CMOS battery

  • Thread starter Thread starter James
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James

I'm told the typical life of a CMOS battery may be anywhere from 5-9 years.

IF a computer is powered off most of the time {a spare backup computer},
will the battery last just as long?

Or, is the 5-9 year estimated life of the battery predicated upon the
computer being in regular use?

Thanks - james
 
James said:
I'm told the typical life of a CMOS battery may be anywhere from 5-9
years.
IF a computer is powered off most of the time {a spare backup
computer}, will the battery last just as long?

Or, is the 5-9 year estimated life of the battery predicated upon the
computer being in regular use?

Thanks - james
Click to expand...

Either.
 
I'm told the typical life of a CMOS battery may be anywhere from 5-9 years.

IF a computer is powered off most of the time {a spare backup computer},
will the battery last just as long?

Or, is the 5-9 year estimated life of the battery predicated upon the
computer being in regular use?
Click to expand...



Actually, the battery is used *only* when the computer is powered off,
to maintain the CMOS setting. However, although I have no statistics,
I doubt very much if there's an appreciable difference in battery life
either way.

I also question whether the typical life of a battery is as long as
5-9 years. Again, I have no statistics, but I would have guessed
something more like 3-5 years.

And typical lifetimes don't really matter much, because your battery
may not be typical, and could fail *much* sooner.

Finally, it doesn't really matter much. Replacing a battery is very
inexpensive and easy to do.
 
Ken, thanks for the reply. I've already handwritten down all the CMOS
settings - just in case.

james
 
Ken, thanks for the reply. I've already handwritten down all the CMOS
settings - just in case.
Click to expand...



You're welcome. Glad to help. And yes, keeping a hard copy of those
settings--just in case--in a prudent thing to do.
 
Actually, the battery is used *only* when the computer is powered off,
to maintain the CMOS setting. However, although I have no statistics,
I doubt very much if there's an appreciable difference in battery life
either way.

I also question whether the typical life of a battery is as long as
5-9 years. Again, I have no statistics, but I would have guessed
something more like 3-5 years.

And typical lifetimes don't really matter much, because your battery
may not be typical, and could fail *much* sooner.

Finally, it doesn't really matter much. Replacing a battery is very
inexpensive and easy to do.
Click to expand...


"Replacing a battery is very inexpensive and easy to do."
Question: when removing the old battery and replacing it with a new one,
do you have a certain amount of time before the settings are lost? Or do
they vanish the second you pull out the old battery?

richard
 
"Replacing a battery is very inexpensive and easy to do."
Question: when removing the old battery and replacing it with a new one,
do you have a certain amount of time before the settings are lost? Or do
they vanish the second you pull out the old battery?
Click to expand...



Yes, you have a little time. How long is variable, but it's usually a
minute or so, sometimes longer.

My view, however, is that it's not prudent to rely on this, but always
to make sure you have hard-copy record of what the settings are, just
in case.
 
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