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General discussion

Checking NVRAM?

Nov 15, 2004 9:20PM PST

Every time I start up my computer I get "Checking NVRAM". What is that? I'm not sure when it starting but it takes about 40 seconds to complete and then my computer starts fine. Boot time is longer now and I can't remember when this started or what I installed when it did start. If I restart my computer at any time it does not do this check. If I hit escape when starting up it stops the "checking nvram" but am I doing some time of damage when I escape this check? I can't find anything in my bios set up to by-pass this check. In other words I have by-passed checking the A drive in boot up but cannot find anything about this NVRAM thing.

Discussion is locked

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Re: Checking NVRAM?
Nov 15, 2004 10:48PM PST

Did you recently update your bios? Sounds like the bios settings are in default and your memory is being check everytime you boot. You can turn that off in the bios settings at boot, just hit the "delete" key during boot and the bios screen will come up.

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Re: Checking NVRAM?
Nov 17, 2004 5:04AM PST

Hi,
I updated my bios long before this started happening. I have changed my bios so it is not set for default. Also there is no setting to disable this particular "check". Thanks so much for your suggestions though.

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Re: Checking NVRAM?
Nov 15, 2004 11:01PM PST

Typically Non-VolatileRAM is used to store the BIOS code itself, as well as your BIOS settings. Checking NVRAM generally consists of running a checksum on the NVRAM contents to determine if the contents have changed. I have no idea why your BIOS is running a self check now where it seems it hasn't before, but it certainly should be harmless to let it run. If the NVRAM is being held by the battery, it may be that your battery is low. (although that is not usually the kind of NVRAM used for the BIOS)

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Re: Checking NVRAM?
Nov 17, 2004 4:59AM PST

Thanks! It seems you know what you are talking about. I have seen this in other computers that I've worked on and I have told the client the same thing. Just let it run. I guess I feel kind of stupid not knowing why this is happening to even my own computer now when it wasn't for years. I really appreciate you taking the time to answer my question, again thanks!

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Re: Checking NVRAM?
Nov 17, 2004 5:03AM PST

Hi there. Thanks for taking the time to answer but in this situation make/model or even OS are irrelevant. Even the motherboard type is irrelevant. I have seen this on many types of machines. I had googled several things prior to posting this message. I found that most folks had errors or problems when getting this kind of behavior. In my case there are no errors or problems other than my lack of patience while waiting for my machine to start up. But thank you anyway.