Final answer:
To resolve the long boot time caused by the BIOS rediscovering hardware at every start-up, the technician should replace the CMOS battery and then reconfigure BIOS settings if necessary.
Step-by-step explanation:
The issue described by the student involves a computer that takes a long time to boot because the BIOS has to rediscover all hardware during each start-up. The suspicion that the CMOS battery might be losing its charge is a reasonable one. The next step in the troubleshooting process would be to replace the CMOS battery on the motherboard. This battery maintains the system settings, such as the date, time, and hardware configuration. Once the new battery is installed, the technician should enter the BIOS setup to reconfigure any settings if necessary and then reboot the computer to check if the issue has been resolved.