Computer Hardware
[10:23 AM | Comments ]

Types of CMOS batteries - The following is a listing of the types of batteries found in computers to power the CMOS memory. The most common type of battery is the Coin cell battery (Lithium Battery). The coin cell battery is the size of a dime, as shown below.

Life time of a CMOS battery - The standard lifetime of a CMOS battery is around 10 Years; however, this amount of time can change depending on the use and environment that the computer resides.


CMOS ABCs

Also known as a RTC/NVRAM or CMOS RAM, CMOS is short for Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor. CMOS is an on-board semiconductor chip powered by a CMOS battery inside IBM compatible computers that stores information such as the system time and system settings for your computer. A CMOS is similar to the Apple Macintosh computer's PRAM.



Reference Issue / Question
CMOS Dictionary definition and related links on the CMOS.
BIOS Information and help with the computer BIOS.
Battery Issues and help relating to the main battery.
CH000015 Each time the computer boots I receive a prompt for the time and date.
CH000037 Static resource conflict.
CH000042 How to change the LPT port within CMOS.
CH000192 How to enter the BIOS or CMOS setup.
CH000235 How to clear an unknown BIOS password.
CH000237 CMOS checksum error.
CH000238 Prompt to enter CMOS when booting computer.
CH000239 How to replace the CMOS battery.
CH000291 NVRAM cleared by jumper.
CH000301 Prompt to press F1/F2 each time computer boots.
CH000385 CMOS memory size mismatch.
CH000386 Time and date getting reset and/or losing time.
CH000391 How to backup the CMOS values.
CH000554 How to set a computers date and time.
CH000707 What is the difference between BIOS and CMOS?
CH000933 What is the memory hole at 15M-16M?
CH000934 What is the Graphic Window WR Combine in CMOS?
CH000935 What is the PCI/VGA Palette Snoop in CMOS?
CH000976 How can I reset CMOS / BIOS settings?
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Generic BIOS password listings
[10:23 AM | Comments ]

Issue:

Generic BIOS password listings.
Cause:

If a password is mistakenly forgotten or set without your knowledge, it may be necessary to use a generic password to bypass or change the password.

Solutions:

If a BIOS password is forgotten in some cases it may be possible to use a generic BIOS password to bypass the unknown password. By using a generic BIOS password you may be able to change the password to a different password. Below is a listing of generic passwords for each of the major types of BIOS.

Note: It is important to realize that these passwords do not work on all types of computers and/or BIOS chipsets. If you are unable to bypass or change the password by using these passwords, please refer to the document CH000235 for how to manually clear the unknown password.

AMI BIOS

A.M.I.
AMI
AMI_SW
AMI?SW
BIOS
HEWLITT RAND
LKWPETER
PASSWORD
Oder

AWARD BIOS

01322222
589589
589721
595595
598598
aLLy
aLLY
ALLY
ALFAROME
aPAf
_award
AWARD SW
AWARD PW
AWARD_SW
AWARD?SW
AWKWARD
BIOSTAR
CONCAT
Condo
d8on
djonet
HLT
J64
J256
J262
j332
j322
KDD
LKWPETER
lkwpeter
PINT
pint
SER
SKY_FOX
SYXZ
TTPTHA
ZAAADA
ZBAAACA
ZJAAADC

Russian Award Passwords:

% p%
% p%

IBM APTIVA BIOS

Press both mouse buttons repeatedly during the boot

PHOENIX BIOS

phoenix

OTHER BIOS

ALFAROME
BIOSTAR
biostar
biosstar
CMOS
cmos
LKWPETER
lkwpeter
setup
SETUP
Syxz
Wodj

SOME COMPUTERS WITH TOSHIBA BIOS

Hold down the Shift key as the computer is booting
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How to clear an unknown BIOS password.
[10:21 AM | Comments ]

Question:

How to clear an unknown BIOS password.
Answer:

If you have mistakenly forgot or lost your BIOS password or you receive a password at boot that you do not know, you will need to clear the BIOS password by one of the below methods.

Precaution: When inside the computer please be sure of the potential of ESD.

* Try using generic BIOS passwords. A complete listing of these passwords can be found on document CH000451.
* There are utilities designed to help bypass BIOS passwords. An example of a great utility to decrypt / bypass BIOS passwords is the PC BIOS Security and Maintenance toolkit, which is available by clicking here.
* On the computer motherboard locate the BIOS clear / password jumper or dipswitch and change its position. Once this jumper has been changed, turn on the computer and the password should be cleared. Once cleared, turn the computer off and return the jumper or dipswitch to its original position.

The location of the jumpers or dipswitches may vary; however, here are general locations where these jumpers / dipswitch may be located.

1. On the edge of the motherboard - Most jumpers are located on the side of the motherboard for easy accessibility, verify by looking at all visible edges of the motherboard.
2. By the CMOS battery - Some manufactures will place the jumper to clear the CMOS / BIOS password by the actual CMOS battery.
3. By the processor - Some manufactures will place the jumpers by the processor of the computer. However, note that in some cases these jumpers will be to change the processor and not the password.
4. Under the keyboard or bottom of laptop - If you are working on a laptop computer the location of the dipswitch (almost never a jumper) can be under the keyboard or on the bottom of the laptop in a compartment such as the memory compartment.
5. Other visible location - While it is possible that the jumpers / dipswitches may not be in a visible location, most manufactures try to make things easier by placing the jumpers / dipswitches in another visible location.

Additionally, when looking for the jumper / dipswitch the label of that switch can be anything; however, in most cases will be labeled CLEAR - CLEAR CMOS - CLR - CLRPWD - PASSWD - PASSWORD - PWD.

