CMOS batteries all the same?

swvillafan

Hi there,

Do desktop PC's use the same type of CMOS battery (CR2032) or are there variants?

Need to buy a couple of spares and don't want to buy the wrong ones, I know they're cheap but thats not the point!

Many thanks in advance

kwikbreaks

Most seem to use lithium cells these days but sfaik there is no standard - certainly in days of yore all sorts of different batteries were used. There isn't much point buying spares anyway as the drain is so low the shelf life won't exceed the lifetime in the computer by much if at all anyway.

swvillafan

kwikbreaks wrote: »

Most seem to use lithium cells these days but sfaik there is no standard - certainly in days of yore all sorts of different batteries were used. There isn't much point buying spares anyway as the drain is so low the shelf life won't exceed the lifetime in the computer by much if at all anyway.

Thanks for the advice. We run Dell machines and the ones I've checked all seem to be the same. It's only just recently a couple of machines have become forgetful of the correct time etc so I'll just buy the required amount for the time being!

kwikbreaks

Ah but if you've got a lot of ageing machines they'll all start fading away soon.

Sounds like business use so probably not appropriate but you can get these dirt cheap on eBay compared to the robber barons of DSG and the like. I've even seen cards of a couple or more in pound shops.

At least they autodetect hard drives these days so it's only the clock which you should be able to syncronise with a server anyway - they used to lose the magic numbers of sectors etc.and then they wouldn't boot without manual intervention.

Hammyman

swvillafan wrote: »

Hi there,

Do desktop PC's use the same type of CMOS battery (CR2032) or are there variants?

Need to buy a couple of spares and don't want to buy the wrong ones, I know they're cheap but thats not the point!

Many thanks in advance

Virtually all that run the button type run the CR2032. I can get them for 99p from my local shop which is far cheaper than the £3 the jewellers wants.

swvillafan

Hammyman wrote: »

Virtually all that run the button type run the CR2032. I can get them for 99p from my local shop which is far cheaper than the £3 the jewellers wants.

Thanks Hammyman, might wait till weekend. There's a battery shop in town so I'll see what his prices are like!

rsykes2000

I've had decent service from http://www.battery-force.co.uk/ for CR2032 and watch batteries, would recommend them.

Stompa

Hammyman wrote: »

Virtually all that run the button type run the CR2032. I can get them for 99p from my local shop which is far cheaper than the £3 the jewellers wants.

The big supermarkets have them too, typically around £3 for a pack of two I think.