CMOS settings lost with date/time preserved

[virajk]

The CMOS settings on my motherboard are going away, while the date and time stays. I have attached an image that show the relevant message at the bottom:
Press enter Setup to recover BIOS Setting
Press F1 to run Setup
Press F2 to load default values and continue

This happens after I disconnected all power to the computer including UPS turned off. then turning the UPS back on and starting the system.

What I've tried:
1. Disconnected all peripherals except KB & mouse with monitor.
2. Used a battery I had recently purchased for another motherboard ( as good as new)
3. Disconnected the Hard Drive and tried booting - same result.
4. Since Hard Drive disconnection has no effect, windows isn't interfering.

ScreenShot

 

[NEmpire95]

Have you attempted to update the bios?

 

[weberdarren97]

How old is this PC? It could be that CMOS RAM is starting to fail. But this doesn't usually happen until a PC is older than ten years old.

 

[virajk]

@NEmpire95 - Its the latest version, I wonder If downgrading might help.

@weberdarren97 - Its about 6 years old. Whats a CMOS RAM, is it something like the NVRAM ?

 

[noidea_77]

And you see the date / time while directly booting to the bios or after Windows got it from a time server and wrote it back to bios ? Anyway: it's obviously an older pc, so change the cmos battery. It's cheap.

 

[weberdarren97]

CMOS RAM is memory build into the motherboard to remember BIOS setup and startup settings stored in CMOS. It's extremely rare for it to fail within the first fifteen years though

 

[virajk]

And you see the date / time while directly booting to the bios or after Windows got it from a time server and wrote it back to bios ? Anyway: it's obviously an older pc, so change the cmos battery. It's cheap.

I can see the date/time intact in the BIOS though the settings are lost. I usually disable the floppy but after the reset the BIOS enables the device.

I've ordered a battery from Ebay, and it'll take some time to arrive. Is there any other fix I could try out in the interim ?

 

[noidea_77]

And you see the date / time while directly booting to the bios or after Windows got it from a time server and wrote it back to bios ? Anyway: it's obviously an older pc, so change the cmos battery. It's cheap.

I can see the date/time intact in the BIOS though the settings are lost. I usually disable the floppy but after the reset the BIOS enables the device.

I've ordered a battery from Ebay, and it'll take some time to arrive. Is there any other fix I could try out in the interim ?

You can try to press F2 (load default values) and save them once. The only other reason for an automatic beside the battery is a non-working setup (overclocking for example). Loading the defaults and starting from there would correct that.

 

[virajk]

And you see the date / time while directly booting to the bios or after Windows got it from a time server and wrote it back to bios ? Anyway: it's obviously an older pc, so change the cmos battery. It's cheap.

I can see the date/time intact in the BIOS though the settings are lost. I usually disable the floppy but after the reset the BIOS enables the device.

I've ordered a battery from Ebay, and it'll take some time to arrive. Is there any other fix I could try out in the interim ?

You can try to press F2 (load default values) and save them once. The only other reason for an automatic beside the battery is a non-working setup (overclocking for example). Loading the defaults and starting from there would correct that.

I will do that until the new battery arrives, though I guess I will have to do that everytime I boot the PC from a complete power-down ( including UPS off)