Computer battery is 5 years old

  • Thread starter Thread starter Walter R.
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Walter R.

My computer, and the battery in it, is 5 years old. Should I be concerned
about the BIOS battery? Do they last forever?

I am using win XP. Will my system alert me when the battery is failing? Will
there be any damage if the battery simply goes dead on me?
 
Most systems will alert you in the boot process - if 'verbose' booting is
enabled - that the battery is low. I'm not sure if they'll alert you if 'quick
booting' is enabled. The battery does not last forever - I've seen them last
anywhere from 1 year to 10. Actually, I have a 1994 PC that the battery hasn't
failed on it yet.

There will be no physical damage to the system if the battery dies, but the BIOS
will reset to defaults if that happens. That will probably not be a big issue -
it can vary from system to system, but I have never seen it be a problem.
 
From: "Walter R." <[email protected]>

| My computer, and the battery in it, is 5 years old. Should I be concerned
| about the BIOS battery? Do they last forever?
|
| I am using win XP. Will my system alert me when the battery is failing? Will
| there be any damage if the battery simply goes dead on me?
|

They do NOPT last foever. Either the battery is a Lithium replacemable battery or it is a
rechargeable battery. You can only tell if you examine the motherboard.

The only indication that you need a new battery (if its a replaceable Lithium) is that when
you turn on the computer after it has been off for a while it forgets things and you have to
reenter data into the CMOS like the data and time or the hard disk type.
 
Walter said:
My computer, and the battery in it, is 5 years old. Should I be concerned
about the BIOS battery? Do they last forever?
Click to expand...

No. But they do last a long time. Unless you're on a MAC, their pram
batteries fail at 5 years like clockwork.

I am using win XP. Will my system alert me when the battery is failing? Will
there be any damage if the battery simply goes dead on me?
Click to expand...

No. You may wonder why the computer thinks it's 1990, or complains
about bios settings. That's about it.
 
Typically when the bios battery dies you have to enter the date & time
everytime it is booted up from a power down. On some machines its a $3
battery that pops in & out. Others its a solder out/in process best left up
to pros.

If you're PC savy you can check by removing the cover and looking for a
battery similar to one that goes in a car key remote.

In some laptops its right under the main battery & does not require
"cracking" the cover.
 
Walter said:
My computer, and the battery in it, is 5 years old. Should I be concerned
about the BIOS battery? Do they last forever?
Click to expand...

No they dont last forever. What battery does?
I am using win XP. Will my system alert me when the battery is failing? Will
there be any damage if the battery simply goes dead on me?
Click to expand...

XP has NOTHING to do with your battery.
 
I have no doubt your PC has a "watch-type" lithium battery.
Soldered in batteries went away last decade. The "Dallas" prom with onboard
battery went away last decade as well.
There were small "kits" available to replace soldered in batteries with "AA"
batteries. This is relatively old as well.

No physical damage will result at loss of cmos battery power. Most likely,
the only thing you will have to reset is the time. The rest of your bios
settings are probably auto set at boot.

A warning that you may see is configuration data failure message prior to XP
starting to boot. The PC will freeze at this point. This is when the cmos
battery is walking the line between good and bad voltage levels.
 
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