Lately, I have been having problems starting my computer. I push the power button and the computer doesn't come all the way on. I wait about 15 minutes for it to seemingly "warm up", then hit the reset button and it starts up fine. Today when I tried to start it up, it made a strange wound then went to a black screen that reads:

"Award BootBlock BIOS V1.0
BIOS Rom Checksum error
Detecting floppy drive A media...
Insert System Disk and Press Enter"

I can't get past this page and this is the only page I can pull up. I can't get into the BIOS at startup because it goes straight to this page. There is not a floppy disk in the machine.

Any clue what the problem may be?

Replace CMOS Battery. See if that helps. If not, that error generally means a corrupted BIOS, normally due to a bad flash. If thats the case, its probably time for a new motherboard.

Yea try replacing the CMOS battery. That would be the most common reason. A bad flash is another reason as well, but if you haven't flashed your BIOS recently then we can eliminate that.

Once you replace you CMOS battery, if the same problem arises there is something that you can do and it should solve the problem. You need to clear the CMOS. Right around the general area of your battery and BIOS chip are three pins with a Jumper connecting 2 of them. Move that jumper to connect the middle pin with the other pin that was not connected. Turn the computer on for a few seconds and then turn it off. Move the jumper back in the position it was in and turn the computer on. It should clear all the errors and everything should work fine. If not you should look into a new Motherboard. Newegg.com will be your best friend.

I replaced the CMOS battery with a new one...didn't help. I then found the CMOS jumper and moved it from pins 1 and 2 to pins 2 and 3. The computer will not turn on at all when it is in pins 2 and 3. I moved it back to pins 1 and 2 and it still gives the same error. Any other suggestions?

This is about a 6 year old computer, so I don't want to invest in an expensive motherboard. However, the person using this computer just needs a very basic computer to use the internet. I would much rather get this fixed then purchase a new one.

Thanks.

This error means the contents of the BIOS code itself are damaged - different to "CMOS Checksum error" which means corrupt BIOS CMOS settings.

In order to solve this you are most likely going to need a new MB, as it seems you have a faulty MB component.


Try remember this for your next MB.

Make sure:

1. You do not have an overheating problem e.g. MB chips are overheating.
2. You do not have anything touching the MB, which could short the board.
3. The MB is seated OK.
4. You shut the PC down using start menu, etc.
5. You have a good virus scanner.
6. You flash the BIOS correctly and as a rule only if it solve a problem.

Try this one. Just unplug the 3.5" diskette Drives power and data cable when Comp is not working, then enter bios and chose Halt on no errors at main screen then save&exit bios. Try rebooting.