<p>So I have this big competition this Friday, and knowing that my calculator is almost out of batteries, I'm kind of afraid that i'm going to lose all of my programs before then. Currently I have all of my programs archived but I dont know if that will prevent them from being erased. Since I am definately not going to change my batteries now and see what happens (those programs are very rare and valueable) does anyone know what really will happen to my archived programs if I change my batteries now? Thanks!</p>
<p>Changing your batteries does nothing in terms of content, programs, etc. There is a backup battery in the calculator that rarely (if ever) needs replacing and keeps all of your data stored. You can see the backup battery cover by looking right above where the four triple-A batteries go. </p>
<p>Replacing just the triple-A batteries won’t do a single thing. Taking them out is just like turning your calculator off.</p>
<p>Is there a difference between if you just change your batteries or if your batteries go dead and then change them? I have definately lost programs in the past when my batteries died and the first thing that came up when I turned on the calculator was “RAM CLEARED”.</p>
<p>Hm, interesting.</p>
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<p>The backup battery rarely needs replacing IF you make sure to change the AAAs when you need to. If the rest of your batteries just completely die, the backup battery can only keep the memory running for so long.</p>
<p>If you have all your programs archived, they won’t be deleted if you change your batteries. In the rare event that your RAM did reset after changing the batteries, your ARCHIVEd stuff would still not be deleted, just the stuff in your RAM.</p>