shorting CMOS with AC power connected or not ?

I had assumed (maybe wrongly) that the CMOS should be shorted with both the battery and the AC adapter not connected to the computer at any time, but in the service manual for the Acer 4730Z Acer says:

• Power Off a system, and remove HDD, AC and Battery from the machine.
• Open the back cover of the machine, and find out the HW Gap on M/B as picture.
• Use an electric conductivity tool to short the two points of the HW Gap.
• Plug in AC, keep the short condition on the HW Gap, and press Power Button to power on the
system till BIOS POST finish. Then remove the tool from the HW Gap.
• Restart system. Press F2 key to enter BIOS Setup menu.
• If there is no Password request, BIOS Password is cleared. Otherwise, please follow the steps and
try again.
NOTE: The steps are only for clearing BIOS Password (Supervisor Password and User Password).

Can anyone tell me whether "keeping the short condition" while the AC adapter is plugged in would apply in the case of the Aspire One too?

Thanks!