Clear CMOS vs BIOS Reset

[1405]

I've always been curious about this. In my BIOS setup there is an option to 'reset to default values'. I also have the option to remove the CMOS battery and short a pair of pins to clear the BIOS. Do these two operations accomplish the same thing? Is one preferred over the other to bring the BIOS setup to factory default?

 

[rolli59]

Using the battery or jumper method works always for example when a tweak is gone wrong and you cant access BIOS to set defaults there.
The final result is the same.

 

[alexoiu]

Check also CMOS vs BIOS http://forum.pcstats.com/showthread.php?34921-CMOS-vs-BIOS
Resetting the BIOS does not clear the CMOS, while clearing the CMOS does reset the BIOS settings to default.
Clearing the CMOS is recommended when upgrading hardware (RAMs, graphics card, CPU), or as mentioned above, when the BIOS can't be accessed (system does not start) due to a wrong setting.

 

[1405]

Check also CMOS vs BIOS http://forum.pcstats.com/showthread.php?34921-CMOS-vs-BIOS
Resetting the BIOS does not clear the CMOS, while clearing the CMOS does reset the BIOS settings to default.
Clearing the CMOS is recommended when upgrading hardware (RAMs, graphics card, CPU), or as mentioned above, when the BIOS can't be accessed (system does not start) due to a wrong setting.

Ahhh... thank you. If I understand correctly, the BIOS is like the program and the CMOS is like the memory it is stored in.

 

[1405]

Best answer selected by 1405.