BIOS: battery empty? Here's how to find out

If the small CMOS battery is empty, no more information is saved in the BIOS. We will show you how to recognize an empty battery and what you should do in any case.

Signs of an empty BIOS battery

If the BIOS battery is empty, information such as boot sequence or system time is lost. The computer should still start properly. You can recognize an empty battery as follows:

• If the computer has been unplugged since the battery failed, the BIOS will stop you the next time you start it. Since there is no saved boot order, you have to select it yourself.
• If this is not the case, another feature indicates that the battery is empty: If you have logged on to your operating system, you will be shown the wrong time and date. Without a battery, the computer's internal clock will not continue to run.
• In most cases, the failure of the battery will not have a major impact on usage, as long as you do not take the PC off after switching off. However, if you do not want to constantly set the boot sequence at startup, you can change the BIOS battery yourself in a few simple steps.

In the next practical tip, we will show you how to check the battery level in the BIOS.