Needing computer help.. Any help?

Cloud_Dancer

Okay folks.. Here is a little problem I'm having with my laptop.. Anyone who's had this problem before or anyone who knows much about computers, please feel free to leave me some advice or thoughts or even solutions..

I have a Dell Inspiron 1545 Laptop. I've had it for roughly a year and a half.. maybe not exactly that long, but close to it. (Ordered it from Dell) I would tell ya what kind of battery it has, but I have no clue. What I can tell you is that it is a big one that comes away from the computer a bit. Suppose to last 8 hours, I think.. or something like that. When I got my laptop I wanted a lot of battery life so I got the biggest one.

Now here's my issue..

I've never had any problem with charging or it holding a good charge. Then all of a sudden, the charger was no longer working. The laptop wasn't even recognizing that it was plugged in. My thoughts were that my charger has went bad. To test this (not sure if this was a good idea or not), I borrowed my moms charger. It was the charger for another Dell laptop, but a different model. My laptop recognizes this charger, but it isn't charging. It will give me power as long as it is plugged in, but as soon as I unplug it, my laptop dies. I turned my computer off overnight and let it get a good change to charge. This morning it was completely dead. When I turn my computer on with this new charger I get an error message saying something about my computer doesn't recognize the charger and it could be harmful, yadda yadda yadda.. I'm figuring this is because this charger isn't the right charger for my computer. Now here's the question.. is my battery dead and I need a new one or is it not charging because I need the right charger for my laptop? How long are laptop batteries suppose to last? And last but not least, what are the odds that the charger AND the battery would go out at the same time?

Any thoughts, ideas, suggestions, solutions... throw them out there for me.. I'm all ears!!

Atlantique

Had the same problem w/a 6 month old Dell Studio. Dell sent someone out to my house as it was still under warranty and the motherboard, the charger and one other part I don't recall were all replaced. As soon as I told them it wasn't charging and the laptop sometimes couldn't recognize the charger, they told me on the phone what had to be done.

Cloud_Dancer

Had the same problem w/a 6 month old Dell Studio. Dell sent someone out to my house as it was still under warranty and the motherboard, the charger and one other part I don't recall were all replaced. As soon as I told them it wasn't charging and the laptop sometimes couldn't recognize the charger, they told me on the phone what had to be done.

Oh no.. that doesn't sound good. Wonder how long the warranties last? A year? I can't remember.

Atlantique

Had the same problem w/a 6 month old Dell Studio. Dell sent someone out to my house as it was still under warranty and the motherboard, the charger and one other part I don't recall were all replaced. As soon as I told them it wasn't charging and the laptop sometimes couldn't recognize the charger, they told me on the phone what had to be done.

Oh no.. that doesn't sound good. Wonder how long the warranties last? A year? I can't remember.

It's usually a year unless you extend it.

Cloud_Dancer

Had the same problem w/a 6 month old Dell Studio. Dell sent someone out to my house as it was still under warranty and the motherboard, the charger and one other part I don't recall were all replaced. As soon as I told them it wasn't charging and the laptop sometimes couldn't recognize the charger, they told me on the phone what had to be done.

Oh no.. that doesn't sound good. Wonder how long the warranties last? A year? I can't remember.

It's usually a year unless you extend it.

Just my luck. A dollar short and a day late..

Thanks for your help

Atlantique

Well at least call Dell and check! Sometimes part of the 'package deal' includes an extended warranty. I know it usually does on QVC and some other secondary sellers.

Who knows, even if it's not under warranty, maybe it's not a really expensive thing to fix? I think the tech was here for less than an hour, so it's not a ton of labor.

Cloud_Dancer

Well at least call Dell and check! Sometimes part of the 'package deal' includes an extended warranty. I know it usually does on QVC and some other secondary sellers.

Who knows, even if it's not under warranty, maybe it's not a really expensive thing to fix? I think the tech was here for less than an hour, so it's not a ton of labor.

Good advice.. I think I will give them a call today. If nothing else, maybe they can give me a heads up on what might be the real problem or what I'm dealing with.

toalwaysbeme

Dont give up hope yet. It could very well be that the battery doesnt hold a charge anymore. Thats what happened to me. They said that if I left the laptop plugged in most of the time, that it still drains the cells from the battery. That when you're not actually charging you're supposed to unplug it.

