# System will not boot after pulling out BIOS battery



## schanke1 (Feb 9, 2011)

Greetings.

When i was overclocking last week, my pc suddently wouldent boot anymore.
So, i did as ive read on Forums etc and pulled out my BIOS battery to reset the CMOS / BIOS. Keept it out for around 2 minutes then placed it back in. But when i start up my system now it wont Boot, its something about the Advanced BIOS settings i think, but im not sure ofc, ( semi-noob )

I got my Motherboard back from service today, and as i suspected nothing was wrong with it. Yust some Settings in the BIOS they told me. ( i gotta tell, the guys in the shop was pretty nublet ) They didnt even have some advice to me about fixing the CMOS / BIOS settings back to normal. I have tryed : LOAD OPTIMIZED DEFAULTS, not working. gotta tell ya nothing is wrong with my computer parts, just the god damn settings. 

Would be happy if someone knew what to do about this. Thanks 

My Motherboard : ( MSI PT890 NEO-V )


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## GZ (Jan 31, 2010)

Hello schanke1,

Do you have SATA or EIDE HDD?

If it is SATA, check the BIOS settings for the HDD. If it is set to AHCI or SATA, try changing it to IDE or Compatability mode.


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## schanke1 (Feb 9, 2011)

Thanks, ill try it right away, will post the result shortly


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## schanke1 (Feb 9, 2011)

ok, the only HDD setting ive found was in *Standard CMOS Features* using Bios version 3.4

IDE Channel 2 Master - SAMSUNG HD160HJ

When i enter the Detail HDD settings for it, it says like this:

IDE Auto-Detection Press Enter


Extended IDE Drive Auto ( can only change 'none' or 'Auto' )

Access Mode Auto ( can only change 'Large' or 'Auto' )

Capacity 160GB

Cylinder 65535

Head 16

Precomp 0 

Landing zone 65534

Sector 255


I didnt find any settings to change to IDE or compatability mode.


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## broomas (Nov 8, 2008)

Hi, schanke 1. I'm no expert but I have built a few pc's in my time and dealt with some issues..... I can;t believe you took your pc into a shop and they did nothing? Anyway when you say 'something about Advanced settings' what does it say precisely?
Also, loading 'optimized defaults' is actually minor over-clocking and can lead to instability anyway. You need standard defaults.
Somewhere in your BIOS you should have advanced power or CPU options where you can change the voltage to your processor (for over-clocking...), this should have a menu that allows the BIOS to set the CPU speed to Auto for safety.
If nothing has changed in your HDD I can't see why it's an issue as long as the BIOS recognises it.
I may be patronizing or just dumb but have you tried pressing f8 at start up and used 'Last known good configuration'?
If you did the 'overclocking' in the BIOS this may help.


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## schanke1 (Feb 9, 2011)

yeah, the guys in tha shop who sent my Motherboard to service sayd it was nothing wrong with it. They even started it upp with windows 7.

But the nabbs in the shop had no idea how to fix it...
Anyway i dont think the CPU have a Auto setting, but ill check it when im arriving home.

F8 don't work, i have tryed it. 

When you say Advanced power, are u talking about the BIOS settings for the Power-supply, or was it just another name for the CPU settings?


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## broomas (Nov 8, 2008)

Hi, The power settings are another name for the CPU settings; the voltage determines the clock speed of the CPU.
Also in my bios are the 'CPU pnp set up' which allows you to set the frequency of the CPU so you can over OR under-clock it.
A simple answer may be to replace the CMOS battery.
Does your bios recognise your hard drive?
Do you have an install disk to perform a repair on windows?


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

Is the PC a custom build or OEM?


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## schanke1 (Feb 9, 2011)

Ok, i do have a install CD, ill try repair windows, but i think its as simple as the BIOS settings..

anyway here is my PC parts..

Motherboard - MSI PT890 NEO-V

HDD - Samsung 160Gb Zata

CPU - Intel Core 2 Duo

Graphic Card - ATI Powercolor pcs HD 4670 1Gb

RAM - 2x 1Gb Kingston

And yeah, changing the Battery may work so ill get a new one AsAp


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## schanke1 (Feb 9, 2011)

And yeah ' TYREE' my PC is custom buildt by mee


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## Rich-M (May 2, 2007)

My guess is all that was wrong were the overclock settings but reverting the bios to optimized defaults should have fixed that.
What you have not told us is how far you get and what is the last thing you see and that would be a big help.
This board positively has to have settings to make sata drives run as ide somewhere. Are you getting a Bsod and if so what is the message? If not how far do you get and what is the last thing you see please!
BTW in addition to "optimized defualts" there should also be a "system default safe setting" as well. Have you tried that?


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## schanke1 (Feb 9, 2011)

Hello 'Rich-M' ok, my pc starts up, i get the setup to enter BIOS settings, it so loads to next page ( u know if u have a Windows CD and the pc ask you to press a KEY to start install ) then loads to next step right before you get the Windows XP loading - - - - - - - . but nothing happens...

And my BIOS don't have any ( System default safe setting ) just the Load optimized defaults..


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## Rich-M (May 2, 2007)

Well it sounds like if you download and install "kilddisk" to a bootable cd, then boot to it and low level format the disk, you can start over.
[email protected] Kill Disk Hard Drive Eraser. Low Level Format.


