When I first set up my home theater system, I used the remotes that came with the components for a few weeks and then bought a Pronto to replace them all with a single remote.

I put all of the remotes in a drawer and forgot about them for a few years. When I needed to use the receiver's original remote to do something I hadn't programmed into the Pronto, I found that the batteries had leaked and ruined the remote.

So if you buy a universal remote to replace your other remotes, remove the batteries from the remotes before you put them into storage. This is especially important if you used the no-name batteries that came with the remotes.