CMOS Battery Replacement

The CMOS battery in a computer is what holds the information for you CMOS or BIOS. This includes the clock and hardware settings. Although a computer will function just fine without one, having to redo the settings in the CMOS every time the power flickers can be a bit annoying.

The good part of replacing this is that's it's really easy, and almost anyone that sells watch batteries will also have a replacement battery that will fit on your motherboard in stock.

If you've never replaced the battery before, it will probably take you around 10 minutes. The toughest part is usually find the location of the batter on the board.

If you get errors after a power out, or the your clock on the computer doesn't stay accurate it's probably time to replace the battery.

Replace the Battery

Step 1 - Power off the computer, then remove the cover and find the battery on your motherboard. It will look something like this.

Step 2 - Identify the small metal tab to remove the computer battery.

Step 3 - The the tab away from the battery.

Step 3 - The battery should pop out. Take the battery and get the number off of it. As you can see here, this battery is a CR2032.

Step 4 - Get the part number off of the battery, or just take the battery to your nearest electronics store or jeweler to get a replacement. Pop it back in and you're done.