Anyone good with computers?

[Solléx]

ever since Ive gotten back home from a vacation, and re hooked up my computer, every time I load it, when it first starts up, and runs its little checker upper thing, I get a message sayng "CMOS Checksum error - Defaults loaded." Never fails. Only once have I not gotten this message since I got back home.

My computer also likes to just crash and restart itself, when im in the middle of things. Then the systems says it had a critical error. Im getting real worried, especially since with college coming up, I dont have enough money anymore to get a new one =\ Any ideas or help?

[Carruk]

Sounds like a motherboard problem, this will most likely entail the replacement of the motherboard.

[forwards]

the way u describe it it can be many things. Does it restart randomly or only everytime u do sth specifically? Do u get a blue screen before the restart? Right Click the icon "My Computer" and go to Properties---> Start up and Recovery--->Settings and under System Failure uncheck the Automatically restart. So now your computer will not restart by itself when crashing. It should display a message. Post here what's mentioned in this message.

I'm assuming your system is not overclocked ... or you have been messing with the bios settings without knowing what you're doing :undecided:

[kcma]

go into your bios and load up the default. and if that still loads up, change out the battery on your motherboard :)

[forwards]

go into your bios and load up the default. and if that still loads up, change out the battery on your motherboard :)


This can explain the cmos error but not the random restarts I'm afraid.

[Solléx]

The computer has restarted itself while I was surfing the net, playing wow, anything. Nothing specific triggered it. I dont get a blue screen when it restarts, just goes back to the start up screen as if it is starting up.

I dont know enough about computers to overclock, and I never go into the BIOS, I plan on goin to college to get a degree in computers and what not, but I know it isnt that. Ive turned off the auto restart (took me forever to find, it was under Advanced for me), and when I get another crash Ill put up what I get. But, its been a few days, and since ive done a virus scan and cleaned off the comp, I havent been getting any crashes, so who knows.

Finally, where would I go to get a new battery for the motherboard?

[kcma]

leaky bad capicitator, etc <3 good times... grab a spare HD sitting around and put on a fresh copy of windows and see if it still happens :)

[AaManiac]

What is the computer you have?
If its a pre bought computer what's the Make and Model of it.
If it is a custom PC list the specs:
Mobo: Maker and model
Ram: maker and model
Video: Maker and model
Processor: Maker and model as well

Could be just outdated driver acting funny with newer software on your PC, or a number of things.... List the specs, etc. and we here will be able to help your futher.

-Maniac

[Peers]

Hi there,

I firmly agree with the battery on the Motherboard, these are tiny little button cells the sort that go in watches and pda backups. Any electronic shop should stock them.

What is happening is that on bootup the system is looking for the settings in the BIOS - and finding they are not there. It then looks at a ROM chip and loads the BIOS default settings, for most computers these are Ok just slow and steady however if you have AGP graphics card, SATA drives and non standard hardware accessories they will not run properly.

The sure fire way to test is to boot straight to BIOS screen and edit BIOS manually as best you can to your configuration, save and exit. If computer stable, that's your problem. If unstble it's a motherboard problem.

Hope this helps

[Solléx]

@AaManiac: It is a custom built computer, it will be three years old this coming january. Ill list the specs as best I can, it's been awhile:

Mobo: ASUS A7N8X-X (dont know if there's more to it that that)
RAM: 512 DDR ram
Processor: AMD Athlon 1.7 Ghz
Video: nVidia GEforce FX 5200 64 Mb

that's all I can do for that, man that's sad.

@Peers: thanks for the battery info, that's what I was looking for. However, I'm not going to go into the BIOS and mess with it. I don't know enough, and Im not going to accidentally mess something up.

[Peers]

Don't worry about messing things up in the BIOS cos it's already messed up. That's the point I am making - your computer is loading up BIOS default settings that are not 100 percent compatible with your computer. If you can get into the BIOS and load setup or failsafe values then great.

Really, unless you flash your BIOS (not reccomended) all your are doing is fine tuning your PC - setting speeds for memory etc. most of the BIOS functions will autodetect the best settings but not always 100 percent.

You are going to have to reset your BIOS cos it's lost its memory. Rest assured that you can do all the tweaking you want in BIOS you data is secure. If you start with the failsafe or setup mode and gradually work through each setting - gradually increasing the speed until you get to a point where the system becomes unstable then back it of one.

I'll give you an example - I know my machine has DDR 333 cos I bought it myself - however, one bank will run happlily at 333 but the other is unstable. (Process of elimination with one stick at a time). I drop the speed down to 266 and it runs fine. But the BIOS left to itself will detect and set the speed to 333 and I have an unstable machine.

If your really unhappy about messing around with BIOS, then get the battery, have a chat at the local pub / cafe and I am sure you will find someone who'll come over and reset it all for you for nothing - It's not rocket science.

If you need anymore help let me know

[SSBarbarian]

Really, unless you flash your BIOS (not reccomended) all your are doing is fine tuning your PC - setting speeds for memory etc. most of the BIOS functions will autodetect the best settings but not always 100 percent



You are going to have to reset your BIOS cos it's lost its memory. Rest assured that you can do all the tweaking you want in BIOS you data is secure.
.

Agreed.

Keep in mind, all your data is stored on the HD. Worst case scenario, you will have to remove the HD, buy a $20 external enclosure, and copy your data to a new machine, should your current machine become unusable. And, resetting the BIOS isn't recommended, except in cases where your machine becomes unusable...like now! :-D

Good luck!

[AaManiac]

I'd suggest completely wiping you HardDrive.... reinstall windows....
going here
http://support.asus.com/download/download.aspx?SLanguage=en-us
For all of your Current BIOS ASUS will even flash em for you very easy....
and go ahead and get all of your other drivers that you need...
Display, GPU, etc. etc..

Hope that helps some

-Maniac

[Solléx]

And, resetting the BIOS isn't recommended, except in cases where your machine becomes unusable...like now! :-D
Good luck!

The only thing is, my comp isnt unusable, I just hit F1 and im on my comp. Granted, I know I need to do something, but I can get on and do everything just fine once I get past that first screen.

So, on one hand im told I should reinstall windows (might be a problem, since I cant find my key =\), and on the other im told to go into BIOS and reset. What would be the least consuming process?

[AaManiac]

Flashing your BIOS would be the eaisest....
Especially since you can't "Find" your Windows Key


-Maniac

[Peers]

Hi there,

I am 99.9 percent certain that something in the default BIOS settings is causing the system to be unstable. Find a back street computer shop and take it along. Get them to change the battery and reset BIOS for you, shouldn't cost a lot.

All they will do is work through the BIOS settings, one by one and fine tune it to get the best performance out of the PC.

Hope you get it fixed