can't see it try pressing all
these buttons several times right when you turn on your computer: F2,
F10, Delete key. From there you can navigate around and see where the
boot options are, some BIOS menus have a tab for "Boot" where you can
assign boot priority to different devices.

I would not be worried about your CMOS battery going dead, I have
never heard of that happening.
What leads you to believe it is going bad?

On Mon, 16 Mar 2009 12:27:28 -0400, richard <>
wrote:

>Mostly though, the cmos battery only aids in retaining power to the
>chips should main power fail.

Oh.... My ... God...
--
To reply via e-mail, remove The Obvious from my e-mail address.

Robert11 wrote:

> Hello,
>
> In my 70's now, so please bear with me.
>
> a. What key do I press on startup to get to the BIOS screen to see (and
> possibly change) the boot order that it goes thru on starting ?

Depends. Some use Del, F8, F1, or Esc. Unless it is a prebuilt host
where the vendor shoved a splash screen that obliterates the BIOS
prompt, it will tell you what key to hit to get into the BIOS setup
screens.

> b. Per my older post, seems likely that the CMOS battery is getting weak.
> About 5 years old now, apparently.
>
> If I change it, I guess I have to re-do all the System Setup Screens.
> Is this true ?
>
> All of them ? Seems like an awful lot of settings.
> Do all of them have to be reconfigured / reset ?
>
> Any gotchas when putting in the new battery (Dell XPS, and running XP) ?

There is a capacitor across the battery. It provides the power to the
CMOS table to retain settings. I wouldn't trust it much beyond 1 minute
although I have worked on some hosts were settings were retained for 5
minutes and one which let me go to close to 10 minutes. 1 minute should
be far more time than you need to remove the old battery and slide in
the new one. Just have the replacement battery ready (and handle it on
its sides after washing your hands to keep the corroding (oxidizing)
body oil/sweat off the battery).

My guess is that it is a CR-2042 lithium wafter battery which are common
at BestBuy, Walmart, Target, and other retail outlets. Check the manual
for what battery is needed. If you can't find the manual (it might've
come on a CD with the prebuilt host), go to the vendor's web site.

So just how much did YOU actually customize the BIOS settings?

"VanguardLH" <> wrote in message
news:gpm51q$tin$...
> Robert11 wrote:
>
>> Hello,
>>
>> In my 70's now, so please bear with me.
>>
>> a. What key do I press on startup to get to the BIOS screen to see (and
>> possibly change) the boot order that it goes thru on starting ?
>
> Depends. Some use Del, F8, F1, or Esc. Unless it is a prebuilt host
> where the vendor shoved a splash screen that obliterates the BIOS
> prompt, it will tell you what key to hit to get into the BIOS setup
> screens.
>
>> b. Per my older post, seems likely that the CMOS battery is getting
>> weak.
>> About 5 years old now, apparently.
>>
>> If I change it, I guess I have to re-do all the System Setup Screens.
>> Is this true ?
>>
>> All of them ? Seems like an awful lot of settings.
>> Do all of them have to be reconfigured / reset ?
>>
>> Any gotchas when putting in the new battery (Dell XPS, and running XP) ?
>
> There is a capacitor across the battery. It provides the power to the
> CMOS table to retain settings. I wouldn't trust it much beyond 1 minute
> although I have worked on some hosts were settings were retained for 5
> minutes and one which let me go to close to 10 minutes. 1 minute should
> be far more time than you need to remove the old battery and slide in
> the new one. Just have the replacement battery ready (and handle it on
> its sides after washing your hands to keep the corroding (oxidizing)
> body oil/sweat off the battery).
>
> My guess is that it is a CR-2042 lithium wafter battery which are common
> at BestBuy, Walmart, Target, and other retail outlets. Check the manual
> for what battery is needed. If you can't find the manual (it might've
> come on a CD with the prebuilt host), go to the vendor's web site.
>
> So just how much did YOU actually customize the BIOS settings?

make that a CR 2032

On Mar 16, 11:29*am, "Robert11" <rgs...@xnotme.invalid> wrote:
> Hi cizzo,
>
> I asked this question a few posts back (probably should have appended this
> post to that one, but didn't)
> One of the answerers suggested that it might be the battery.
>
> Here's my original question from the older post:
>
> Getting an error msg each time I turn on PC that is white text on the black
> screen.
>
> Says it cannot find Drive 1, and references some SATA drive.
>
> Then, "Press F1 to continue, or F2 for Setup."
>
> If I press F1, everything from then on is totally normal.
>
> What's happening, please ?
> Drive about to quit, or...?
>
> Thanks for help,
> Bob
> -----------------------------------------------------------
>
> "cizzo" <phl...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
>
> news:839c23ba-8a67-4b15-b3a9-...
> On Mar 16, 6:12 am, "Robert11" <rgs...@xnotme.invalid> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> > Hello,
>
> > In my 70's now, so please bear with me.
>
> > a. What key do I press on startup to get to the BIOS screen to see (and
> > possibly change) the boot order that it goes thru on starting ?
>
> > b. Per my older post, seems likely that the CMOS battery is getting weak.
> > About 5 years old now, apparently.
>
> > If I change it, I guess I have to re-do all the System Setup Screens.
> > Is this true ?
>
> > All of them ? Seems like an awful lot of settings.
> > Do all of them have to be reconfigured / reset ?
>
> > Any gotchas when putting in the new battery (Dell XPS, and running XP) ?
>
> > Thanks,
> > Bob
>
> Hi Robert,
>
> In order to get into BIOS there should be a prompt on your screen
> telling you which key to hit, if you can't see it try pressing all
> these buttons several times right when you turn on your computer: F2,
> F10, Delete key. *From there you can navigate around and see where the
> boot options are, some BIOS menus have a tab for "Boot" where you can
> assign boot priority to different devices.
>
> I would not be worried about your CMOS battery going dead, I have
> never heard of that happening.
> What leads you to believe it is going bad?- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

Robert,

Try restoring your default BIOS settings by pressing F2 instead of F1
at that error prompt (which will take you into the BIOS). There will
be an option in the BIOS menu to "restore default settings".


