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Thread ID: 25626 2002-10-08 06:18:00 Renewed battery, some settings changed. exLL (515) Press F1
Post ID Timestamp Content User
87120 2002-10-08 06:18:00 I have just changed my battery (first time), computer is working ok, haven't noticed any difference, but on checking, some setup settings appear to have changed. Here are the computer details:

Bought June 1999, Pentium 111, 450mhz, 440BX chipset mainboard, 16meg Riva TNT video card, 5xDVD-CDROM, 10.2gb HDD, 256mb Ram, Windows 98 OEM, OE 5.0, IE 5.5, NAV 62181virus defs.2/10/02, Zone Alarm free 3.1.291, System Resources 87% free at startup.

It's getting (is!) dated now but suits me fine for my meagre useage, that's why I am still using old versions of OE and IE. (Comp. works well for Press F1, who needs more! LOL) :)

Here are the steps I took re the battery changing:

Bought a CR2023 3V battery, Coin shape. (Warehouse Stationery $2.99 if anyone's interested)

Used my Registry Backup Utility and made an emergency restoration floppy disk.

Pressed DEL at startup, entered Setup and noted CMOS and BIOS settings. (Took ages too, any quicker ways other than pencil and paper?)

That's when I got a bit confused. Was that all that required noting down? I then checked out other headings in the menu and took some notes.

I exited Setup and allowed computer to continue with normal start up. Closed down, then installed battery with usual precautions, wrist strap etc. Upon resart it came up with a box saying "Please wait while Windows builds a driver base". The clock needed resetting but other than that everything seemed to be back to normal, Files, e-mail, Press F1 etc.

The next day I pressed DEL at startup and found there were a few changed settings to what I had noted. Here are most of what I found for three of the headings: (The comp. is still working fine).

Standard CMOS setup:
Primary Master: Type; changed from User to Auto
Size; from 10241 to 0, Cyls; 1245 to 0, Head; 255 to 0, Landz; 19845 to 0, Sector; 63 to 0, and Mode; LBA to Auto.
Primary Slave, Secondary Master, and Secondary Slave: all went from Type; None to Auto, and Mode; from LBA to Auto.

BIOS Features Setup:
CPU L2 Cache ECC Checking; changed from enabled to disabled.
Boot from LAN first; changed from Disabled to Enabled.
Assign IRQ for VGA; changed from Disabled to Enabled.

Power Management Setup:
Power Management; went from Disable to Enable.
PM Control by APM; went from No to Yes.

PNP/PCI:
PNP OS Installed; changed from Yes to No.

I also checked out the Password settings for user and supervisor, (never had any that I am aware of), and after looking and exiting it came up with Password Disabled for each. It did not show what, if any, had been there before, so I am assuming there were none.

I finally exited without saving. (Note: I was careful to ensure that none of the above settings were altered by me.)

Apologies for the length of this posting but thought that it was better to list everything for this one.

And FINALLY, do I need to take any action re the above, and if so, what and how?

Thanks in advance. :)

exLL 		exLL (515)
87121 2002-10-08 06:53:00 power management you can disable if you don't use it.

pnp can be set to yes.

boot from lan can be changed to disable.

the only one i'm not sure on is the hardrive settings. usually it should id your drive ok but some don't and require the settings put in manually. if its all working ok then leave it. 		tweak'e (174)
87122 2002-10-08 07:05:00 Gee, thanks for the prompt, precise reply Tweak`e.

What a relief, I was not too sure what to expect.

Will do as you suggested.

Cheers.

ExLL :) :) :) 		exLL (515)
87123 2002-10-08 07:44:00 It looks like the settings that have changed are now in their default factory settings. This could happen when you change batteries. I concur with tweake regarding the Hard drive settings. The only interesting change may be 'CPU L2 Cache Checking' which is now disabled. Would it make any difference to startup performance if it were enabled and is it handy to have going anyway? I don't know, may someone else has some thoughts on that.
But anyway it sounds like you took all the right precautions [possibly more than some slack technicians around] :D

Good on you exLL.

the answer is ~42~ 		~42~ (2034)
87124 2002-10-08 09:23:00 Thanks ~42~ .

That gives me further reassurance . I had wondered if it was something that I had done that caused it .

Regarding my not checking every heading in the set up menu to note what was listed, should I have? Some of them seemed best left well alone .

I ask this, as a relative with an AMD 233 wants me to change her battery also . (battery now 4 and1/2 yrs old . CR2032 battery also . ) I am cautiously brave with my comp . but much more wary with others . They are aware of my limited computer knowledge but say that it is much more than theirs . (And are prepared to take the risk! LOL)

Also, when I make the changes that Tweak'e mentioned, do I just enter the setup box, edit as required, then click on the heading that says "exit and save settings"?

Thanks .

exLL 		exLL (515)
87125 2002-10-08 10:38:00 CPU L2 Cache ECC Checking
Options : Enabled, Disabled
This feature enables or disables the L2 cache's ECC checking function (if available). Enabling this feature is recommended because it will detect and correct single-bit errors in data stored in the L2 cache. It will also detect double-bit errors but not correct them. Still, ECC checking stabilizes the system, especially at overclocked speeds when errors are most likely to creep in.
There are those who advocate disabling ECC checking because it reduces performance. The performance difference is negligible, if at all. However, the stability and reliability achieved via ECC checking is real and substantial. It may even enable you to overclock higher than is possible with ECC checking disabled. So, enable it for added stability and reliability.

The BIOS Optimization Guide Rev. 6.2 by Adrian Wong

one thing to watch is IDE HDD block mode. it MUST be the same as it was before otherwise data may get corupt. 		tweak'e (174)
87126 2002-10-09 07:16:00 Thanks again Tweak'e.

That last posting was mostly way beyond my understanding, but I guess that ~42~ understood it ok. I took your advice and enabled the ECC checking.

Re the hard drive settings:

As the computer worked well after making the setting adjustments that you recommended, I decided to try altering the hard drive setting from Auto, back to what they had been previously.

The computer didn't like that at all and wouldn't boot up. It said Boot Disk Failure, Insert System Disk and Press Enter. I had an original Boot Disk, but was too scared to try it, so entered setup again and reset the hard drive settings back to Auto.

The computer worked well again after that, so I am a happy chappie again. I will leave it be now. No further tweaking from me unless instructed by the expert Tweak'er at Press F1.

Thanks a million.

exLL :) :) :) 		exLL (515)
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