* On the computer motherboard locate and remove the CMOS battery for at least 10 minutes allowing the computer to lose its information. Note: this will not work on all computers.
* If your manufacturer has a bypass password this can be entered and allow you access to the BIOS and/or computer. Because of the security risk of a bypass password, generally only older computers will have this option. In addition, it is likely that this information will only be able to be obtained from the computer, motherboard or BIOS manufacturer.
* On the computer motherboard locate the CMOS solder beads and jump the solder beads to clear the password. The identification and location of these solder beads can vary and if not available in computer documentation is generally only obtainable through the computer manufacturer.

If one of the above solutions do not clear the password or you are unable to locate the jumpers or solder beads, it is recommended you contact the computer manufacturer or motherboard manufacturer for the steps on clearing the computer password.
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2 Tips to make your Phone faster
[10:19 AM | Comments ]

The tips i would be posting here are my personal experiences.
1. While accessing the default app manager( Uninstaller ). It normally takes a lot of time to scan though the uninstaller files if you have lots of apps already installed. It may even give you a 'memory full unable to remove' error as well. Same could be shown while installing.
Soln. A simple solution to this is browse though using a file explorer and go to
c:\system\install and e:\system\install\ later
You will find the uninstaller files in the above directories.
All you have to do is to create a subdirectory probably as below
c:\system\install\Bypass e:\system\install\Bypass\
Normally in the install folder there would a quite a few apps which you would not be uninstalling/reinstalling frequently(non-frequent updates). All you have to do is mark these files, (These files have an *.sis extention.) cut them and paste them in the Bypass folder we created inside the install folder. You can also delete duplicate unsinstaller files( files of same app but different version-Dont delete anything if youre not sure)
This will make sure that the app manager( Uninstaller ) does not scan through most of the files as they are in the bypass folder and saves time and memory while uninstalling.
You may open the app manager( Uninstaller ) and check how fast it opens scans and uninstalls.
Now in future if you have to remove any application which is in the bypass folder, then cut it from the bypass folder and get it under install and open the app manager( Uninstaller ) and remove. It takes an effort here but it will save time more often.

2. Boot faster and save memory
Soln. Another one, but be more careful. There is a folder called
c:\system\recogs\ and e:\system\recogs\
These folders contain *.mdl files which normally start on reboot by which reboot is delayed and they consume some RAM memory as well. Now there are certain license manager files and other app files, you need to start while starting the phone, leave them as it is. But you will find other files like quicksheet.mdl etc which is not needed to start on reboot. Such files can be marked and placed into a subdirectory \Bypass under recogs and restart the phone, which will save time and memory as well.
Do it for both c:\ and e:\ carefully.
Later on as required you may bring files from \Bypass to recogs.
Tips- If you get App closed **** error on startup/reboot. This is just the trick for you.
Dont delete anything if youre not sure.

Caution: If you're not sure of something-Dont do it, unless you are experimenting at your own risk.
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Master Tutorial to Make Your Windows XP Super Fast
[10:19 AM | Comments ]

This tutorial is meant for increasing the performance of Windows XP, either it can be a fresh installation or an older windows.

1. Right-click on Desktop and select Properties, Now in the new window goto Appearance tab and click on Effects button. Now in the new opened window uncheck the following options:

a.) Use the following transition effect for menus & tooltips.
b.) Show shadows under menus.
c.) Show window contents while dragging. (you may remain this option checked as I hv in my screenshot. It depends upon ur choice.)
d.) Use the following method to smooth edges of screen fonts. You may select “Standard” for this. I hv selected “Clear Type” coz I hv a TFT, it doesnt work properly for CRT monitors.

2. Right-click on My Computer icon on Desktop and select Properties (or press key + key), now goto Advanced tab in new window and click on Settings button in Performance section:

Now disable all unnecessary options in Visual Effects tab, you can remain following options enabled according to your requirements:

a.) Show window contents while dragging.
b.) Smooth edges of screen fonts.
c.) Use common tasks in folders (If u use the left side pane in My computer, I don’t use it.)
d.) Use drop shadows on icon labels on the desktop. (to make the desktop icons label transparent.)
e.) Use visual styles on windows and buttons. (If u use XP themes.)

3. Open Tools -> Folder Options and click on View tab:

Now uncheck following options:

a.) Automatically search for network folders & printers.
b.) Display file size information in folder tips.
c.) Display simple folder view in Explorer’s Folders list.
d.) Show encrypted or compressed NTFS files in color.
e.) Show pop-up description for folder and desktop icons.
f.) Use simple file sharing.

Other options don’t affect the system performance. You can enable/disable them according to your requirements.

4. Right-click on My Computer icon on Desktop and select Manage (You can also open it by typing services.msc in RUN and press Enter). Now goto Services & Applications -> Services. Here you can set a few unnecessary services to Manual, which will not start with windows and will decrease the boot time and will increase system performance. Please follow the following tutorial to know about which services can be safely set to MANUAL:

Windows XP Services that can be Safely set to MANUAL

5. Type msconfig in RUN and press Enter. Now goto Startup tab and deselect the unnecessary entries, which you don’t want to start automatically with Windows, e.g. you can disable VGA driver utility, Sound Card utility, etc to speed up the startup time and to increase system performance.

6. Open Sound & Audio Devices in Control Panel (or type mmsys.cpl in RUN), goto Sounds tab and select No Sounds in Sound Scheme section. Or you can remain some of your favorite sounds but set Exit Windows, Start Windows, Windows Logoff, Windows Logon to (None).
 
7. For more options go to TIPS+TRICKS , you can use TweakUI, Tuneup Utilities and gpedit.msc
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