CMOS battery problems

[Darth Menace]

Hey guys, I am having a CMOS battery problem. I have a toshiba satellite laptop. I have had to reset my date/time every time my laptop died etc. The part that the power cable plugs into the laptop came undone and I was going to take the laptop apart to fix that so I decided to clean the laptop and replace the CMOS battery at the same time. Anyways, I take this laptop completly apart and the CMOS battery is on the bottom. It is attached by two pins. We thought that the battery could come off but from what i see the tags are part of the battery. anyways, I kind of have wet feet so here is my question. Is a CMOS battery necessary? I mean it didn't work before and nothing was wrong (except for resettting the clock all the time) If i do eventally get one I am eerie of saudering anyways, and if so since there are two tabs is one positive and one negative place for me to have to sauder as it doesnt show on the CMOS battery I took out?

 

[johnb35]

There should be one little clip that you push that holds the battery in place. The writing on the battery should be visible when its in the slot.

 

[Darth Menace]

thanks for the help. I have the cmos battery out and the clips king of broke off the sauder spots. It is a maxell ml1220. I've seen them on the net shipped for about $12. The thing is is this necessary to have one? i'm so nervous of having the computer apart that I'd love to get it back together. I'd prefer not to wait for weeks for it to arrive then sauder (which I dont know how) a new battery back on. I'm going to be a wreck for the weeks until the battery arrives, and was wondering if this is actually necessary

 

[johnb35]

The cmos battery keeps all the bios settings intact while the machine is off. So yeah, its necessary. You may have to take it in to get repaired if broke something removing the battery.

 

[Darth Menace]

The cmos battery keeps all the bios settings intact while the machine is off. So yeah, its necessary. You may have to take it in to get repaired if broke something removing the battery.

right, but when it wasn't working in the first place was it keeping all the bios setting intact still? I'm saying if i put it back together with no CMOS battery will it still do the same thing as when the CMOS battery was dead?

 

[johnb35]

Yes, it will. You will have to keep resetting the correct date and time in order to surf the internet or you will get error messages.

 

[Darth Menace]

hey that's not the end of the world. I have a laptop that is always on, and barely ever dies. especially now that a new battery is coming. as long as it's the same as when my CMOS battery was dead then it is tolderable. I just thought that it would be smart to change the cmos battery when the laptop was apart, but with that toshiba laptop i really regret it now