Laptop Battery Problem

[Gordon L. Richard]

I am running Windows XP Pro Version 2002 SP 1 on a WinBook XL3
laptop which has a 651 MHz Pentium III processor and 128 MB of
RAM. There is no shortage of hard disk space.

Today, when I tried to boot this lapotp comuter from its internal
batteries, it wouldn't come alive. I plugged the AC adaptor in
and the computer then started normally.

I opened Control Panel - Power options - Power Meter tab. It
showed the battery at 51% charge, and indicated that everything
was working normally. I left it running, off the AC adaptor,
anticipating that the battery would re-charge, but it never
changed from the 51% charce reading.

After a couple of hours, I tried re-booting, without the AC
adapter, but again, it was dead...no battery lights or any sign
of life. In fact, the computer died the instant I unplugged the
AC adaptor.

I reconnected the AC adapter and hit the Delete key during the
boot process, to get into Setup. There I looked at Power
Management Setup and find the following lines'

Battery Auto Calibradion Disabled
Battery Low Warning Enabled
Auto DIM Disabled

The Battery Auto Calibration function would not respond to the
ordinary Page Up/Page Down means of switching between Enabled and
Disabled. The other two functions worked normally in this
respect.

Any ideas as to what I might try next? Surely, if the battery
pack was dead, the 51% charge reading would not be there. There
must be something messed up in the setup, or maybe in the control
software.

 

[Guest]

This is not a XP function. You have OEM version that was
modified by the manufacturer for your laptop. They may
have a forum or you might get lucky here.

 

[Guest]

Try here :

http://www.winbookcorp.com/forum/

 

[Gordon L. Richard]

This is not a XP function. You have OEM version that was
modified by the manufacturer for your laptop. They may
have a forum or you might get lucky here.

No, I failed to point out, this laptop came with Windows 98 as
its OEM version OS. I upgraded it to XP as soon as XP was
available, and it has worked flawlessly until today. I did a
clean install, reformating the HD and all went well. I then
installed MS Office 2000 and some other rather benign
applications. I don't have anything weird running on this
computer...no games or anything that might be interfering.

I have not changed anything on this comptuer rectently, other
than the on-line upgrades from Microsoft.

 

[Richard]

Once again. The battery is part of the computer hardware. It is not part
of the software. No operating system hardware can or will destroy your
battery. You have a hardware problem and you have to resolve that with the
vendor that made your computer or with a reliable tech.

 

[Gordon L. Richard]

Once again. The battery is part of the computer hardware. It is not part
of the software. No operating system hardware can or will destroy your
battery. You have a hardware problem and you have to resolve that with the
vendor that made your computer or with a reliable tech.

You've misunderstood my problem. The battery seems fine, and
shows a 51% chartge level. The only thing that I can point to
that may have happened is that I downloaded and installed the
Microsoft Windows updates yesterday morning, just before I
noticed that the computer would not operate from the battery.

Keep in mind that this laptop was upgraded to a full store bought
version of Windows XP Professional (NOT OEM) about 2 years ago.
At this time I reformatted the hard drive and did a fresh
install, then installed my other applications. The computer has
worked flawlessly since this OS upgrade, but suddenly balked
after downloading and installing the on-line updates.

It seems to me that something in one of these downloaded update
files has balked the battery charge control, and battery
operation of the computer. Yet, the battery related items check
out okay in Ctrl Pnl - Power Options - Power Meter tab.

 

[David]

You've misunderstood my problem. The battery seems fine, and
shows a 51% chartge level. The only thing that I can point to
that may have happened is that I downloaded and installed the
Microsoft Windows updates yesterday morning, just before I
noticed that the computer would not operate from the battery.

How can you say the battery seems fine when the system is showing only
a 51% charge and it's not charging????

The batteryu is not accepting acharge!!! this is a hardware problem.
It could be the battery or the power regulator or a loose connection.
Either way IT'S A HARDWARE PROBLEM!. Why do you insist on blaming the
software? XP has nothing to do with the battery charging. It only reports
the amount of charge it has. Therfore, A patch can not stop the battery
from charging. Nor would it prevent the computer from booting. The OS is
not involved with the initial boot process. That is controlled from the
BIOS. Hardware, especially batteries, do go bad and need to be replaced
once in a while.

--

David

Programmers write "Help Files" for a reason. use them.

"Due to Viewer dicretion...
Graphic violence is advised"

http://www.HeroicStories.com/
http://www.thisistrue.com/

 

[Box134]

With all respect, what you say may be true, but it could also be that the
software part of Windows that monitors battery charge is reporting a false
value. Rightly or wrongly the poster thinks that is the problem.