CMOS Reserve Battery on Inspiron 600M

As noted it's an old 600M Inspiron that stopped working about 2 yrs ago when I turned it on and after a few seconds the screen turned orange and shut down.  A few months later I hooked it up to an external monitor and nothing.  I mean when I power on the green light turns on and shuts down after 9 seconds.  The battery is good but I replaced it anyway but still the same problem.  After sitting on a bookshelf for 6 months, a friend turned it on and had it working for about 90 min.  I was not there.  He suggested unplugging and replugging the cmos or reserve battery found in the side of the main battery compartment.

It was tough to get out and I broke the tiny white plug (wired to the 3 small round batteries wrapped in plastic) in the process.  I ordered a new reserve battery on ebay for $2.99.  I could not get the plug all the way into the socket.  It's a tight fit so using pliers I squeezed it in. 

Any suggestions would be appreciated.