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Laptop wont come on
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Lady_K
Posts: 4,429 Forumite
in Techie Stuff
My Daughter is at Uni and her Laptop has just stopped working out of the blue. She was using it, just had the battery in to charge it up got it to 100% then took the battery off charge, went to do somethings then came back and it said battery 48% then went away again and it had gone off completely.
She has tried starting it up a few times but nothing is happening, she says it tries to start up but doesnt. she says she can hear the battery charging but nothing else no fan or anything.
Its only about 18 months old but what happens if the thing is gone how would she get her info off it as I dont think she has backups?
She has tried starting it up a few times but nothing is happening, she says it tries to start up but doesnt. she says she can hear the battery charging but nothing else no fan or anything.
Its only about 18 months old but what happens if the thing is gone how would she get her info off it as I dont think she has backups?
Thanx
Lady_K
Lady_K
0
Comments
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I am not too sure if the laptop can be fixed or whats wrong with it but I do know that if the worst comes to the worst your best bet is to take the hard drive out of the laptop and connect it to the ide cable of a desktop pcs hard drive, you will need an adaptor. You will then be able to retrieve course work etc.You can't con an honest man!0
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Thanx
Panic over its working again! She unplugged it took out the battery put the battery back in then plugged it back in again then it started up after that thank goodness! So in case it happens to anyone else try that
Thanx
Lady_K0 -
Thank god for that!! Make sure she backs up her documents asap!You can't con an honest man!0
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sounds like the battery might be suspect (that's a big drop in power very quickly - assuming the battery monitor is correct
) - on the basis of the first post i was going to suggest plugging it into the mains (with or without the battery) and trying to start it then. if it's all fine then do the backups and put it down as a glitch - if the battery does seem to have had it then you should be able to pick up a new one fairly easily - what make is it? "Don't go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first." (Mark Twain)0 -
Lady_K wrote:Thanx
Panic over its working again! She unplugged it took out the battery put the battery back in then plugged it back in again then it started up after that thank goodness! So in case it happens to anyone else try that
If you have to get another battery - I reccommend Li-Ions. Although some laptops can only take a Ni-Mh battery if they were initially supplied with one. You might have to ask the manufacturer.
Li-Ion have replaced NiMh batteries for many laptops because they provide 3 distinct advantages :
2) Lighter and more compact than Ni-Mh batteries.
3) Li-Ion batteries do not suffer from memory effect .
4) The battery lifespan will be over 30% longer than Ni-Mh batteries because the cells can accept more charge cycles.
How to maximize the life of your battery :
There are several things you can do to maximize the useful life of your battery: Dirty battery contacts are the number one source of charging problems. Clean the battery contacts with alcohol and a cotton swab from time to time. Make sure no cotton is left on the contact points. Don’t leave your rechargeable batteries dormant for extended periods. Take them for a "spin around the block" every so often. Batteries that sit idle for extended periods of time without charging begin to lose their ability to hold a charge and will self-discharge, so remember to charge them again before use. Always store batteries in a cool, dry place away from heat and metal objects.
Intitial Charge Cycle : Initially new batteries (all types) must be charged for 14 - 16 hours continuously. All batteries require a "break-in" period, so don't be alarmed if your battery doesn't hold a full charge right away. A new battery may show false full charge as indicated on your phone or charger. Also the battery may not power up the phone because of low voltage. For the first 3 - 5 cycles, please make sure to charge the battery fully and drain it fully before recharging. This will properly condition the battery and will ensure that it will operate at its maximum capacity. This is recommended for all cellular phone batteries. You can discharge most portable phones by unplugging the charger and leaving it turned on until completely discharged.
If you're reading this post and you're looking at buying a bargain laptop, you will find that a lot of deals come with a Ni-Mh. It's good to throughly check the specs while making choices between offers... especially if they are closely matched.
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BATTERY ABCs
There are thee main categories of computer batteries:
The first type of battery is the backup battery which can commonly be referred to as the CMOS battery. This battery is what holds your computers computer settings such as the time on date. This allows your computer to remember your settings which allows you not to have to enter the CMOS settings each time you turn on your computer.
The second type of battery is the bridge battery. This battery is only found within portable computers and is used as a temporarily backup for the main battery. This allows you to remove the main battery and replace it with a good battery without having to turn off the computer.
The third type of battery is the main battery. The main battery is also only found within portable computers and is used as an alternate source of power for portable use. This allows you to use the computer without having a direct power source.
LI-ON BATTERIES
(Lithium Ion) fragile technology requiring protector circuit, the Li-ion is used where very high energy density is needed and cost is secondary.
NICAD BATTERIES
(Nickel Cadmium) is a well known and understood battery the NICAD is used where long life, high discharge rate and economical price are important.
LI-POLYMER
(Lithium Polymer) a potentially lower cost version of the Li-ion under development and has not yet been released to the public.
NIMH BATTERIES
(Nickel -Metal Hydride) provides incremental improvements in capacity over the NICAD at the expense of reduced cycle life and lower load current.
SLA
(Sealed Lead Acid) most economical for larger power applications where weight is of lesser concern.
CHARGING INFORMATION
Battery manufacturers recommend to slow charge a new NICAD battery for 24 hours before use. This initial trickle charge helps to redistribute the electrolyte to remedy dry spots on the separator that may appear when the electrolyte gravitates to the bottom of the cell during long storage. A slow charge also helps to bring all the individual cells within a battery pack up to an equal charge level because each cell may have self-discharged to different capacity levels during storage.
