Replacing The CMOS Battery on a Dell Latitude D630/D620

Step 1 - Unplug from the mains and remove the battery

Step 2 - Remove the hinge cover (make sure the screen is flat when you do this)

Step 3 - Use a plastic spudger (or carefully use a flat blade screwdriver) in the notch on the right-hand-side of the hinge cover to gently remove it

Step 4 - With the hinge cover removed you can now unscrew the keyboard:

Step 5 - Carefully remove the keyboard and the CMOS battery should be revealed.

Step 6 - Once you have replaced the CMOS battery (it's basically a CR2032 by the way) all you have to do is reverse the above steps and you'll be good to go!

Make sure you press F2 to enter the BIOS and check/set the date and time after replacing the CMOS battery as it's this battery that keeps the RTC (Real Time Clock) going when the laptop is powered off.

Do You Have To Match A CMOS/BIOS Battery Exactly?

The short answer is as long as it's the same voltage and you're not replacing a rechargeable version with a non-rechargeable version then it should be fine - as long as it fits that is!

The other day I had a retro laptop that had a dead CR2330 in it and after looking through my (ever growing) collection of new batteries I had everything but the one I wanted!

Thankfully the one I needed to replace was on a lead rather than having to fit in to a socket so I could change it for a similar size battery of the same voltage (3V) as the numbers that make up the battery code are basically its circumfrance and thickness.