Latest posts by Craig Aldred (see all)
- What To Look For In a Printer - August 18, 2012
- Reseting The Bios On A Laptop Or Desktop - June 27, 2012
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BIOS stands for Basic Input Output System and loads before the operating system loads and enables you to use the basic devices like a hard drive, mouse keyboard, video. Resetting the BIOS is the act of reseting the CMOS to its default settings. This removes any changes that have been made such as overclocking, boot device priority, passwords and other settings.
Why reset the Bios
The most common reason for resetting the BIOS is because the computer will not post (You have power but nothing loads) Errors like this can be caused when the BIOS becomes corrupted. By resetting the CMOS you restore it to its original state. This is not guaranteed to be the reasons for a non booting PC but it should be one of the steps taken in your analysis.
The other common reason for resetting the Bios on a computer is to clear BIOS passwords. Some computers that are sold second hand, sold as part of a business liquidation or sold at auctions can contain passwords. This locks the system meaning it will not go any further than the BIOS without a Password. This is nothing to do with the operating system as the BIOS runs before the operating system loads.
There are a number of methods to reset the BIOS in both desktop computer and laptops. One way to tell if the BIOS has being cleared and reset is that the time and date will be incorrect and you may be asked to press F2 when you boot to reset the time/date.
How to reset the BIOS on a desktop.
Remember to wear an antistatic strap when opening up any computer
Method 1
Most motherboards have CMOS clr jumper on the main board. It is normally labelled but you may need to refer to your motherboard manual to find exactly where on the board it can be located.
You will see 3 pins and there will likely be a jumper across pins 1 and 2. To reset the CMOS simply move the jumper from pins 1 and 2 to pins 2 and 3. Leave it for about 5 seconds and then return to its original position.
Method 2
If you look at your Main board you will see a battery slightly larger than watch battery called a CR2032 battery. This battery enables the BIOS to remember all the settings even when there is no power
With the main power removed from the computer remove this battery from the main board (it should just click out but be careful not to damage components around it) Leave the battery out for at least 30 seconds and then put the battery back into the board. Reboot and the BIOS should be cleared.
How to reset the BIOS on a laptop.
Laptops can be much more difficult to reset due to the way they are built. Resetting a laptop CMOS can be very difficult if they have soldered the cmos battery to the board and have not labelled the jumpers clearly. If you are not sure or confident in what you are doing take the laptop to a repair shop or you could end up with a completely dead computer.
Remember to wear an antistatic strap when opening up a computer
Method 1
This method does not work with every laptop but is worth trying first as it is the easiest method to do.
1. Unplug the power supply and remove battery. Leave for at least 5 minutes.
2. Hold down the power button on the laptop for at least 30 seconds.
3. Plug in AC supply and battery and try to power up.
Method 2
Again the difficulty of this method depends on the model of your laptop. On your board there should be a jumper that you can short that will reset the BIOS. Unlike a desktop the jumper will look more like 2 solder blobs than 3 pins. If you are lucky it may be labelled clr CMOS. In a lot of laptop the jumper is labelled J1 J2 but NOT always. Your best bet is to consult your manual as to the location of the jumper.
Method 3
Similar to a desktop we can remove the CMOS battery from the board to clear the BIOS. Unfortunately from experience you may come up against 1 of 2 problems. The first being that the CMOS battery could be on a part of the board that you can not get to without completely disassembly of your laptop which is a task in itself. Secondly the battery may be soldered to the main board meaning that there is no way to remove the battery. If this is the case you can try to break the connection and then repair it.
If you get lucky you battery will easily pop out or will be connected to a cable that plugs into a socket. If it is the later simply unplug the cable for 30 seconds and then plug back in.
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