As posted by another poster, drive 1 usually is a reference to a
secondary hard drive as your first hard drive is typically refered to
as 0 (zero).

And as noted by Vangaurd the CMOS battery is only used to retain BIOS
settings.
Now if the battery was dead I would be VERY suprised it would be
giving you a drive configuration error, as it would be using default
settings which should not be causing problems.

Do you have a secondary hard drive or just one?

On Mar 16, 2:00*pm, cizzo <phl...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> On Mar 16, 11:29*am, "Robert11" <rgs...@xnotme.invalid> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> > Hi cizzo,
>
> > I asked this question a few posts back (probably should have appended this
> > post to that one, but didn't)
> > One of the answerers suggested that it might be the battery.
>
> > Here's my original question from the older post:
>
> > Getting an error msg each time I turn on PC that is white text on the black
> > screen.
>
> > Says it cannot find Drive 1, and references some SATA drive.
>
> > Then, "Press F1 to continue, or F2 for Setup."
>
> > If I press F1, everything from then on is totally normal.
>
> > What's happening, please ?
> > Drive about to quit, or...?
>
> > Thanks for help,
> > Bob
> > -----------------------------------------------------------
>
> > "cizzo" <phl...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
>
> >news:839c23ba-8a67-4b15-b3a9-...
> > On Mar 16, 6:12 am, "Robert11" <rgs...@xnotme.invalid> wrote:
>
> > > Hello,
>
> > > In my 70's now, so please bear with me.
>
> > > a. What key do I press on startup to get to the BIOS screen to see (and
> > > possibly change) the boot order that it goes thru on starting ?
>
> > > b. Per my older post, seems likely that the CMOS battery is getting weak.
> > > About 5 years old now, apparently.
>
> > > If I change it, I guess I have to re-do all the System Setup Screens.
> > > Is this true ?
>
> > > All of them ? Seems like an awful lot of settings.
> > > Do all of them have to be reconfigured / reset ?
>
> > > Any gotchas when putting in the new battery (Dell XPS, and running XP) ?
>
> > > Thanks,
> > > Bob
>
> > Hi Robert,
>
> > In order to get into BIOS there should be a prompt on your screen
> > telling you which key to hit, if you can't see it try pressing all
> > these buttons several times right when you turn on your computer: F2,
> > F10, Delete key. *From there you can navigate around and see where the
> > boot options are, some BIOS menus have a tab for "Boot" where you can
> > assign boot priority to different devices.
>
> > I would not be worried about your CMOS battery going dead, I have
> > never heard of that happening.
> > What leads you to believe it is going bad?- Hide quoted text -
>
> > - Show quoted text -
>
> Robert,
>
> Try restoring your default BIOS settings by pressing F2 instead of F1
> at that error prompt (which will take you into the BIOS). *There will
> be an option in the BIOS menu to "restore default settings".
>
> As posted by another poster, drive 1 usually is a reference to a
> secondary hard drive as your first hard drive is typically refered to
> as 0 (zero).
>
> And as noted by Vangaurd the CMOS battery is only used to retain BIOS
> settings.
> Now if the battery was dead I would be VERY suprised it would be
> giving you a drive configuration error, as it would be using default
> settings which should not be causing problems.
>
> Do you have a secondary hard drive or just one?- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

FYI - http://www.pcguide.com/ts/x/comp/mbs...eryDead-c.html

olfart wrote:

> "VanguardLH" <> wrote in message
> news:gpm51q$tin$...
>> Robert11 wrote:
>>
>>> Hello,
>>>
>>> In my 70's now, so please bear with me.
>>>
>>> a. What key do I press on startup to get to the BIOS screen to see (and
>>> possibly change) the boot order that it goes thru on starting ?
>>
>> Depends. Some use Del, F8, F1, or Esc. Unless it is a prebuilt host
>> where the vendor shoved a splash screen that obliterates the BIOS
>> prompt, it will tell you what key to hit to get into the BIOS setup
>> screens.
>>
>>> b. Per my older post, seems likely that the CMOS battery is getting
>>> weak.
>>> About 5 years old now, apparently.
>>>
>>> If I change it, I guess I have to re-do all the System Setup Screens.
>>> Is this true ?
>>>
>>> All of them ? Seems like an awful lot of settings.
>>> Do all of them have to be reconfigured / reset ?
>>>
>>> Any gotchas when putting in the new battery (Dell XPS, and running XP) ?
>>
>> There is a capacitor across the battery. It provides the power to the
>> CMOS table to retain settings. I wouldn't trust it much beyond 1 minute
>> although I have worked on some hosts were settings were retained for 5
>> minutes and one which let me go to close to 10 minutes. 1 minute should
>> be far more time than you need to remove the old battery and slide in
>> the new one. Just have the replacement battery ready (and handle it on
>> its sides after washing your hands to keep the corroding (oxidizing)
>> body oil/sweat off the battery).
>>
>> My guess is that it is a CR-2042 lithium wafter battery which are common
>> at BestBuy, Walmart, Target, and other retail outlets. Check the manual
>> for what battery is needed. If you can't find the manual (it might've
>> come on a CD with the prebuilt host), go to the vendor's web site.
>>
>> So just how much did YOU actually customize the BIOS settings?
>
> make that a CR 2032

Yep. Off by one key on the keyboard. Fingers getting stiffer with age.