No, I've been reliant soley on this forum. I'll try there.
Tom's is excellent for general and quite detailed information, but sometimes a specialist forum dedicated to one small aspect of computing provides more relevant help.
I have not tried replacing CMOS and unplugging the RAM. What would replacing the CMOS battery do?
I think what they're trying to do is remove all traces of stored settings from the BIOS, by removing the CMOS battery, taking it back to the "factory" setting.
As for removing the RAM, it's something I wouldt never have thought of, but perhaps it's to make sure that if your Power Options are configured to enter Sleep mode when you close the lid, some laptops might keep the RAM powered on, to retain all your programs and open documents. Perhaps this only applies to desktops or servers? I've never used Sleep, so I'm a bit hazy about the exact details. I sometimes use Hibernation on laptops, but generally perform a complete Shut Down.
Clearing CMOS memory and temporarily removing the SODIMM, should bring you back to the original state the laptop was in when it left the factory, apart from all the settings on the Windows boot drive. Goodness knows what garbage is sitting in the Windows Registry that could have accumulated over the years.
I recently bought a couple of second hand laptops as gifts and despite the fact they both booted up into Windows, I wiped the SSDs and installed a fresh copy of Windows. This doesn't always fix issues caused by conflicting/old drivers or spurious Registry entries, but you never know what problems you're inheriting.
I'm not sure if your laptop comes with SATA SSD or an M.2 SATA or NVMe drive, but I'd consider removing it temporarily and fitting a cheap replacement test drive. If the drive is M.2, check to see if it's SATA or NVMe. Older laptops may use SATA, newer laptops NVMe. Some laptop chipsets can only work with one type of M.2 drive. Check the part number on the M.2 label before fitting a replacement. You can't always tell NVMe from SATA by the keyways.
With the new SSD in place, boot from a USB stick with your current version of Windows. Install the OS and see if the battery is recognised. You may have to download the chipset drivers from the Acer web site if Windows doesn't detect all your hardware. I give you a 50:50 chance of success, possibly less.
it bugs me that they are so down on non-OEM parts when I couldn't find an OEM battery anywhere.
It's probable that some cheap cloned batteries are so badly constructed they catch fire during charging and burn the house down when you're asleep. Of course OEM batteries can do the same.
https://www.techradar.com/news/samsung-galaxy-note-7-battery-fires-heres-why-they-exploded
You stand a better chance of getting a high quality battery if you buy OEM (if available) and pay $130, rather than a $30 clone. In theory a manufacturer's battery should be detected correctly and not generate spurious 255% messages. No absolute guarantee though. How dreadful is your original battery? Totally flat?
Of course some batteries are no longer available, unless you scour every computer shop and dealer in the world. That's life.
There may be millions of people happily using clone batteries, but you only get to hear scare stories of disasters and doom laden predictions from people advising caution. The clone battery I installed in my Lenovo hasn't died yet and I'll test it for several months before gifting the laptop.
Good luck.
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram