Laptop Help

[super__dan]

I've got a 2 1/2 year old Dell Inspiron 6400, it's a really good laptop, plenty fast enough for what I do but recently I've got a problem.

Sometimes when I start it it tells me I've got the wrong power adapter in it and this will make the system run slowly, they're not wrong, it's dog slow. I read on t'internet and found this was a sign of the power supply dying so I bought a new one but it's just as bad.

Sometimes it starts fine but then goes slow so I unplug the lead and it's fine again. I'm having to charge it overnight now and manage my time on the PC (unplugged) through the evening as if I use it too much and the battery goes flat it's unusable if I try to charge and use it at the same time.

Any ideas?

[bigred5765]

we had this with are dell laptop dan, changed power supply with a brand new from dell,in the end it turned out to be the battery,

[bert digler]

it would point towards battery

[Southwell]

Take the battery out, plug it in and try it. If it's fine then it's prob the battery.

[super__dan]

Whilst I've not done this yet (as I'm on it) the battery still lasts over 3 hours, I'll be well annoyed if it's that. WIll try it in a bit!

Cheers!

[Medders]

Its probably the power input socket. Have a good look in it and see there's nothing blocking it. Also check the old power supply to see if there is any if the connector missing which might be stuck in the plug. If i'm thinking of the right one, the connector on the power supply has quite a flimsy central core which can be prone to breakage.

[super__dan]

Hhhhmmmm,

Well so far it's been on no battery for about 2 hours and worked perfectly

I will checkount the connector when i turn it off but it snugly fits in each time. If the battery capacity is still so good how can it make the system slow?

Anyone got a Dell I can borrow a battery off for testing?

[Southwell]

Dell what? Batteries are different in some of the models.

[super__dan]

Originally Posted by super__dan

I've got a 2 1/2 year old Dell Inspiron 6400,

.

[bigred5765]

while the system is starting up you can go it to a system check, i think its f12 button as it starts, ill try it in a mo and check back in, it tells you the state of the battery and charger,

[Medders]

It could be worth taking the battery out and putting it back in again. I remember my dell started behaving strangely in a similar way after I dropped it , but the battery has just come dislodged a bit and was all fine after.

[Martin-Barbour]

I believe there's some sort of very primitive sensor on either the socket or the plug (maybe both). I've got the exact same problem with mine (I tried to walk down the hall with it whilst it was still plugged in, really bad TUG as the cable stretched as far as it would allow.).

I've got two PSU's, the one that was plugged in when I walked always gives me the error you describe, my other one works perfectly every time so I can only assume my problem is in the plug, yours does sound like the socket....

HTH

[super__dan]

Carl,

I've done that, it either gets it right (and knows which of the two rated power supllies I have plugged in) or doesn't know, at which point if I take it out and plug it in again it usually recognises it.

Medders,

Good idea, just taken the battery out and blown on the connectors, plugged battery in again (hadn't realised before you could do that while computer on) and so far so good.

[super__dan]

Martin,

Interesting, not sure how to fix that though, can you get these things apart easily?

[bigred5765]

dan if are battery fitts you can try it at bury next week,and its f2 not f12 lol ma bad,
danny my daughter has a 1600 dell laptop, if i plug in her power supply it comes up with unrecognizable power supply, so as stated must be some dodgy sensor on there,

[Southwell]

Check voltages on the batteries before swapping around, as im sure you will anyway.
There is a Dell diagnostics disc you can download from somewhere.

[super__dan]

Interestingly (ish) following the ideas above I gave the battery connections and lead socket a good blow out and so far it's working perfect again, in which case I might be sorted, yay!

Thanks for all the help!

[Southwell]

Hmm, in that case it sounds like one or some of the contacts wern't properly touching the laptop contacts and making it confused when on mains power. You get the same kind of things on phones with those terminals, although they normally just turn off due to have no external power.
Ive got a nicenew Dell Studio 15 coming today so hopefully thats pretty good!

[super__dan]

Right, so now I've got a new (non OEM) battery and power supply and have tried bending the middle part of the power connector over to ensure good contact and it still does it.

As of right now, I'm working off the battery and it works fine. The moment I plug in the power supply it turns into a snail, won't even scroll down web pages properly, never mind opening a new window.

HELP!

[Medders]

odd. does it have different power profiles set up? Have a check in control panal> power options, then check the settings under the active plan when its plugged in and make sure its not set to minimal cpu usage or something stupid A long shot but worth a check.