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This is just weird...

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10 replies

by the maverick phantom wanderer (formerly macoza, nodice, kp, etc.) 1 view

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For some reason, my laptop went back to it's default start-up screen this morning (the Lenovo splash screen). So I then entered the BIOS (and before anyone makes the comment, I don't need or want to know how to reset any passwords), which I shouldn't have been able to do without being prompted (as I set both a supervisor and a user password). When I checked the BIOS settings, the only two things that were changed were the passwords (which were no longer set) and the start-up type (which was changed back to the default). So the question is: Does anyone have an idea why the start-up screen and BIOS passwords would change?

10 replies

by jamesrl

In the old days this would happen if your CMOS battery was dead. The CMOS stores the BIOS settings. It could be that the CMOS isn't functioning properly.

Have you tried changing the BIOS settings, shutting down the laptop and starting up again to see if your changes still hold?

James

by ---tk---

one of the easiest ways to tell if you CMOS battery is messed up is to check the time and date. If it keeps reseting 90% of the time its the CMOS battery....

by jamesrl

..is still ok.

Versus the CMOS getting fried and you getting a pain in the butt repair.

James

by thumbsup2

... and unplugged. If it looses its settings overnight, there's your problem.

Sometimes, while having it turned on, it will charge the battery just enough to survive a reboot or short period of being turned off, but it won't survive longer periods without draining the battery.

by butkus

Sounds like a dead CMOS battery, it then reverts to it's original BIOS settings. This is basically how you used to remove passwords or bad BIOS setting, pull the CMOS battery. I never knew where a laptop CMOS battery is located. Does it run off the main battery ?

by jamesrl

Most of them these days don't require a battery to stay current, but the behaviour is the same as the old battery days - something goes wrong (like battery dies) and it reverts back to original defaults.

James

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