What happens if motherboard battery fails

The CMOS battery is an important part that is located on your motherboard. Its primary purpose is to hold date and time as well as BIOS settings, depending on the motherboard in question.

But what happens when a CMOS battery dies? In a nutshell, not much will happen and you might not even notice at first that your CMOS battery is failing or dead. Your computer will boot up normally and everything will be fine. The only thing that may happen is that Windows will ask you for the date and time. This may happen only once or twice a month, but as the battery gets weaker, it will keep happening. So why does this all matter? How often should you replace your CMOS battery? You can learn more about what happens when a CMOS battery dies and how to fix it by reading the rest of the article.

The CMOS battery holds the date and time settings. If you have ever moved out and your computer stayed unplugged for a few days and when you plugged it back in the date and time settings were still accurate, you have to thank the CMOS battery. Since the firmware requires very little power for this, the CMOS battery suffices. JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.

Previous Next Sort by votes. SawmMawia Great. Jan 17, 7 85 0. PC Tailor Judicious Ambassador. Jun 29, 7, 1, 34, 1, Dead CMOS would not really cause a no-boot situation. It simply helps store BIOS settings. It can, but just the CMOS battery being dead not necessarily. What is your full system specification including PSU make and model? Did you have any other symptoms leading up to this? Last edited: May 14, PC Tailor said:. MeanMachine41 Splendid. May 8, 4, 29, 1, A dead CMOS battery will definitely prevent the system from Booting properly and drivers may stop working.

Your computer will sometimes turn off or not start and may show startup errors explaining an issue with the battery. The checksum error is the cause of a dead or dying CMOS battery Sometimes the system starts but Date and time have to be reset. Reactions: SawmMawia. Oct 11, 11, Seriously corrupted cmos can cause a no boot situation, but you typically will at least get to a post screen.

Put a new battery in, jumper reset the cmos and see if it starts up. The battery is going to be dollars and you won't be out anything else. If that doesn't fix it you have bigger issues. Jacob 51 Upstanding. Dec 31, 19 0. This battery is an essential part of the motherboard and can also be called the backup power for a motherboard. Installed for basic hardware settings, it retains the stored information and is used by:.

The computer maintains its own date and time and uses it to secure files, documents, and reminders. An incorrect time may lead to lost files, missed appointments, and other issues.

New age CMOS batteries last a motherboard's lifetime and go up to ten years but sometimes may be required to replace earlier. This battery does not provide power to the entire computer but powers the CMOS when the computer is powered off. However, without the CMOS battery, you will be required to reset the clock every time you turn your computer on. The BIOS may also reset to its original factory settings each time you boot and shut down the computer. Your computer will function, but everything in your BIOS like boot order, time and date, and other functions will be reset.

Be cautious while changing a CMOS battery, as it is situated inside the motherboard, which is the heart of a laptop; a little carelessness may result in serious damage.