replacing motherboard battery question

[alex666]

I have an older Compaq Presario 5220 (purchased in spring, 1999) that I just restarted the other day after it sat for about a year. At some point in the not-so-distant future it will require its mobo battery to be replaced. It still works pretty well for word processing, internet, and some older games that my young son enjoys. Now in the course of owning that system, I upgraded the bios. If I replace the battery, i.e., pull out the old one and insert a new one, will that upgraded bios be lost? It's important that the new bios be retained, because it allowed me to upgrade the cpu from a k6-II to a k6-III+ 450 OCed to 550.

BTW, I have built from scratch 3 systems and fiddled endlessly with those systems, upgrading, changing, and swapping out components, but I'm almost embarrassed to admit that I've never replaced a battery. Thanks.

marty

[ski]

The updated BIOS will remain in place, but the current BIOS settings may be replaced by Default settings depending on how long it takes to replace the battery.
Suggest that you document the current BIOS settings before the battery needs replacing.

[alex666]

Thanks. I figured that the bios would remain intact, but I wasn't sure. The bios options in this board are extremely limited, so there won't be much to save, but that's a good suggestion. It's one of those bonehead bioses, sort of like idiot lights in cars. Nevertheless, for a proprietary mobo in a consumer-oriented mini-tower, this has been an awesome mobo in its own right. Extremely upgradeable (the only original part left is the mobo) and reliable. I even installed an ata/100 add-in card at one point despite an on-line Compaq support tech saying that it could not be done.

Next question: are there standard batteries for these things, or do I have to buy a proprietary battery for this mobo? Thanks again.

marty

[ski]

You're welcome.
It should be a standard battery.
Just make sure that the new battery's number matches(or is equivalent to) the one printed on the current battery.
Radio Shack is a good source for this type of battery.

[alex666]

Thanks again. I'm inclined to do nothing for now, as there are no indications of any psu/battery problems. Then again, we bought this in the spring of 1999, and I think it was manufactured in November, 1998. At the very least, this battery is 6 years-old. If it ain't broke, don't fix it I've always believed. But now I know how to proceed should it become an issue. If anything needs to be replaced right now, it's the case fan, but that's no biggie.

marty