Computer Problems

[slutpup]

I'm not sure if this is in the right spot or if this should even be here but I really really really need help! For like the past 2-3 days whenever my laptop battery is plugged in and I think it's charging, the battery says, "plugged in, not charging". Do you know any possible reason it's doing that?

[SlutPuppy]

My old one used to do that... And then it died. I'd say try buying a new charger and if it still isn't working, maybe try going to a computer specialist? Oooor you computer is dying...

[PerfectlyImperfect]

yeah mine used to do that, then one day my charger got really REALLY hot, melted my frigging couch, but I had a spare charger and now it work brilliantly.
(I wouldn't advise letting it get all really hot) I like to use things till the wheels fall off.

[spacegal24]

It could be the contact on either side. If it's the power supply, then you just have to replace it. If it's still not charging after you get the new one, then it's the contact on the computer side, which, honestly, you'd be better off just getting a new computer. I hope this helps!

[zmoody1]

spacegal and perfectlyimperfect both have points. to help determine what it it if you have a friend who does electronics, have him use a multimeter to measure if there is any voltage where the laptop battery is placed. if there is no voltage where the battery plugs in then it's your laptop.

If the charger is really warm/hot, then A) the laptop is working really hard B) the battery is trying to charge but not taking one C) the charger is faulty and CANNOT put out enough power to run the computer and charge the battery.

Hope this info helps you out :)

[slutpup]

My old one used to do that... And then it died. I'd say try buying a new charger and if it still isn't working, maybe try going to a computer specialist? Oooor you computer is dying...

I don't have enough money to get a new anything..... :(

yeah mine used to do that, then one day my charger got really REALLY hot, melted my frigging couch, but I had a spare charger and now it work brilliantly.
(I wouldn't advise letting it get all really hot) I like to use things till the wheels fall off.

I don't have a spare charger and the battery doesn't get hot at all.....

It could be the contact on either side. If it's the power supply, then you just have to replace it. If it's still not charging after you get the new one, then it's the contact on the computer side, which, honestly, you'd be better off just getting a new computer. I hope this helps!

The thing is, my family doesn't have enough money to get anything new for my laptop......

spacegal and perfectlyimperfect both have points. to help determine what it it if you have a friend who does electronics, have him use a multimeter to measure if there is any voltage where the laptop battery is placed. if there is no voltage where the battery plugs in then it's your laptop.

If the charger is really warm/hot, then A) the laptop is working really hard B) the battery is trying to charge but not taking one C) the charger is faulty and CANNOT put out enough power to run the computer and charge the battery.

Hope this info helps you out :)

Well my dad is an expert on computers but I really don't wanna tell him......
And what if isn't really warm/hot?

[sweetsong]

Why wouldn't you want to tell your dad?

It's either the battery is dying or your power chord is dying. Going to have to replace one or both. (:

[slutpup]

Why wouldn't you want to tell your dad?

It's either the battery is dying or your power chord is dying. Going to have to replace one or both. (:

Because my dad freaks out at me if there's something wrong with my computer and I ususally end up getting grounded for weeks.....
And I don't have enough money to replace either :(

[sweetsong]

Well if he's an actual computer nerd as you say, he will know that batteries and power chords need replaced eventually and it really has nothing to do with you. Can't see a need to punish a kid for having a not brand new computer. :P

[PerfectlyImperfect]

also, if you want to handle it yourself ask your dad or a neighbor if you can use their voltage meter, if you don't want to you can get a cheap one at a store for like 1-3 dollars. then you will know what the issue is. but yeah cords go out every couple years so , shit just happens.

[slutpup]

Well if he's an actual computer nerd as you say, he will know that batteries and power chords need replaced eventually and it really has nothing to do with you. Can't see a need to punish a kid for having a not brand new computer. :P

Maybe but I'll try and see if I can figure it out and if I can't I'll ask him.

also, if you want to handle it yourself ask your dad or a neighbor if you can use their voltage meter, if you don't want to you can get a cheap one at a store for like 1-3 dollars. then you will know what the issue is. but yeah cords go out every couple years so , shit just happens.

Well, ya see, I've only had this computer for 4 months and 10 days......

[peaceful_soul]

As people have been saying, it's one or the other a cable or a battery. It does make me wonder why its having this issue so soon of buying the computer, unless it was used or referbished. It's not unheard of new computers having this issue though. Here are some suggestions to get the most of your battery:

When your running on battery alone, keep the sound low and the game playing minimum if they are using heavy graphics, dimming the brightness of the screen will also help.

