The time settings are lost if I leave the computer on battery when turned off. I get F1 and F 12 messages and must reset the time from 01/01/1988. No problem if plugged in.

Is the engine cranking over? If not, check the battery earth where it connects to the block / body.

Perhaps, because the battery was disconnected, your onboard computer has lost memory and needs to 'relearn'.

If you know someone with an OBD - the hand held diagnostic machine - get them to connect it to your car and try and reset any error codes that come up.

Personally, I would try turning the ignition key on and off quite a few times - no need to actually try and start the vehicle. Sometimes the on-off action of a key (about 30 times) can reset the ECU - the computer.

I would also try leaving the ignition switched on for a couple of minutes, turning it off and then repeating the process a few times.

When you removed the battery your computer lost all of it's configuration settings. You have to go into the set-up menu and and select the devices that are installed on your computer. Such as floppy drive, CD drive, DVD drive. Also have to set date and time.

Try this Method:

One of the most common methods to reset the BIOS password is to remove or discharge the battery on the computer's motherboard. If the power to the battery is lost or drained, the BIOS configuration will be reset to the factory state with no password. System settings made to the BIOS will also be lost.
Step 1 - Turn off the computer and ensure it has no external power (ie unplug the power cable. If it has a battery, remove it).
Step 2 - Open the computer's case or box.
Step 3 - Locate the computer's motherboard and look for the white silver button battery on the motherboard.
Step 4 - If the battery is not soldered to the motherboard, remove it carefully and wait for approximately 30 seconds.
Step 5 - Put the computer case back together and boot the computer.
Step 6 - If the "CMOS Checksum Error-Defaults Loaded" error message is displayed, the BIOS password has been reset.
In the event the CMOS battery is soldered to the computer's motherboard, you will want to seek a different method to reset the BIOS password on the computer.

I'm sorry to have to say this but your CMOS battery connection is bad. There is basically nothing you can do other than replace the whole motherboard if it is too much of a problem.

One of my many computers is like this as well. I'm lucky in that as long as I leave that computer plugged in (it doesn't need to be turned on just plugged in), the CMOS won't reset its self. If you aren't that lucky then I would seek out a replacement motherboard.

1) Turn off computer
2) Disconnect AC adapter
3) Remove battery pack, and remove the laptops keyboard
4) Disconnect RTC (Real Time Clock) battery (located underneath the keyboard, the red/white wire)
5) Leave off for fifteen minutes
6) Reconnect the RTC battery and reassemble the laptop
7) Reconnect AC adapter (DO NOT REINSERT THE MAIN LAPTOP BATTERY AT THIS TIME!)
8) Turn on the computer and enter the BIOS by pressing F10
9) Set the new BIOS password and save all settings.
10) Turn off the laptop and reinsert the battery

Hope this helps ...Lee

The battery is a small round silver lithium battery found on the motherboard, it keeps the memory of the bios and the settings from being lost when the computer is turned off, using a very small voltage. If the battery fails the bios then looses all its settings, normally returning the computer to default factory settings and asking you to reset every time the pc is booted, in your your case it would be worth unpluging from the mains and taking the side cover of the pc, find the battery and completly remove it there is just a little spring clip holding it in place, so just use your finger nail press the silver clip backwards towards the plastic rin of the battery holder and the battery should pop upwards allowing you to remove it, then try to boot the pc, if the same thing happens, you will have to change the battery. You can pick up batteries at your local pc store probably for nothing if u ask nicely, insert the new battery and then boot the mechine again. post back and tell me what happens.

hi friend,

Probably a dead Motherboard battery. Need to enter the BIOS screens and reset values. Especially the time and date. Maybe the boot order and if using USB KBoard enable legusy USB devices. This will occur each time your friend shuts down and reboots until the battery is changed.
Issue
When you turn your Toshiba computer on, you see an error message like: **** Bad RTC battery ****
**** Bad Checksum (CMOS) ****
Check system, then press [F1] key The Real Time Clock (RTC) battery provides power for the internal clock/calendar and for maintaining system configuration settings.
This error can occur when a machine has been left turned-off for an extended period of time (around a month), and is the result of a depleted RTC battery. Other symptoms include not being able to execute Windows Update properly, errors/problems executing application software (like Norton Antivirus), and the appearance of the Windows XP "Desktop Clean Wizard".
Resolution This condition is easy to fix in 3 basic steps: Reset the BIOS defaults
Set the correct date and time in Windows.
Charge the RTC battery Please follow the detailed instructions in the next section.
Procedure Set BIOS defaults Press the [F1] key as instructed in the error message:
**** Bad RTC battery ****
**** Bad Checksum (CMOS) ****
Check system, then press [F1] key In the BIOS setup screen press the [Home] key to restore the default values, then press the [End] key to save and exit, then the [Y] key to confirm and restart the system. Set the correct date and time in Windows As Windows starts-up, you may see an error message about an "Invalid System Time". Go ahead and click "OK" to clear the error dialog. Open the Windows Control Panel and open the "Date and Time" control by double-clicking its icon. Set the correct date and time, then click OK to save. Charge the Real Time Clock (RTC) battery To charge the RTC battery, connect the AC adapter and turn the computer on (both the DC IN and Power LEDs must be green). Leave the machine on for approximately 24 hours to ensure a full charge in the RTC battery. Please note that the RTC battery does not charge while the PC is turned off, regardless of whether the AC adapter is connected or not. Other Information: If, on subsequent reboots, the "Bad RTC Battery" error persists, it's quite likely that you actually do have a bad RTC battery. If that's the case, you should contact a Toshiba Authorized Service Provider to have the system serviced. Windows XP Desktop Cleanup Wizard The first time you reboot Windows XP after resetting the system clock, Windows XP may try to run the "Desktop Cleanup Wizard". Simply Cancel the "Desktop Cleanup Wizard" at the first dialog. If you do manage to clean your shortcuts from the desktop and want to recover them, you will find them in a folder called "Unused Desktop Shortcuts". You can recover them as follows: Double-click to open the "Unused Desktop Shortcuts" folder
Click to expand the "Edit" menu, and click "Select All"
Drag the selected items back to your desktop
Close the "Unused Desktop Shortcuts" folder. You can delete this folder if it is empty.

thank u for using fixya

regards,
sivaranjini

That means that after computer had been off for a long time the CMOS battery has drained, and CMOS (BIOS) settings had been reset to default.

Usually the computer will work fine after pressing F1, but you may get wrong date and time.

Try charging battery completely, often the problem disappears, if it does not , then the choice is between pressing F1 each time you start the laptop, or disassembling the laptop and replacing CMOS internal coin battery, located on the lower side of the motherboard.

Hi,

You can reset all your settings and clear errors by removing the battery pack and also under the camera is an access screw to get to a button battery or two. The type of screw you use a dime or quarter to open. With the battery pack out, remove the button batteries and leave all those out for several minutes and then with the batteries still out, activate the On switch for your camera and leave it in the full on position for 30 seconds. That should drain off all residual power from the circuit board inside. You will have to reset everything, such as your personal settings in Tools and the time and date setting. All of those user set items, but your error message should clear too. If you get the error message again, right away, after reinstalling the batteries and battery pack, then you have damaged the Flash Unit... but I doubt that. Canon makes a good camera and I don't think what you describe would cause that problem.

Regards,
Worldvet

If I am away from my machine and want to call my answering machine and hear the messages what do I do. Lost my manual.