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## schanke1 (Feb 9, 2011)

well, by that u mean formating / deleting all the files on the hard drive right


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

Does the bios even see the hard drive?


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## schanke1 (Feb 9, 2011)

Yeah, as i mentioned above, when entering *Standard CMOS Features* i get this

IDE Channel 2 Master - SAMSUNG HD160HJ

im using BIOS version 3.4


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

Are you using a IDE drive or a Sata Drive?


> HDD - Samsung 160Gb Zata


If Zata is supposed to read Sata then it will not be listed under the IDE controller, it'll be under the Sata controllers.


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## schanke1 (Feb 9, 2011)

i don't find any settings for sata controllers so i suppose its a IDE drive,

My IDE Devices Configeration are set like this:

Onchip SATA enabled
SATA Mode IDE
PCI IDE Busmaster Disabled
Onchip IDE Channel 0 Enabled
Onchip IDE Channel 1 Enabled
IDE Prefetch Mode Enabled


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

> Onchip SATA enabled
> SATA Mode IDE


They would be settings for Sata controllers 

Try setting SATA MODE to AHCI mode.


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## broomas (Nov 8, 2008)

This thread seems to be going all over the place.
The original problem seems to have been caused by either (a) The overclocking procedure or (b) the CMOS removal.
I have no idea how the chip was overclocked, maybe reversing it would be the answer, as in the two replies mentioning 'standard defaults' if overclocked by software.
Why was the CMOS removed? Did the system crash before it was removed?
You can buy the right batteries to use from pound shops now if you look about.
Would the cmos removal change the bios settings for the hdd?


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

The default Sata setting is IDE mode, if the setting was changed to AHCI mode before windows was installed and Sata/raid drivers used the clearing the CMOS would reset the controller to IDE mode and windows would not boot.
If it's a IDE drive then none of that would apply.

The OP also states that the pc would not boot before clearing the CMOS, so there may in fact be a hard drive issue lurking as well.

See the image for IDE and Sata cables the left(blue) data cable is a IDE drive the right cable would be for a Sata Drive.


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## schanke1 (Feb 9, 2011)

wrench97, The SATA Mode cannot be changed to ACHI, Just IDE or RAID

And Broomas, I removed the battery after the system wouldent boot anymore to reset the BIOS Settings.


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## schanke1 (Feb 9, 2011)

ok im using Sata, tyty for pictures + help


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

Do you have the XP install CD?

If you do put in the CD drive and reboot, go into the recovery console and run fixboot.

#4 and #6 here> 10 things you can do when Windows XP won't boot | TechRepublic


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## schanke1 (Feb 9, 2011)

Ok, i done as u sayd, got into the Recovery Console, then typed 'FIXBOOT'
Then i get a Confirm message if i want to Write a new Lunchsector to the HDD C: But i cant confirm it with ( Y ) just Denie it with ( N )

Am i missing something?


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## schanke1 (Feb 9, 2011)

nvm that, i got it to run fixboot. 

But windows will still not boot upp


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## blesslot (May 30, 2009)

Ok try this then...is ur windows account password protected? If no, put the xp cd in, then do as u wud like u are normally installing windows and DO NOT FORMAT...but choose the last option...:Leave the current system unchanged then install xp over your other xp. It wil be called windows.0 instead of windows and then u can after move ur precious dat to a myriad of usb sticks of burn to dvds so u can safely low level your hdd. So ur problem is ur file system/boot sector/windows boot corruption...sumwhere there


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## blesslot (May 30, 2009)

Dat = data... good luck


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## blesslot (May 30, 2009)

If it is password protected u are in trouble. Dat means u gonna need a livexp cd or u gon nid to jst lose dat data...its even worse if your machine was hit by a virus and u thought it was an overclocking mess up...and it looks like dat frm wat im getting frm u. Mabezat, virut, brontok, trojan horse agent2.txc...can do that to an xp machine easily. Get ur hdd scanned and use windowsgate to open the password protection frm your profile and then move ur data to another media and low level format that hdd. And put a good anti-virus in. Good luck


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## schanke1 (Feb 9, 2011)

its not about virus, i was overclocking manually. But anyway. i think the easyest option here is to get myself another / new HDD and install windows, then acsess the broken/corrupt HDD from that one to copy my files/data

Thanks again to they who posted advices  take care


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

When it passes post and tries to start windows do you get any error message, just a blinking cursor or?


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## schanke1 (Feb 9, 2011)

nothing, after post the Windows Xp Loading is supposed to load but its just black screen


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

Do the repair install > How to Perform a Windows XP Repair Install 
A repair install will leave all your files, data and programs in place and only repair windows system files.


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## schanke1 (Feb 9, 2011)

np, im buying a new HDD, tired of these problems.
then acsessing the files on the broken HDD from the new.

A final question i know from experience that windows crash if u have 2 HDD's with installed windows software, to me it took 3 months.
But is it any chanse it could happen faster / or hurt/destroy any of the system files on my new HDD when im only for a quick moment logging on for copying and move the important files to my new HDD?


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

I run multiple windows installations across 3 hard drives as long as the new drive you install is set as the first boot device you'll be fine.


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## schanke1 (Feb 9, 2011)

okay, thanks for advices guys


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