[SOLVED] System requires a bios reset everytime I unplug it or a component!

[bobjackieson]

I recently accidentally switch my pc off by the mains during a long nighttime gaming session while tired and my toe hit the wall switch!

This or unplugging Psu means that I have to reset my bios or if I plug in something like a drive or fan means that I have to obviously remove the battery!

Any fixes?

 

[Ralston18]

Update your post to include full system hardware specs and OS information.

PSU: make, model, wattage, age, condition?

Has the CMOS battery ever been replaced?

 

[Paperdoc]

Ralston18 asked the pertinent question.

There is a small battery about the size of a quarter in a plastic holder on your mobo. The mobo has CMOS RAM chips that store both the BIOS code and the adjustable configuration settings you can make in BIOS Setup. The adjustments RAM requires electric power to keep its data. When the computer is plugged into the wall, even when not turned on, a small bit of power is supplied to the mobo for this purpose. But when you unplug it (or turn off the switch on the back of the PSU) there is also this small battery to keep that chip powered so it remembers. BUT eventually in all systems that battery wears out and the adjustments RAM loses all its data. If you now apply power from the wall through the PSU and try to boot up, the BIOS POST process will discover that the adjustment data is missing and restore some default factory settings to use, BUT those settings will NOT include anything customized to your system. It won't know what hardware you have installed, or which HDD to boot from, or any number of other custom items, so very often it simply cannot boot and puts you into BIOS Setup so YOU can make the custom adjustments. It certainly sounds from your post that is what has happened.

VERY likely that battery is dead and needs replacement. Disconnect the power cord from the wall. Open the case and look for that battery. BEFORE you do anyth8ing else, look closely at the battery for markings. NOTE which way it is installed in the holder because you will remove it and have to install a new one. Now take it out and examine it again - one side is domed and smaller than the other, and that's how the replacement will have to be installed in the holder. Take the battery to a store and get one of the same type.

When you get home, do not install it! First, look around the mobo near that holder for a set of two or three pins or a button labelled BIOS Reset. You either short out a pair of pins, or push the button, to reset the adjustment RAM to empty. IF you need help finding the right place, post back here the maker and exact model number of your mobo. When that's done, ensure that the two pins are NOT shorted out any more and install the new battery the right way out. Now close up the case and re-connect power. Push the front start-up button and immediately go into BIOS Setup - usually that means holding down the "Del" key until the opening screen of Setup appears. From the Main Menu find how to get to the EXIT menu (often the F10 key). There choose the option to Load Default Settings or Load Optimum Settings, to ensure a complete set of default parameters is loaded. IF you know some of the important custom settings needed (like, which drive to boot from, and whether you have an added video card or are using a video chip on the mobo), go back to Main Menu and find the Setup pages to make those adjustments. When done, go back again to the Exit Menu and choose SAVE and RESET to save your settings and reboot.

If you still find some items are not what you expect, there may be other BIOS Setup settings you need to adjust.