My poor AVERATEC C3500's CMOS battery (the one that keeps the clock, among other things, going while it's shut down) died several months ago. I've had the computer more than three years, so I suppose I can't complain. But I finally had it with resetting the date every time I turned it on, and it eventually killed my regular battery.
So, I cleared off a section of the better half's desk and pulled out my trusty Leatherman and got to work. On a desktop its a relatively simple procedure to replace the CMOS battery - open up the side, remove battery from motherboard, replace and close it up. A laptop, on the other hand is quite another story. A laptop uses compact parts - that's why they're so expensive. It would be simple to replace the CMOS battery if it was put someplace accessible - but it's not. In order to get to it I had to separate the screen from the body, remove the keyboard, open up the body, remove the motherboard, then pull the CMOS battery off the motherboard (it's glued on to the motherboard) and disconnect it.
With the help of Google, it was relatively easy to find a replacement. I ended up ordering this $8.00 battery from a Malaysian company (via their rep in Vegas). Shipping was $10 (FEDEX).
I now have several plastic baggies with very tiny screws and other parts sitting in my office. They're just begging to be put back together. If I'm lucky, I'll get everything in the right place and it'll all work. Maybe I won't even have any extra parts left over!
You may think I'm nuts for taking it apart and not sending it to a shop, but I enjoy gutting and/or fixing computers - so it served as relaxation time.
After the battery comes in I'll update this post.
Post update: Just goes to show how much I use it - I still haven't put it back together and it's now March! I guess I'll have to make the time over the next couple of weeks to get it done. You can bet, however, that I will back up the hard drive before I power it up!
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