So yes, I would call them, but I would also try to get another battery (even as a backup).

hroush

A lot of Dells use the same charger, I have the 1525 and my wife has the 1501 and they use the same charger, which is a good thing because both my wife's and my chargers have died. I'm guessing your charger died as mine did something similar and since your computer runs off of your mom's charger. I'm also guessing your battery is shot. Do you use your computer a lot just on battery power? Did you let the charge get really low quite often? If both of these are yes, this is most likely the case. Look on ebay and you can get both for cheap. You may even find a place that sells both to help save on shipping.

One more good thing to do is to buy a can of pressurized air from walmart and spray out your laptop. After being used for a year and a half there will be a lot of dust built up inside and it's harder for your laptop to cool. Your laptop will run a lot quieter after you do this. Just make sure you unplug it and remove the battery before you start spraying the air.

Cloud_Dancer

Toalways and Hroush, I've checked into (a little bit) new batteries online. The Dell batteries seem really expensive, but the nonDell ones are pretty cheap. Does it really matter if you don't use a battery that is from Dell? I've read that it can hurt your computer, but didn't know if that was just a sell tactic or what.

hroush

Toalways and Hroush, I've checked into (a little bit) new batteries online. The Dell batteries seem really expensive, but the nonDell ones are pretty cheap. Does it really matter if you don't use a battery that is from Dell? I've read that it can hurt your computer, but didn't know if that was just a sell tactic or what.

Hmm, I haven't had to replace my battery, so I couldn't tell you for sure. I'm sure you'll hear stories from both sides, so I would say it's up to you. Obviously Dell is going to say that it won't cover problems caused by non Dell parts, and I say they shouldn't have to since their parts didn't cause the problems. But if it's already out of warranty and you can save $20, I say why not.

Cloud_Dancer

Toalways and Hroush, I've checked into (a little bit) new batteries online. The Dell batteries seem really expensive, but the nonDell ones are pretty cheap. Does it really matter if you don't use a battery that is from Dell? I've read that it can hurt your computer, but didn't know if that was just a sell tactic or what.

Hmm, I haven't had to replace my battery, so I couldn't tell you for sure. I'm sure you'll hear stories from both sides, so I would say it's up to you. Obviously Dell is going to say that it won't cover problems caused by non Dell parts, and I say they shouldn't have to since their parts didn't cause the problems. But if it's already out of warranty and you can save $20, I say why not.

Very true. Thanks!

toalwaysbeme

Hey Sweetie,

I did a bunch of research and it sounds like it could be 1 of 3 things (already mentioned) battery, charger, motherboard. DO NOT buy a nonDell battery as your laptop wont even recognize it.

There is an online chat with Dell Technical Support which I would try. They could possibly log right into your computer and check it out (maybe). But before you go buying any batteries, etc. I would definitely call them. It seems this has been a HUGE problem, not just with your model but most models.

http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/dellcare/contact_technical_support?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&~ck=anavml

I wish I could be more help to you, but dont take no for an answer with Tech Support. They KNOW this has been a problem.
Let me know what happens.

toalwaysbeme

Here's something else I found (not the first time I heard about updating the BIOS). TRY THIS.

Having problems with ac adapters? Is the battery not charging? Are you receiving errors messages regarding incorrect or malfunctioning AC adapters? These can be symptoms caused by not only the ac adapter, but could be caused by the battery or power board as well. Here are some steps to find out what may causing the problems and may even be able to correct them.
Remove the battery from the system and only have the AC adapter connected to the system. If it powers on then the AC adapter has some functionality.

Update the BIOS to its latest version. Download from Support.Dell.com , key in your service tag and look for the BIOS link. The battery and AC adapter will need to function and be connected for the file to install correctly.

Having battery charging problems? Check to see if AC adapter errors are turned off in the bios. On a lot of systems there is an option to turn off AC adapter errors. When having battery problems boot to the bios (F2). Look for the option for AC adapter errors. If they are turned off, turn them on, save the settings and reboot. If you all of a sudden you get an AC adapter error, you may need to replace the AC adapter instead of replacing the battery.

Cloud_Dancer

Toalwaysbeme, YOU ARE AWESOME!! Thank you so much for putting the time into looking this up for me! You have no idea how much I appreciate it!! I've been a little busy this evening, so I hadn't had a chance to call them. I will keep you updated!! <hug>

Cloud_Dancer

How weird.. after I posted that last message, I was about to click out of this thread and I look at the top and there are two advertisements.. One for laptop batteries and the other for Dell laptop batteries. LOL