Quick computer question
 

My wife's Dell desktop is saying the Day/Date isn't set when booting up.
So, the system battery backup must be dying, right?
Am I going to lose all the BIOS set up when I replace the battery?
It's been a while since I've messed inside a box and I'd like to make this as painless as possible.
I have a new battery and know where the battery is located on the MB.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1747935325.JPG

Should be easy, right?

Just swap out the battery. If you were going to lose BIOS settings it would have already happened with the clock not keeping time.

Thanks Mark.
All I can say now is 'F!@@#$%' Windows!

We need to keep the computer powered on for 2 hours to show it we aren't forcing it open.
Microsoft saving us from ourselves!

Now would also be a good time to see if there is a BIOS update from Dell.

Sometimes you will loose the configuration or some items in BIOS. And some BIOS systems allow you to write a BIOS setup recovery file.

Good Luck.

What?!? Gotta love how everyone saves us from ourselves these days.

Dell business grade stuff often has chassis intrusion detection switches, you can turn 'em off in the BIOS ...

Left the computer powered on for two hours. After my bike ride I got on it, shut it down and rebooted, all is well.
Biggest scare I had is, this computer is one of two she has that share the same keyboard/monitor/mouse setup. When I first rebooted, because of the way the system works, the mouse wasn't working so I couldn't get to the bios screen. Another reboot and it went OK.
I think Windows has a program that kills access if it notes a change to the bios or system like that battery change. I may have inadvertently tried to log on with an incorrect password too many times as well. I don't use the computer much so should have checked that first.
User error.
At least it works now. Really glad I didn't have to go to a store to get a battery. I had spares.

If Dell has a BIOS update for your computer, download it and install it!

They don't do a BIOS update unless there is a real reason. Either security from hackers, or performance increases.