When your done with the computer, make sure you turn it off and not leave it on sleep mode for long periods of time. Also when your done with the computer and it's at 100%, make sure the computer is turned off and the cord is removed.

[slutpup]

As people have been saying, it's one or the other a cable or a battery. It does make me wonder why its having this issue so soon of buying the computer, unless it was used or referbished. It's not unheard of new computers having this issue though. Here are some suggestions to get the most of your battery:

When your running on battery alone, keep the sound low and the game playing minimum if they are using heavy graphics, dimming the brightness of the screen will also help.

When your done with the computer, make sure you turn it off and not leave it on sleep mode for long periods of time. Also when your done with the computer and it's at 100%, make sure the computer is turned off and the cord is removed.

Hey, thanks!! Well I don't know how it happened but the problem seemed to have fixed itself. I turned it on today and now it says it's plugged in, charging!!! :)

[slutpup]

Wait, no it didn't :( Now it says it's not charging! Why does this have to happen to me??????????

[Elliot-Slaveboy]

I would suggest finding a laptop repair shop that will do a free maintenance check to assess what the problem is. This way you can learn what needs fixing and have some sort of idea if you can afford to fix it without having to spend anything.

If you can't afford to fix it then sadly you are just going to have to manage without for a while. Remember Ebay is your friend and a good way of making a few hundred bucks in a short space of time, i'm sure you have plenty of stuff that's less important to you than your laptop.

Also i can understand why you dont want to tell your dad about it, he might assume you have been careless with it, which may or may not be the truth, but often if there is an already known problem with the laptop or charger in such a short time space after buying it, the laptop companies will send a computer mechanic to fix it for free, or if it is a really serious problem, sometimes they will even replace your laptop for free. The reason i mention your dad is that, it must be the person who purchased the laptop and has a receipt for it that calls the company.

Good luck with your problem

[slutpup]

I would suggest finding a laptop repair shop that will do a free maintenance check to assess what the problem is. This way you can learn what needs fixing and have some sort of idea if you can afford to fix it without having to spend anything.

If you can't afford to fix it then sadly you are just going to have to manage without for a while. Remember Ebay is your friend and a good way of making a few hundred bucks in a short space of time, i'm sure you have plenty of stuff that's less important to you than your laptop.

Also i can understand why you dont want to tell your dad about it, he might assume you have been careless with it, which may or may not be the truth, but often if there is an already known problem with the laptop or charger in such a short time space after buying it, the laptop companies will send a computer mechanic to fix it for free, or if it is a really serious problem, sometimes they will even replace your laptop for free. The reason i mention your dad is that, it must be the person who purchased the laptop and has a receipt for it that calls the company.

Good luck with your problem

Actually, my brother bought it for me for Christmas.

[peaceful_soul]

Ehh, no.... Don't take it in to a computer shop unless you want to pay for what we have already told you. It's either the cord or the battery. What you should do is buy both, keep the recept and find out if it was the battery or the cord that needed to be replaced. Once you find out what needed to be replaced, take what didn't need to be replaced back to the store or keep it as a back up.

[knightgunner13]

do you have a wonttiey on it since its only 4 months old? if not i would check the wall outlet to see if it has enough power to a charge through the cable (your dad cant yell at you for that) or it might be a bad connection the part that plugs into your computer like its not touching all the way.
good luck:scratchchin:

[comicslave]

Well if you are able to use the puter while plugged in it may not be a charger issue try checking the battery maybe see if another computer has the same battery that you can put in and just see if it's the battery.

That be it if it's the issue then odds are you will end up buying something in end. If you can do with the issues then just go on.

[zmoody1]

how about i say it's NOT THE CABLE. Reason being cause if the cable was "broken" then then the computer would not be on because slutpup is saying the computer says battery is not charging.

and for saying what if the power supple is not warm/hot, it means the battery is not taking a charge cause A) the battery has experienced so many charging cycles that the battery has reached it's life expectancy and cant take any more charges or B) the contacts are not making proper connections or they're broken.

[Blackjack]

I've had this before and it was an easy fix for me. Wasn't a cable or battery problem but just a silly windows bug.

I dunno if it'll be the same for you but try doing this.

