Leaving my PC Gaming Rig on should I?

There is a battery on the motherboard about the size of a nickel, change that. It is pretty unusual for it to go bad as I have seen them last years.
 
There is a battery on the motherboard about the size of a nickel, change that. It is pretty unusual for it to go bad as I have seen them last years.


This is correct, while it is not likely that your unusually long boot time is due to a CMOS battery, it would still be a good idea to change it.

Most CMOS batteries will last for about 3 years or more, while another batteries will fail in 3 months.

You battery is located some where on your motherboard, and is most likely a CR2032, found in most any store, even Walgreens, and CVS stores for about $3.00. They are very common, and used in car dongles, fan controllers, and numerous other devices.

Your slow boot times, may be due to a load of executables opening that you're not aware of. It can also be due to a ton of fractured registry entries, and a numerous other issues.

If I were you, I wouldn't bother going crazy trying to find the problem/problems, I'd just format the drive, and reload a nice clean install of the OS which will cure any issues relating to the OS.
 
This is correct, while it is not likely that your unusually long boot time is due to a CMOS battery, it would still be a good idea to change it.

Most CMOS batteries will last for about 3 years or more, while another batteries will fail in 3 months.

You battery is located some where on your motherboard, and is most likely a CR2032, found in most any store, even Walgreens, and CVS stores for about $3.00. They are very common, and used in car dongles, fan controllers, and numerous other devices.

Your slow boot times, may be due to a load of executables opening that you're not aware of. It can also be due to a ton of fractured registry entries, and a numerous other issues.

If I were you, I wouldn't bother going crazy trying to find the problem/problems, I'd just format the drive, and reload a nice clean install of the OS which will cure any issues relating to the OS.

Agreed.

First, I would do a hardware test to make sure that nothing is failing. If the computer feels overly sluggish, it could be a sign of hard drive failure. I would do a quick test to rule it out before formatting and reinstalling the OS.
 
Agreed.

First, I would do a hardware test to make sure that nothing is failing. If the computer feels overly sluggish, it could be a sign of hard drive failure. I would do a quick test to rule it out before formatting and reinstalling the OS.

Ok, thanks everyone. Computers, specifically hardware is my main hobby. That and PC Gaming of course. I am aware that the CMOS is the battery and yes I know where it is on the motherboard. I remember seeing it in the middle when I was first building my computer. I will go to CVS and purchase the battery. Is it really necessary to reformat though, once I replace the battery?

Edit: One more thing. Other than it being slow at start up and taking those 4 minutes, I have no problems playing games, running programs, etc.
 
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Ok, thanks everyone. Computers, specifically hardware is my main hobby. That and PC Gaming of course. I am aware that the CMOS is the battery and yes I know where it is on the motherboard. I remember seeing it in the middle when I was first building my computer. I will go to CVS and purchase the battery. Is it really necessary to reformat though, once I replace the battery?

Edit: One more thing. Other than it being slow at start up and taking those 4 minutes, I have no problems playing games, running programs, etc.


If your having no issues playing games, or using other software, and you've never gotten a Hard Drive Failure Warning, then chances are your hard drive is fine.

After you replace that CMOS battery, you'll have to go into your BIOS and re-set what ever parameters you had before. Once that is done, I'd back-up everything and reinstall the OS.
 
To answer your question, it is not necessary to reformat the hard drive when you change the CMOS battery. Reformatting is suggested to resolve the excruciatingly slow bootup you're experiencing.
 
To answer your question, it is not necessary to reformat the hard drive when you change the CMOS battery. Reformatting is suggested to resolve the excruciatingly slow bootup you're experiencing.

Yes I know that. It is too late to go out now and buy the battery. I will do that first thing tomorrow after school. I have a quick question though. What if I was to reformat now and then tomorrow put the new battery in. Does order matter? I assume it does, but I just want to be sure.
 
Sorry for the double post, I cannot edit after a certain amount of time for some reason. Out of curiosity, what would happen if I didn't do anything about the battery and let it die? Would there be permanent damage? What would happen?
 
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