# HP Compaq gives time and date error then refuses to boot up



## ATH369 (Aug 13, 2012)

I recently picked up an old HP Compaq nc6220 running Windows XP at a local boot sale. The system was working fine until early this morning when upon boot up it showed the error message...

163 - time and date not set

Initially I thought this might indicate my CMOS battery was dying or dead, but thought that I could resolve this even temporarily by rebooting the system, going into setup and resetting the date and time there.

Unfortunately when I tried to do this by rebooting my system it wouldn't respond and I was left with a blank screen.

So I took out my main battery, disconnected my power cable and held down the on/off button for around a minute to try and drain any remaining charge. Then I rebooted the system again.

Alas, nothing had changed. I was still met with a blank screen.

So I tried again, this time loading my Windows XP disk into the CD drive in an attempt to boot from it.

Nope - that didn't work either.

So I'm now lost for what to do next.









Can anyone help me please?

Thank you.


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## Frank4d (Sep 10, 2006)

If the CMOS battery is dead, the computer may not boot.

A manual for repairing the laptop can be downloaded here: http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c00622160.pdf
The procedure for getting to the battery can be found in section "6.24 System Board". It looks fairly involved, so I would not recommend attempting it unless you are confident you can put everything back together.

The battery isn't one that is readily available since it has leads attached to it. Here is one possible source: http://www.ebay.com/sch/sis.html?_kw=BIOS+CMOS+Battery+379812+001+3+for+HP+Compaq+NC6200+NC6230


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## ATH369 (Aug 13, 2012)

Thanks Frank4D.

Downloaded manual and read section you referred to.

Yes, I agree. It seems to be quite a challenge to get to the battery in the first place. Heck of a lot of dismantling and reassembling. Wish there was just a one or two screw release to get to the actual CMOS component. That would make life a lot easier. Will try to gather my courage together and give it a go and hope I damage nothing in the process, after all that's the only way to learn how to do these things, isn't it? to give it a go yourself, I mean.

Many thanks for your reply.


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