Although you’ve not changed any configuration on your computer, you’re now getting this message when starting the computer: “Invalid configuration information – please run setup.” What is the most likely cause of this problem?
A) The BIOS is out of date and needs to be upgraded.
B) A hardware component has failed on the motherboard.
C) A BIOS change has been made that is incompatible with your hardware.
D) The battery that maintains the BIOS configuration has discharged.
Answer: D) The battery that maintains the BIOS configuration has discharged.
The BIOS configuration is maintained through a small battery on the motherboard. When the battery no longer has a charge, the BIOS configuration is lost and must be recreated from the defaults when the system is powered on. The “Invalid configuration information” message is a bit vague, but not having a configuration would certainly qualify as “invalid.”
The incorrect answers:
A) The BIOS is out of date and needs to be upgraded.
Although keeping your BIOS updated is usually a good best-practice, an outdated BIOS won’t cause this problem.
B) A critical hardware component has failed on the motherboard.
The BIOS messages on startup will provide feedback if a critical piece of hardware isn’t operational, but the message would be more specific to the hardware problem. Although the battery is technically “hardware,” it’s not critical to the system’s operation.
C) A BIOS change has been made that is incompatible with your hardware.
A BIOS change can sometimes cause issues, but in this particular case no changes have been made to the hardware configuration.
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