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[TechNetTech]

Hi there i just ran a diagnostic test on my toshiba Qosmio f60 laptop and all the test passed except for the cmos checkum. The message say's the cmos checksum value did not match with the computer checksum. Ived had no problems starting my computer though i have been leaving it on for a couple of weeks now as i heard it is better to leave the machine on than turning it on and off.

[fwilson]

TechNetTech,

The CMOS checksum can give a false positive if the BIOS says a particular region is writable but really is not.  We write a value to that address, the read the static value and interpret it as a failure.  It would not affect the operation of the system so can be safely ignored.

I am a member of the camp that it is is better to leave systems on.  When a computer starts up, all the components in it expand at different rates. This creates stress on the solder joints and connections.  Once operating temperature is reached this process stops and homeostasis is reached.  It you then turn the system off the process begins again, in reverse.

In my experience the electrical components far outlast their physical connections to the real world, surface mount chips and RoHS compliant systems with no lead solder doesn't help the situation.

-Fred