CMOS Battery Failure Symptoms

What part of your laptop do you normally suspect is bad when you have a computer problem? Your guess is as good as mine is. We normally do a quick check on the battery storage strength, suspect some registry errors, and conduct a full scan of the machine. However, we rarely suspect the CMOS battery, which in fact is one of the major reasons we label laptops unfixable. The word CMOS is an acronym for complementary metal oxide semiconductor. The CMOS battery is what lets you set the day, time, and month on your computer. It is what allows you to shut your pc down and log on after two weeks time with the correct time and date still in place. More importantly, the CMOS battery stores the BIOS settings of your computer.

As we know, the BIOS enables us to identify what hardware is on the system and what device drivers to use. When the CMOS battery is weak, the BIOS loses data and the computer starts to malfunction. Below are some signs or symptoms of a bad CMOS battery that needs replacement:

CMOS Failure Symptoms

Incorrect computer date and time settings. (This is the earliest sign that lets you know when the time is right to get a new CMOS battery.).
The computer occasionally turns off or refuses to start.
The laptop could not find a printer.
Malfunctioning of the mouse.
Problems launching a program.
Beeping sound from the computer.

Please note that the above list is not an exclusive sign of a faulty CMOS battery alone. When it comes to diagnosing and resolving computer problems, we must keep an open mind for other possible sources of problems. Usually, however, the computer makes it easy for us with CMOS error messages but this isn’t always the case.

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-By Dominic

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