Turn on your computer with the cable plugged in and then once it's all started up unplug the cable and shut the laptop down.

Once it has shut down take the battery out of the laptop and plug the charger in and start it up again with the battery still removed.

When it has started go to the control panel, then the hardware and sound section and then underneath devices and printers go to device manager.

Once device manager is open click on the batteries section to expand it and then right click on anything that says Microsoft ACPI Compliant Control Method Battery and press uninstall.

Shut down the laptop again and unplug the charger, put the battery in, plug the charger in again and start the laptop again and that should be it fixed.

The whole process is much less tedious than it sounds :p

[Elliot-Slaveboy]

Ehh, no.... Don't take it in to a computer shop unless you want to pay for what we have already told you. It's either the cord or the battery. What you should do is buy both, keep the recept and find out if it was the battery or the cord that needed to be replaced. Once you find out what needed to be replaced, take what didn't need to be replaced back to the store or keep it as a back up.

I guess you didn't fully read my post friend.

I still suggest looking for a repair shop that will look at your laptop for FREE. I'll repeat it again.... FREE, FREE, no money involved, you wont need to pay for anything unless you actually request that they fix your problem, it is a competitive industry and many will not charge for this service! Maybe they will simply will tell you what has been said on here, but maybe their are additional problems that you are unaware of. Once an actual professional (as supposed to someone on an adult forum) has given you an analysis you will be sure of the problem.

Then get your brother to give you the details of the laptop purchase so you can contact the manufacturer about the problem. It may turn out they will fix your problem for FREE... again NO MONEY! Hopefully i have made my point enough this time that people wont simply ignore it and pass off my advice. I recently had a broken hinge on my laptop and Dell sent a repair technician to my house to replace my entire screen FREE of charge!

At the end of the day, people on here, may think they know what they are talking about but you can never be 100% sure your problem will be sorted unless a professional looks at the problem.

[Blackjack]

At the end of the day, people on here, may think they know what they are talking about but you can never be 100% sure your problem will be sorted unless a professional looks at the problem.

I'm sorry but in my opinion that is just a silly thing to say. This is an adult forum as you put it, but I don't understand how that means that the people on here aren't knowledgeable. You don't know what profession the people trying to help in this thread have, some might be IT professionals.

And to just discard free advice that you can try before taking it to a repair place to have it looked at is ridiculous. A quick Google of most problems offers advice on how to fix stuff yourself, for free that a repair place is likely going to charge you at least an hours labour for.

Just my opinion

[slutpup]

I've had this before and it was an easy fix for me. Wasn't a cable or battery problem but just a silly windows bug.

I dunno if it'll be the same for you but try doing this.

Turn on your computer with the cable plugged in and then once it's all started up unplug the cable and shut the laptop down.

Once it has shut down take the battery out of the laptop and plug the charger in and start it up again with the battery still removed.

When it has started go to the control panel, then the hardware and sound section and then underneath devices and printers go to device manager.

Once device manager is open click on the batteries section to expand it and then right click on anything that says Microsoft ACPI Compliant Control Method Battery and press uninstall.

Shut down the laptop again and unplug the charger, put the battery in, plug the charger in again and start the laptop again and that should be it fixed.

The whole process is much less tedious than it sounds :p

Okay. I can try that. But how do I get it back installed?

[Blackjack]

It will do it itself, you don't need to worry about that.

[slutpup]

I fixed it!!!!! All I did was let the battery drain completely and then plug it in. It charged just fine. :)

[ld2007]

From what I've heard, there can be a problem where the Battery Monitoring software can't read the battery levels correctly and states that it isn't charging. I've seen 2 ways to solve this:
1) Empty the battery and charge from there
2) turn of laptop. Disconnect battery. Reconnect battery and turn on whilst plugged in.

So good to see my computing a-level paid off...Wait, it still hasn't paid off. Damn it

[IvIaniac]

Not to disagree with whatever's already been said, but my laptop does that sometimes, too. The battery's degraded, sure, because it's about 4 years old now and can only hold charge for 3 minutes, but it's fine in the technical sense. So is the charger.
What makes mine "plugged in, not charge" is because the laptop gets extremely hot. So what I do is usually raise the whole thing and let the temperatures drop - considerably. Once the USB ports don't feel like coals, it starts charging again. Maybe that's something similar to what you're facing?

[slutpup]

I got it fixed. All I did was let the battery drain all the way and then charged it from there.