So, are you saying I should simply press F1 and restore default settings, then? What settings can I expect to lose, and what effects might that have? Will my files be affected in any way?
I did decide to unplug the computer to shut it off at the insistence of a friend. Could this have worsened the problem? Why was the computer refusing to shut off after doing it once?
This computer is important and vital to my daily work, but I am in no way qualified to open it up and replace its parts; I would probably end up breaking something. Would I be able to continue using the computer as if nothing had happened so long as I keep it plugged in at all times? Would I continue to get that error message if it has a constant alternating current to keep the CPU alive?
Finally, and this is purely out of curiosity, why was the cooling fan revving so intensely while the error screen was displayed?
First of all, I am not a computer savvy person. I can operate Windows but that's about it, I have no experience dealing with advanced hardware and software issues, and I'm afraid to lest I break something. I only made a Cnet account so I could ask this question.
I went to turn on my Acer desktop computer (running Windows 7) today to find that it had accidentally been unplugged. Now, when this usually happens, I turn it on and find that the clock hasn't been keeping time without power, and is is displaying the time it was when the computer was unplugged.
With a Google search and some basic reasoning, I deduced that the battery inside of the CPU responsible for keeping time when no power source is present had died. I didn't think this was much of a problem, since I could just keep my computer plugged in all the time and manually set the clock if the power ever goes out.
That was about a year ago. There have been power outages and nothing bad ever happened.
Today I turned on the computer after it had been unplugged all day. I was met with an extremely laboured and overworked cooling fan, three beeps, and an error message filled with technical specifications that said "CMOS Checksum Bad". It also said something along the lines of "Date / Time not set", but I cannot remember it word for word, since after I tried turning the computer on and off, that line no longer appeared in the error message. Now, when I press the power button, the computer won't shut off, only restart. I can only assume the aforementioned dead CPU battery is the cause of this, but if so, then why didn't this error happen until NOW?
The screen is giving me the options to "Press Del to run SETUP" or "Press F1 to load default settings and continue".
Please tell me, what is going on here, and which one should I pick? I was going to press F1, until I read up and realised that this battery also controls other functions, such as the virtual size of the hard disk. I have a lot of files with sentimental value on that computer, and I imagine the effects of having the hard drive designated as smaller than the amount of data stored on it would be... unfavourable. I also saw someone on a forum who said he lost all his files as a result of doing this, although his circumstances are no doubt different from mine.
I'm tempted to unplug the computer so that its abnormally laboured cooling fan doesn't wear itself out, but considering that this entire issue was caused by the thing being unplugged, I'm not so sure that's a good idea.
Also, in case this is useful, the logo at the top of the error screen reads "American Megatrends", which is strange considering the fact that this computer was manufactured by Acer.
Thank you.

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