The system says the CMOS battery is dead. I tried to set it so that it would boot to A:\ drive but it seems to reset EVERY time it boots and not just if the power is shut off. A couple of questions: Where is the battery? I looked and can't see a flat button battery. I looked and can't see anything that looks like a round-ish solder on battery. What other choices are there? I have heard about something called a 'Dallas?' chip or battery.? There is a black box on the MB that says 'HoustonTech, RealTime'. Has this got a battery in it or is the battery under the processor or something??? Where do I look and what can I do? I thought having the power plugged in overnight might recharge a battery or a capacitor or something but it doesn't seem to have changed anything. HELP! Suggestions? WAGuesses? j...

What's the brand of your mobo? Larry

Sounds like that's the battery - not so easy to change, but you might be able to connect an external battery pack - not too expensive. Near the original battery, on the board, may see 2 or 3 prongs and something like 'ext. batt.' marked with a + and/or - Also, might have to change a nearby(?) jumper. Be better if you had your motherboard manual, or its equivalent online.

10/18/96-i430VX-10031996C-00 That is what my MB id number displays. The numbers that match that off of Wims page says: 03/03/97-i430VX-10031996C-00: Eurone model EM-5100V,EM-5200V, EM-5300V, EM-5400V, EM-5500V, EM-5600V, EM-5700V... all the same BIOS..... or Chicony motherboard or PCChips M530 or Concord COA-530 or Alton Model: MBPTRVX256MB,P5,Triton VX,256K PCB,EID or Houston Technologies Part No.MB-M535PC-256K or Elpina or Pine PT-7502 (rev. 5.0) I can't see any numbers or name anywhere.

Well, those all look like fairly normal mobos. Open your case (making sure the power is off and unplugged.) Make sure you have grounded yourself by touching the metal of the case so that you don't do any dmage with static electricity, and locate the CMOS battery, It is usually a small, round battery about the size of quarter. Note that most of the batteries of this type go in + side up. Carefully remove the old battery and replace with the same model number. A lot of computers use cr232 or cr235. Make sure your look at the number on the battery and replace with only the same kind. After replacing the battery, you will probably have to go in and reset the info in your bios. This is a fairly straight forward process, but should you have problems, post back. Larry

It looks like it is a HoustonTechnology RealTimeClock module with a dime sized battery soldered to two of the terminals. I found this after doing a bunch more searching and finding that I need to yank the cover off the module. There is the battery! Now to get in there and solder on a new one. Thanks.

OK. Good luck. Be careful with the soldering. Larry