I am a novice at this so please forgive my ignorance. I have been having a problem getting my comp to boot up after being turned off, when i turn it on it starts out with the normal sound, then it just stays that way, one long drawn out whirring sound that normally is broken up by other sounds. My monitor does not turn on but after about 20 or 30 times turning it on and off eventually it comes up and i get the system message " cmos checksum bad " then it will always ask me to reset the date and time on the internal clock. I have checked all of the connections inside and out and they all appear to be connected fine, but even if this was the case why does it turn on after so many other attempts. I am running on WINDOWS ME and i really do not know what else to tell. I really am a novice so any help would be greatly apprciated

try changing the cmos battery. Or leave the computer on all the time

This problem is normally caused by the motherboards battery running out of power. This battery is normally a button shaped cell and keeps the CMOS chip supplied with power when the computer is switched off. The CMOS chip holds amongst other data the time, date, hard drive size. Check with the manual supplied with your computer or the motherboards web site for the type of battery needed.

Sorry Sue Posted just after you!

Its a good idea to go into your CMOS and document the settings for future referance , should the coin battery on the motherboard run out ! Its to late for denverbuc , others reeading here should take note. Good Luck,Nick

Hi just recently my battry died/ it didn't wind down gradually with the clock losing time (like the 'puter tech said is expected)it died with no warning, came up 'bios checksum error, changed the battery (correct one)still had no end of problems feeezes crashes freezes crashes... in every program would boot up intermittently other times not computer tech had my machine for 3 days, it ran like a dream? he said goy it home all local programs fine booting up but would not connect to the net (server not found) mail said 'refused login' eventually after much searching I discovered my system had somehow lost 4 'dll' files/ needed for internet conns. found under internet as 'problems' went from start/ system information then followed the tree very interesting bit long winded but it may help someone along the way cheers felix :):):)