C400 Dell error message

[behnkela]

my dell c400 still thinks its 2004 and i cant change it help
i got past the bios passwprn but my config set up is disabled
and i get an unmounted error on hard drive????

 

[Tmagic650]

Try removing the CMOS battery for a minute or two

 

[behnkela]

thats the battery next to the cpu fan... i did that and the clock is still wrong and it still remembers it wont boot lol
the configure set is disabled
thanks for the response
lynn

 

[Tmagic650]

The battery must be dead or the CMOS chip is bad, meaning a new motherboard

 

[behnkela]

thanks for the 411.
soooooooooo
im needing a little help here, being blonde and all (lol)
do i bother wasting my time replacing the cmos battery, or
could that correct this problem,
seeing that the mother board might be an issue..
lynn

 

[Tmagic650]

I'm blonde too... Replacing the CMOS battery is cheaper, but this being a laptop, it is a toss up wether it is the battery or the motherboard. How old is this Dell?

 

[behnkela]

2002 laptop
if it was the cmos woulnt it as for day date ect.
mine is stuck in 2004 march

help
does anyone know how to boot my c400 via usb (xp on jump drive) i keep gettting a unmountable disk error and that blue screen i dont have an external cd rom
help.

 

[mscrx]

removing or replacing the battery will not change anything for dell laptops!!
you can unlock the bios config by changing the service tag (removing will do as well).
to do that go here: http://www.savefile.com/files/2063585 and download the "USB DST EXE". make a bootable usb drive from it and boot the laptop with this drive. you can manually change the boot order/device by hitting f12 during the boot post screen (where the dell logo shows up).
the dst (dell service technician) will then ask you if you want to edit the service tag of you laptop. answer yes and enter a new service tag or nothing at all (will remove the service tag).
this procedure has the side effect to also remove the bios config password and you will be able to change anything that was disabled.
good luck

 

[kimsland]

The CMOS battery holds the date.

 

[mscrx]

it does but you still can't change it...

 

[behnkela]

where can i buy a cmos mattery for a dell c400

 

[mscrx]

dell or ebay?

ebay: Item number: 140313459224 $6