Can a blackout reset a BIOS to defaults?

[UnbiosedOpinion]

I installed a new ASUS A8V Deluxe mobo system for a client a few weeks ago and all went well until this week when it booted up one day with the factory BIOS defaults. The client says the only thing unusual was a couple of short power outages earlier. So I've re-customized the BIOS and everything is back to normal.

But I've never heard of a BIOS reverting to defaults on its own. I don't think a bad BIOS battery caused it, because the system clock was still accurate (and the system is barely a month old). This client's electrical service is pretty marginal, with flickers and brownouts fairly common when big appliances kick in. But I've administered his many other PCs for many years in the same building with no hint of power-related problems.

I use high-quality components: ASUS mobos, Seasonic or Antec power supplies (Seasonic in this case), Crucial memory, no overclocking. If it happens again, do I consider it a bad motherboard, or a "sensitive" motherboard in need of a UPS system? Anybody else lose their BIOS customizations from a simple power outage?

 

[ShaneDOTM]

I have never heard of that happening. Of course that doesn't mean it can't, I think its unlikely tho.
check the Asus site for known problems with the BIOS on that board and possibly updates?

 

[Peter]

Some boards detect boot failures, and revert to defaults when they happen. Power loss during bootup may generate a false positive in this detection logic.

If you have unstable main power there, get a UPS - an "offline" one.

 

[valkator]

Originally posted by: Peter
Some boards detect boot failures, and revert to defaults when they happen. Power loss during bootup may generate a false positive in this detection logic.

If you have unstable main power there, get a UPS - an "offline" one.

Man a board like that would just suck. I would rather reset it myself if there is a problem because i mean really i dont want the computer to do the problem solving for me.

 

[Peter]

Actually, this is an important feature for boards that have software adjustable clock speeds. If you overdo it, they recover automatically. Many many boards have it.

 

[UnbiosedOpinion]

Peter, your idea that a power failure during bootup could reset bios to defaults does sound feasible in my case. The timing would have to be just right. I'll try to find out if my client noticed if the lights went out during bootup. Thanks for the help.

 

[the cobbler]

hell yeah, happens to me all the time

every power outage/brownout/blackout with a loss of power for more than 15 minutes and I have to reset CMOS and bring the OC back up

safety feature I presume

 

[vanvock]

Can that not be disabled in BIOS?

 

[Codegen]

Dead battery.

My Mom's Celery 400 was doing this until I replaced it.

 

[the cobbler]

Originally posted by: Codegen
Dead battery.

My Mom's Celery 400 was doing this until I replaced it.

nope
my board is less than a month old

i think you can enable caching of bios which might prevent this from happening

but then my luck I would leave it on the next time I flashed and toast my board, lol

 

[Codegen]

Come to think of it, the attery in this rig barely lasted a month, also.

 

[the cobbler]

Originally posted by: Codegen
Come to think of it, the attery in this rig barely lasted a month, also.

no kidding, I'll give that a shot, thanks codegen

 

[Peter]

Originally posted by: the cobbleri think you can enable caching of bios which might prevent this from happening

No it won't. There isn't the remotest connection.

 

[JEDIYoda]

YES!! A blackout can cause the Bios to reset especially if you were doing something such as gaming or another app that utilixed alot of your CPU power!!

Happens alot on ASUS mobo`s!!

 

[Googer]

Check your CMOS Battery, I have found CR2032's for as little as Ninety-Nine Cents each. Replace it.

 

[Marsumane]

But he said the clock was fine. The battery is likely not the cause. I'd guess a safety feature triggered by the brownouts as mentioned above