battery dead -looks as though battery is not replacable.....question is there a way to start the computer by makinga changein the setup??????if so can you walk me through this. i know its old but i have a lot of stored info in it...thanks for any and all help........norm

All the CMOS battery does is allow the settings to be saved when the machine is powered off. If you can restore the CMOS values, either from memory and/or by selecting 'autodetect hard drive' then those settings will remain in effect as long as the machine is not turned off. Some machines allow you to connect a separate (so-called external) battery to the motherboard to replace the regular one.

The external batteries would be hard to come by. Download a program called "CMOS Save" (cmossv38.zip). Do a search in google for "cmossv38.zip" and you can find many links to download. This program will save your BIOS setting to floppy disk. This is a trick that I used and it worked. Create a dos floppy bootdisk using "format a: /s". Unzip the contents of "cmossv38.zip" onto the floppy disk. Save the working BIOS settings using the cmos program onto the same floppy. You can create a link in the autoexec.bat file on the floppy to auto launch the saved bios settings from floppy. You will have to boot the PC everytime with this floppy to load the bios settings.

Hi, Look on the motherboard around the current battery and see if there is a 4 pin connector. If so you can clip the old battery and plug in an external battery. Can find them on line for around 30 bucks. That said I sometimes make my own by soldering in new wires in the place of the old battery pins and use a battery box from an old toy. 2 aa batteries make 3 volts and last fairly well. Run the wires out through any available opening befor soldering the box in so you can change batteries without having to remove the cover. Works great on old boxes that have the soldered in batteries and much cheaper. Even if you have the extra plug and use an add in battery be sure to clip the old battery out or it will corrode and ruin the motherboard. HTH James

External batteries are not that hard to come by and not that expensive. The Rayavac external batteries for AT computers cost me 4.50 plus $3.00 shipping on EBay.