If you're talking about the CMOS battery, I wouldn't worry about it.

First, if it does die, all you're going to lose is the system time and a few BIOS settings.  If you're familiar enough with these, they will be easy enough to replace.  Besides, if you take out your battery to put a new one in, you'll lose them anyway.

Second, I've seen machines run for much longer than yours without needing a new battery.  You should be fine.

If you're really worried, I'd say just pick one up and stick it in a drawer someplace... just in case you need it.

frankphelps,

One indication that the battery is beginning to fail is that your system will begin to lose time. Replacement is a simple process which you can do yourself using the instructions here.

frankphelps,

Thank you for using the Dell Community Forum.

You can replace if you like. I usually will not replace the battery until I see some issues that are related to the battery being bad. You can pretty much pop the battery in yourself. It is not very difficult.

WOW!!!  What great responses and great support!  Thanks All. 

I mistakenly thought it was a major concern.  I've got the clock synchronized with something (?) on the internet so maybe I wouldn't see the slow-down.  Guess I'll take the suggestion to lay in a spare just in case.

If it ain't broke don't fix it?

Again, THANKS!

Frank

Yes, WinXP has a bug where it dramatically loses time.  As a workaround, one of Microsoft's updates allowed the user to synchronize their clock with the Atomic Clock every few seconds over the internet.

On the one hand, this is a nice touch, because PC's are notoriously poor timekeepers.

On the other hand, it's a great example of how programmers would rather work around their mistakes than fix them.  plus, if you have an XP machine with no internet, you're SOL.

Very intereting, Malinthas.  I checked my clock and find that I'm sync'd with time.nist.gov.  Happens automatically weekly on Saturdays at 7:41 pm.

Frank

how can I find out what the battery number is before I remove the old one?  Where is the best place to get new batteries?

YuccaAl

It helps to post the computer model?

Dell desktop systems use a 3-V CR2032 lithium coin cell, this can be purchased from a Radio Shack, WalMart or most pharmacies, etc.

Bev.


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Please don't send me questions about your system by DCF Messenger.
Post the issue in the appropriate Board, where they will be answered.

Dimension XPS T500 came out at the turn of the century (no pun intended).... like the others said as long as it retains the bios settings then leave it alone.