Is it normally safe to replace a laptop SSD without unplugging the battery?
I wish to replace the SSD on my Samsung NP900XCE, which required me to remove the entire back panel. So far so good, but unfortunately I failed to remove three of the screws holding the battery in place. The heads (Philips) got a bit damaged by my attempt.
I did manage to remove the screws holding the mSata SSD in place, so physically I can replace it, but I'm afraid of damaging the motherboard or SSD if I replace the SSD with the battery still attached. I suspect that the laptop is never completely turned off while the battery is still attached. One indication of this is that the charge level of the battery drops with about 5 % per week even when I'm not using the laptop at all. I'm not using sleep mode or anything, but the laptop is really fast at booting.
There is a small button on the battry for "Emergency cutoff" of the battery power, in case water is spilled on the laptop. But the manual says:
"Do not cut the battery power under normal conditions. This may result in data loss or a product malfunction."
Supposedly, "if you connect the AC adapter, the battery power will be supplied again", but I'm not to keen on testing if it works...