Power Problem

[Knotical]

I am reaching out to those tech savvy members that are more techie than I am. I have a laptop that has recently started acting up in the power department. Suddenly it no longer recognizes the battery that is installed, even though it is a relatively new battery. Also, it will intermittently work off of the AC adapter.

The weird thing is that I recently tried turning it on with just the battery installed and it came on just fine, but when everything came up it still shows that it is not recognizing that there is a battery installed. How is it possible for the laptop to be running if it has no recognizable power supply?

 

[tim-from-pa]

I am reaching out to those tech savvy members that are more techie than I am. I have a laptop that has recently started acting up in the power department. Suddenly it no longer recognizes the battery that is installed, even though it is a relatively new battery. Also, it will intermittently work off of the AC adapter.

The weird thing is that I recently tried turning it on with just the battery installed and it came on just fine, but when everything came up it still shows that it is not recognizing that there is a battery installed. How is it possible for the laptop to be running if it has no recognizable power supply?

I would say software glitch. Obviously it has power if it physically turns on, but the software may not recognize that power. It's along the same line as my iphone (or my wife's iphone) sometimes it says the percentage is lower than it really is, and in Apple's case a reboot usually solves the issue. Problem is that if the software does not recognize the battery/power, it will probably shut down the computer thinking its saving it. To prove whether or not its software (which I already believe it is but....) you can boot up using a live stick operating system, like Linux, and see if the computer runs normally then (I think it will). If it does, then you have some software troubleshooting/correction ahead of you. Also, you may get a hint as to the source of the problem by asking when this all started. You say "suddenly" but was it still after other software was installed? Something physically happen to the computer (even if it was a minor, overlooked thing)? Maybe even adapter damage? What? Retracing your steps may give us a clue.

 

[Knotical]

Well, I do know it began after one of my kids dropped it, but not immediately. I have noticed that the battery itself is a little lose, so pressing it a bit more firmly into the body of the laptop will allow it to turn on, but I still have the issue of the laptop not recognizing that there is a battery installed. Also, the laptop will only work when we press the battery more firmly into the body, even when the adapter is plugged in.

 

[tim-from-pa]

Well, I do know it began after one of my kids dropped it, but not immediately. I have noticed that the battery itself is a little lose, so pressing it a bit more firmly into the body of the laptop will allow it to turn on, but I still have the issue of the laptop not recognizing that there is a battery installed. Also, the laptop will only work when we press the battery more firmly into the body, even when the adapter is plugged in.

Well then I take that back. Apparently you have a battery connection problem. Whether or not its fixable, I don't know -- it should be looked at. It matters not if you have an adaptor for it. If the battery is not connected right, there will be power problems even if the adaptor is connected. Cell phones are the same way even if you run down the battery until it no longer charges, don't expect the adaptor to be an alternate source. It won't work without a working battery. It's been that way for years now. I don't like it, but that's the thing with the newer electronics monitoring the power; not like the olden days where either one or the other would run it. Although I should talk. This 10-year-old DELL laptop here is running on a battery that won't charge by just the adaptor, but then again the dead battery is at least connected. But not all computers or cell phones will do that like I stated.

 

[Lewis]

Go to your BIOS and see if it is being detected if not let me know, also I need to know what brand it is and model,

 

[Knotical]

That's ok, Lewis, it is completely dead at this point. Won't power on for anything. I will be taking the hard drive out and using it as an external backup for my other computer and have started looking for a new laptop.

 

[Lewis]

Yeah more than likely MOBO failure

 

[JohnDB]

Dell?

Yeah....have had this happen often with Dell laptop products.

You are on borrowed time for it to die.

The problem is buried deep in the laptop so that fixing it will be more expensive than replacing it.

Maybe nurse it for a while... But its the warning that this is the end of the laptop.

 

[Knotical]

Actually, it is an HP Pavilion. I am pretty sure that the problems are due to my kids having dropped it a couple of times.

For my next laptop I am looking at a Toshiba. Any other recommendations?

I have looked at the new Surface 4 Pro's but they are just too expensive right now.

 

[Nick]

Check out Lenovo. Built very well.

 

[tim-from-pa]

My next laptop will be a Chromebook most likely. You can get them for under $200. I may upgrade it somewhat with a larger SSD so that I may add Linux dual boot, but Google Chrome is essentially Linux anyway. I think the way to go will eventually be SSD, but at this point most are only 16GB and more expensive ones are 64GB whereas HDD are up in the terabytes. But the good news is there's more and more online storage these days. I wanted something with a SDD for many years now, but I'm ahead of my time. Like any time machine I went back and I have to wait for something I know is coming out, but it hasn't yet. I "already miss" something that hasn't been big yet.

 

[Knotical]

I do see the virtue of having a SSD, but I really need a laptop with more storage than what I can get with one of those drives. Of course you can't really find a traditional laptop at a reasonable price with an onboard SSD drive. You pretty much have to buy a regular laptop with an HDD, then upgrade the hard drive.

I don't like to store anything on "the cloud" as I am very privacy/security minded and just don't trust online places to store docs and things.

I am really just looking for a solid laptop in the $500-$700 range that will not come with an inordinate amount of bloatware.

 

[tim-from-pa]

I do see the virtue of having a SSD, but I really need a laptop with more storage than what I can get with one of those drives. Of course you can't really find a traditional laptop at a reasonable price with an onboard SSD drive. You pretty much have to buy a regular laptop with an HDD, then upgrade the hard drive.

I don't like to store anything on "the cloud" as I am very privacy/security minded and just don't trust online places to store docs and things.

I am really just looking for a solid laptop in the $500-$700 range that will not come with an inordinate amount of bloatware.

I think you can get remote drives, and also Google has an app that lets you create local directories to store your own stuff in, and if nowhere else on your remote drive. With SDD, that may be the route we all have to go for awhile. Mechanical HDD's can break down. Online storage is only a problem if you are hacked and someone steals/corrupts your files. If you use the Internet at all that's already a privacy compromise anyway, as your surfing habits gets stored on their servers. Yes I am a little more suspicious myself of "commercialized Linux" like Android and Google Chrome but again the spying goes on beyond your computer. Proof of that is I can get ads targeted even here on my Linux Ubuntu laptop based on my browsing history on their site (i.e. if I was logged in). I already automatically delete my cookies each time I close down this browser, but that only minimizes it. The nature of the Internet is that tracking is a given since computers need your IP address to even work. So that's how I abate those fears.