Member Avatar for atabong

hi. on trying to do dusting on my desk top,i removed the cmos battery and kept it through out the whole night. after re-installing the cmos , tried to reboot and instead i got a message asking me to insert a system disk and press enter i did that but in the process of booting, a message resading 'mass storage device not found" with the computer explaining that that it could be inproper connection of hard drive. but all connections were rightly done. even when i tried repairing the operating system i could still get the same message. please some one with a solution should help thanks in advance

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Removing the CMOS battery overnight almost always returns the board to factory defaults, as and noted. That reset can do more than just clear the time: the motherboard may disable SATA ports, change SATA/IDE/AHCI/RAID mode, or alter the boot order, which explains the "mass storage device not found" message and why an OS repair looks ineffective.

A concise troubleshooting checklist that narrows cause without repeating earlier advice:

  • Confirm whether the BIOS/UEFI actually lists the hard drive. If the drive is listed, set it as the first boot device, ensure the SATA controller/ports are enabled, and verify the SATA mode matches how the OS was installed (AHCI vs IDE/RAID). If the drive is not listed, the problem is at firmware/hardware level and OS repair will not help.
  • If not listed, power down, unplug mains, discharge capacitors, and reseat both the data cable and the power lead. Try a different SATA cable and a different motherboard port. For older PATA drives check jumper positions (master/slave).
  • Observe the drive: does it spin and show activity LED? If it does not, suspect a power fault. If it still does not appear, test the drive on another PC or via a USB-SATA adapter to confirm whether the drive itself is healthy.

If the drive is detected on another system but not the original board, the motherboard SATA controller or corrupted BIOS settings may be the issue — loading optimized defaults and then explicitly selecting the correct SATA mode can help. If the drive never appears elsewhere, drive failure and data-recovery options become the next step. Replace the CMOS battery with a fresh CR2032 and use the board CMOS-clear jumper for safer resets in future. For uncertain cases or important data, consider professional diagnosis.

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Member Avatar for JorgeM

When you power on the computer, hit the key that is displayed to get you into the BIOS/CMOS setup.

Go through the screens and make sure that your hard drive is set to auto detect. By removing the battery, you reset the configuration. If the config is not set properly, your hard drive may not be located by the BIOS.

Member Avatar for rubberman

Several things happen when you remove the CMOS battery for more than a very short period of time (like to replace it with a new battery), and the system is unpowered.

  1. The CMOS memory is erased. This is where the BIOS settings are stored.
  2. The system is restored to factory defaults - pre-system installation.
  3. In some cases, the EPROM/flash data may be erased (should not happen in current systems).

So, you will have to go into the BIOS and re-configure ALL of the system settings. Then, you may be able to reboot after saving the settings (CPU configuration, date+time, boot order, etc).

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