Had a TERRIBLE week with a Windows 98 machine that just would not boot

I spent 3 whole days trying to get an old Dell OptiPlex GX110 to start after it sat in storage for 5 years. Turns out the CMOS battery had leaked and corroded the motherboard traces near the socket. I tried cleaning it with vinegar and alcohol but no luck. Has anyone else had a board die this way or is there some trick I missed?

2 comments

2 Comments

taylorcarr15h ago

Did you check if the corrosion spread under the CPU socket itself, or was it mainly concentrated around the battery holder? I've heard some people claim you can scrape the green stuff off with a fiberglass pen and jump the broken traces with thin wire, but that sounds risky as hell on a board this old. Did you try powering it on with just the bare minimum connected (no drives, one stick of RAM) to see if it would even POST? The clock crystal can also fail after that long sitting dead, especially if the battery leaked near it.

cameron_chen6316h ago

That battery corrosion thing is wild, it's like how old phone chargers always die at the bendy part first - same idea of a tiny weak point ruining everything. Once that green crust gets in the board layers, it's basically game over.