General Chat / *sigh* Another Computer Problem

Okay, so maybe you can tell me if this is something I'll have to worry about down the road.

Friday night, my computer is fine and dandy and showing no signs of any problem (no lag, since I "fixed" that problem several weeks ago).

Saturday morning, I turn on my computer, only it doesn't turn on. The power light turns on briefly, and two other lights flicker around for several seconds, and then they turn off. The monitor never comes on.

I press the POWER button again, and the same thing repeats. It isn't until I unplug my AC adapter and take out my battery pack, press the power button the drain any excess power still in my computer, put my battery pack back in, then turn on my computer without it being plugged in that my computer actually turns on.

After Windows loads, I plug my AC adapter into my computer and everything functions as normal.

Since then, this has happened three consecutive times. I cannot turn my computer on when it's plugged into my adapter. I either have to unplug the power and turn it on from the battery pack or do the whole "take out the battery pack and empty residual power" thing before it works.

Again, once it turns on and I plug the adapter back into my computer (so that it doesn't only run on battery), it works fine.



My greatest fear is that one day, I won't be able to turn on my laptop at all. Right now, it seems like turning on the computer is a hassle, but doable. Has anyone every heard of this problem before? Is there anything I can do? Should I just get a new AC adapter? (I've also gotten "DOS" warnings--meaning messages on the black screen before Windows loads--saying the computer can't detect my AC adapter, which may affect performance. This doesn't happen all the time, but the message has popped up numerous times at random before.)

Anyway, any insight would be greatly appreciated. I thought my computer troubles were over.

Really though, this must suck having problem after problem like this. Really don't have a clue as to what it could be, as I've never had a laptop.



Still on for next Sat? Park was PACKED today...

Definitely on for next Saturday. Just gotta figure out who I'm bringing still.

Lunch is on you or the girl then, lol.

Now, most experts would rule out hitting the computer... but it always makes me feel better. Give it a go or five.

It's a Dell. That'll probably send it over the edge.

On the other hand, I did find out that hitting my camcorder fixed the problem that it had.

No seriously!



Brent: I'll pay for lunch... but can we get in on your employee discount?

Its possible the AC adapter is shot. Or, it could be a battery problem. Is it still under warranty? They are legally required to replace the adapter if so..

take the battery out, hold down the power button for about 10 seconds. see if that works.

I had this problem with my laptop following some lovely water damage. I'd press the power button, some lights would turn on, then it would turn off. Once I got it on it was ok, so I just made sure to rarely turn it off. I think it was a problem with the AC adapter (EDIT: I guess I meant the AC jack, the AC adapter is the thing on the cable), which is on my motherboard, so they had to replace the entire motherboard since it's a laptop. I personally would've just lived with it, since it was a *very* expensive repair, but it was the school's fault that my computer developed a puddle on it, so they paid for it.

You should probably take it in and see if it's fixable at a reasonable price, since it sounds like the same problem.

take the battery out, hold down the power button for about 10 seconds. see if that works.

That's what I have to do to get it to turn on when I put the battery back in. If I flush power and then try to turn it on off of AC power, it still doesn't work.

Anyway, it's not under warranty, so if there is any problem, I'm hoping it's just with the AC adapter, which I can get replaced. (and not, say, something with the jack that would be much more complicated for me to get fixed).

Do you by any chance qualify for Dell's Battery recall. It shouldn't matter if you're under warranty or not, you can still get a free replacement and test the theory that your battery is screwing things up if you qualify.