XPS 420, system battery low

XPS 420 Battery Cell Replacement –

Sorry to repost my last questions on the cell battery replacement.  It seems I had deleted the thread.  I had received replies directing me to links.

The links said to record my BIOS settings first and to reinstall those settings after I reinstall the battery.

1. What happens if after I replace the battery, I do not change any settings and use the default settings which will occur after I replace the battery.

1. When I select F2 (Dell System), there are many fields I can select. What field do I choose under F2 to record and/or change the settings?  I use Vista.

Jerry

1/30/2023

P.S.  Is there method to reinstall the thread that was deleted?

If you boot your system with default BIOS settings, it may or may not having issue, depending on what type of settings when the operating system was installed.  Here is one example of a serious issue:

If your hard drive was installed with ATA storage controller driver, it won't boot when the BIOS settings changes to RAID mode as default settings

I think recording of your current settings is a good way of keeping notes.  After selecting F2 to get in BIOS, just select each category and take a picture with your phone so that you can compare afterward to see if anything was changed.

Not sure of the reason you delete and wanting to undelete your post but that could be a question for Mods.  I found another of your recent post, maybe the one you are looking for https://www.dell.com/community/XPS-Desktops/XPS-420-system-battery-low/m-p/8341638#M79395

Here's the thread- Solved: XPS 420, system battery low - Dell Community

Hello Chino de Oro and others.

First, thanks to all for getting my thread to be readable.  I had trouble finding the posts.

You said after doing F2, to take pictures of the fields for later review.

I have 14 fields to review under F2.  It turns out when I review the options for the 14 fields, only two fields offer the option that says, “Enter to Modify This Setting.”  The other 12 fields do not offer a change or modify option.  The two fields that I can modify are, “Date and Time” and “Boot Sequence.”

So, it appears there are only two fields I would need to take pictures of.  And since the other 12 fields cannot be changed, there would be no need to check them.  Do you agree? 

Jerry

I do not have a similar BIOS settings in front of me for verification but I suggest to look at the following:

Which drive is on, which one is off

Which operating mode is on RAID, ATA, IDE

And of course, the Boot Sequence.

After changing the battery (must be careful as someone broke a secure tab while doing that recently), you can go back into BIOS and verify those value, make change if necessary to match with previous settings.

Hello –

You stated:

1. If your hard drive was installed with ATA storage controller driver, it won't boot when the BIOS settings changes to RAID mode as default settings   How can I check on this?
2. Which drive is on, which one is off
3. Which operating mode is on RAID, ATA, IDE

Can you tell me how to check on the above?

Jerry

In your BIOS, you can expand category such as Drives, Onboard Devices, Video, Performance, Security, Power Mgt, Maintenance, Post Behavior and taking pictures from each category for note keeping.  When expanding Drives, you should find current settings for hard drives, floppy, etc...

Didn't mean to drive you off topic or getting too involve with technical, just being cautious if your BIOS gets reset to default.  The example of non-boot issue was given to demonstrate certain unwanted result from BIOS settings change.  But, with your note, correcting it shouldn't be an issue.

Also, be careful not to damage other components while removing the battery as it sat in tight space between a chipset heatsink, memory modules, and the ATX power connector.

Hello Chino

Thanks for the return.  Here is what I have found out.

I often run sfc/ scannow.  When I do, the below article, which I got from a website’s tutorial, says when I do sfc my boot screen resets back to default settings.  So, if that is true, it seems I should be okay and not have to check my BIOS settings before. My point is, if my sfc tool has always reset my BIOS to default, it would seem safe to it now without recording my current BIOS settings.  Also, I have never changed any of my BIOS settings since I’ve had the computer which would tell me it has always been in the default settings.

Boot Screen - Change

How to Change the Default Boot Screen in Vista The boot screen is the screen that displays during the bootup (startup) of Vista before the logon screen (welcome screen) and the desktop.  Running the sfc/ scannow command will reset the boot screen back to default. If you wanted to run chkdsk at startup or the Memory Diagnostic Tool and you have changed the default boot screen, then you will need to temporarily change the boot screen back to the default boot screen to be able to see what is happening first to be able to see what is happening when they run at startup.

Regards,

Jerry

1/31/2023

Hello Jerry,

I think you are confused between BIOS settings and Boot Screen settings.  They are totally different things.  Boot Screen is visual display when Windows starts.  BIOS settings is a subset of instructions managing input output devices when computer system starts (before Windows starts).

I also think that your query in this original post has been resolved.  Your previous post was located and merged.  BIOS settings was explained and fields to take note were elaborated.  Caution was advised and battery location was confirmed.

All left to do is replacing that little coin cell batt.  Although it is a simple job but if you never done that before and unsure of what to expect, hence the community members inputs and advises.  In reality, nothing to it, just follow the instructions from @JOcean linked manual.  You will be fine.

At worse, come back here and we will help if you run into problem.

Interesting - my original battery has also in the past month started doing the low voltage alert.  Consistent if nothing else.

BTW, I upgrade to WIN11 last week.  A tad sluggish, but very usable... you can't kill these things!