battery

[S]

Slightly off topic.

Trying to sort a PC with xp on it, it wont let me boot up and gave an error
message now it doesn`t even got that far and just freezes at the first
screen when booting so cant use another disc for repair. A few years back I
had a problem booting and it turned out it was the internal battery so I
took the one out the pc and its a 3 v but registers 2.4v on a voltmeter,
this is against a new one I have that shows 3.2v . I am going back to
friends at the weekend to try new battery but just wondering if anyone knows
if the old one has enough charge to boot at 2.4v. its probably been in the
tower for 4 years or so.

thanks

 

[db.·.. >]

probably not worthwhile
to benchmark a tiny
battery.

it may have been manufactured
during a time of poor quality
control and standards.

maybe it was an old battery
and repackaged by the
manufacturer.

it might be a good idea to buy
an extra battery and tape in
inside of the pc case, that is
if you anticipate of keeping
your unit for another 4 years.

--

db·´¯`·...¸><)))º>
DatabaseBen, Retired Professional
- Systems Analyst
- Database Developer
- Accountancy
- Veteran of the Armed Forces

 

[Patrick Keenan]

Slightly off topic.

Trying to sort a PC with xp on it, it wont let me boot up and gave an
error message now it doesn`t even got that far and just freezes at the
first screen when booting so cant use another disc for repair. A few
years back I had a problem booting and it turned out it was the internal
battery so I took the one out the pc and its a 3 v but registers 2.4v on a
voltmeter, this is against a new one I have that shows 3.2v . I am going
back to friends at the weekend to try new battery but just wondering if
anyone knows if the old one has enough charge to boot at 2.4v. its
probably been in the tower for 4 years or so.

thanks

That problem isn't likely to be the battery. The system does not boot from
the battery.

The battery should just cause you problems with having to go into Setup to
recognise hardware and set the date/time on power-up, and then restart into
XP.

What is the error message? That is a rather important piece of
information.

HTH

-pk

 

[Twayne]

2.4V is too low so it does appear the battery is ready to replace. One
thing a low battery can do is scramble CMOS RAM and thus could well be
the culprit. Especially if the voltage is right at the threshold of
being able to support RAM, which was probably a tenth of a volt or so
earlier. IIRC 2.7V is the min for the battery voltage (-10%).

Since it's quick and reasonably fast to do, I'd start with the
battery.

Details: Even connected 2.4V is too low, but I want to point out you
cannot compare voltages between a connected and a not connected battery.
At the last battery change I made, the battery measured 3.21V outside
and when installed read 2.94V. Completeley normal.

If the battery doesn't seem like a fix right away, remember, your CMOS
RAM could be scrambled. During the first startup, go into the
CMOS/System RAM settings and look for a "default" choice or if you have
it, a "saved" setting and reload it. Not all BIOS's will allow you to
save settings for recall, so ... it it's not there, don't worry about
it; look for default instead. Default will at least let you get booted
up.
IF it then boots but something isn't quite right, there may be some
settings that need adjustment. If nothing changed, then it probably
wan't the battery, but ... if your 2.4V is accurate, I'm betting on the
battery and scrambled RAM.

Let us know, even if the new battery doesn't help anything.

Twayne

 

[S]

2.4V is too low so it does appear the battery is ready to replace. One
thing a low battery can do is scramble CMOS RAM and thus could well be the
culprit. Especially if the voltage is right at the threshold of being able
to support RAM, which was probably a tenth of a volt or so earlier. IIRC
2.7V is the min for the battery voltage (-10%).

Since it's quick and reasonably fast to do, I'd start with the battery.

Details: Even connected 2.4V is too low, but I want to point out you
cannot compare voltages between a connected and a not connected battery.
At the last battery change I made, the battery measured 3.21V outside and
when installed read 2.94V. Completeley normal.

If the battery doesn't seem like a fix right away, remember, your CMOS RAM
could be scrambled. During the first startup, go into the CMOS/System RAM
settings and look for a "default" choice or if you have it, a "saved"
setting and reload it. Not all BIOS's will allow you to save settings for
recall, so ... it it's not there, don't worry about it; look for default
instead. Default will at least let you get booted up.
IF it then boots but something isn't quite right, there may be some
settings that need adjustment. If nothing changed, then it probably wan't
the battery, but ... if your 2.4V is accurate, I'm betting on the battery
and scrambled RAM.

Let us know, even if the new battery doesn't help anything.

Twayne



This is the error message...........

Friends PC wont boot to desktop and keep getting error message.........

unmountable-boot-volume.
Stop: 0x000000 (0x82796818,0x0000032,0x00000000,0x00000000.

I tried to boot in safe mode to try and do a system restore but keeps
throwing up the same message, I tried the other modes prompt etc but to no
avail.

Now when I try and boot it doesn`t even get as far as the error message it
just freezes so I cant access anything....bios, safe mode etc.

 

[Twayne]

Friends PC wont boot to desktop and keep getting error
message.........
unmountable-boot-volume.
Stop: 0x000000 (0x82796818,0x0000032,0x00000000,0x00000000.

I tried to boot in safe mode to try and do a system restore but keeps
throwing up the same message, I tried the other modes prompt etc but
to no avail.

If you can make it that far inthe boot process, then you are well past
the end of the POST, which is the point at which you press the key to
access your CMOS/System RAM. You MUST press the correct access key
immediately after the POST, and the second you see hte message on the
screen that says press ... for system settings or something similar.
I repeat: If you can get to the point where you can ask for Safe
Mode, etc, or anything ot do with it, you have gone PAST the point in
time where you could have pressed the access key to go into your CMOS
settings. If you don't know what key that is, or the screen goes by too
fast, check on your vendor's site - they will have the info. What the
key is depends on whose BIOS you have in the machine.

Now when I try and boot it doesn`t even get as far as the error
message it just freezes so I cant access anything....bios, safe mode
etc.

EXACTLY what sounds, screens, etc, do you see just before it "freezes"?

Almost sounds like a reinstall is going to be your only option. If you
have your paperwork, there IS a slight possibility there might be a
jumper or tiny button on the motherboard that you can press to "reset"
your system settings. Or you could check at your vendor's site for that
info on your model.

I understand what you're saying, but ... are you CERTAIN you can't get
to the CMOS/System settings? You press the key for it (often F2 and it
should show briefly on the first screen you see). The time to do that
is immediately after the POST and before any furhter processing can
occur. The CMOS/System settings being read do NOT come into play until
AFTER that point in the boot process.
Just watch the screen as you try to boot and the second you see a
message, press the key. This is BEFORE the point where you'd press F8
to get at Safe Mode, etc., and immediately after the POST completes and
gives one short beep.
Do you know for sure which key is to access the CMOS ram settings?

If that's not available to you, then it's about 99.99% certain that you
have a serious hardware problem, I'd say since no software has run yet
at that point, not even a read of the CMOS settings so you're looking at
hardware failure.

How many beeps do you get from the system speaker when it starts to
beep? None? Listen carefully for it; it signals the end of the Power On
Self Test (POST). There should only be one short beep. If you're
getting none or more than that, then you definitely have hardware
problems. Time to dig inside or take it to a neighborhood shop. IMO
avoid the big box stores for computer repair.


HTH