REFRESH INFORMATION
Commonly recommended way to get the maximum performance from your laptop battery. Refresh is the process of allowing your computer battery to drain completely (to do this you will need to disable all power management utilities). Once drained recharge the battery to 100% this will refresh all cells within the battery. Doing this every few months will help extend the life of your portable computer battery
DISCHARGE INFORMATION
The commonly used end-of-discharge voltage for the NICAD and NiMH is one volt per cell. At that voltage level, most of the energy is spent and the voltage starts to drop rapidly. Discharging a battery further could damage the battery through cell reversal. Caution should be exercised when discharging a battery too deeply under heavy load.
The end-of-discharge voltage of the Li-ion needs to be carefully controlled and must, under no circumstances, go below 2.5V per cell. Protection circuit intrinsic to the Li-ion pack prevent the battery from being discharged below the safe limit. If allowed to self-discharge below 2.5V, unrecoverable capacity loss occurs when stored in that condition for three months or longer. Similar to the NiMH and SLA, more cycles can be obtained by partially, rather than fully discharging the Li-ion battery.
The SLA should not be discharged beyond 1.75V per cell, nor can it be stored in a discharged state. The cells of a discharged SLA sulfate, a condition that renders the battery useless if left in that state for a few days.
Older batteries can by discharged by using a deep discharge debug routine. found at our Debug page.
BATTERY CHEMISTRY
NICAD NiMH SLA Li-Ion Li-Polymer Reusable Alkaline
Energy Density
(Wh/kg) 40-60 60-80 30 100 150-200 80 (initial)
Cycle Live
(capacity decrease from 100% to 80%) 1550 500 200-500 500-1000 100-150 10 (to 65%)
Fast charge time 1-1h 2-4h 8-16h 3-4h 8-15h 2-3h
Overcharge tolerance moderate low high very low N/A moderate
Self-discharge per month
(room temperature) 20% 30% 5% 10% N/A 0.3%
Cell voltage
(nominal) 1.25V 1.25V 2V 3.6V 2.7V 1.5V
Load current > 2c 0.5-1C 0.2C 1C or less 0.2C 0.2C
Operating Temperature 040º to +60º C -20º to +60º C -20º to +60º C -20º to +60º C N/A 0º to +65º C
Maintenance requirement
(to obtain max. service live) 30 days 90 days 3 - 6 months not req. not req. not req.
Typical Battery Cost
(Cost by US prices) $50.00 $70.00 $25.00 $100.00 $90.00 $5.00
In commercial use since 1950 1990 1970 1997
Not released 19920 -
Mr_Skint wrote:BATTERY ABCs
There are thee main categories of computer batteries:
The first type of battery is the backup battery which can commonly be referred to as the CMOS battery. This battery is what holds your computers computer settings such as the time on date. This allows your computer to remember your settings which allows you not to have to enter the CMOS settings each time you turn on your computer.
The second type of battery is the bridge battery. This battery is only found within portable computers and is used as a temporarily backup for the main battery. This allows you to remove the main battery and replace it with a good battery without having to turn off the computer.
The third type of battery is the main battery. The main battery is also only found within portable computers and is used as an alternate source of power for portable use. This allows you to use the computer without having a direct power source.
LI-ON BATTERIES
(Lithium Ion) fragile technology requiring protector circuit, the Li-ion is used where very high energy density is needed and cost is secondary.
NICAD BATTERIES
(Nickel Cadmium) is a well known and understood battery the NICAD is used where long life, high discharge rate and economical price are important.
LI-POLYMER
(Lithium Polymer) a potentially lower cost version of the Li-ion under development and has not yet been released to the public.
NIMH BATTERIES
(Nickel -Metal Hydride) provides incremental improvements in capacity over the NICAD at the expense of reduced cycle life and lower load current.
SLA
(Sealed Lead Acid) most economical for larger power applications where weight is of lesser concern.
CHARGING INFORMATION
Battery manufacturers recommend to slow charge a new NICAD battery for 24 hours before use. This initial trickle charge helps to redistribute the electrolyte to remedy dry spots on the separator that may appear when the electrolyte gravitates to the bottom of the cell during long storage. A slow charge also helps to bring all the individual cells within a battery pack up to an equal charge level because each cell may have self-discharged to different capacity levels during storage.
REFRESH INFORMATION
Commonly recommended way to get the maximum performance from your laptop battery. Refresh is the process of allowing your computer battery to drain completely (to do this you will need to disable all power management utilities). Once drained recharge the battery to 100% this will refresh all cells within the battery. Doing this every few months will help extend the life of your portable computer battery
DISCHARGE INFORMATION
The commonly used end-of-discharge voltage for the NICAD and NiMH is one volt per cell. At that voltage level, most of the energy is spent and the voltage starts to drop rapidly. Discharging a battery further could damage the battery through cell reversal. Caution should be exercised when discharging a battery too deeply under heavy load.
The end-of-discharge voltage of the Li-ion needs to be carefully controlled and must, under no circumstances, go below 2.5V per cell. Protection circuit intrinsic to the Li-ion pack prevent the battery from being discharged below the safe limit. If allowed to self-discharge below 2.5V, unrecoverable capacity loss occurs when stored in that condition for three months or longer. Similar to the NiMH and SLA, more cycles can be obtained by partially, rather than fully discharging the Li-ion battery.
The SLA should not be discharged beyond 1.75V per cell, nor can it be stored in a discharged state. The cells of a discharged SLA sulfate, a condition that renders the battery useless if left in that state for a few days.
Older batteries can by discharged by using a deep discharge debug routine. found at our Debug page.
BATTERY CHEMISTRY
NICAD NiMH SLA Li-Ion Li-Polymer Reusable Alkaline
Energy Density
(Wh/kg) 40-60 60-80 30 100 150-200 80 (initial)
Cycle Live
(capacity decrease from 100% to 80%) 1550 500 200-500 500-1000 100-150 10 (to 65%)
Fast charge time 1-1h 2-4h 8-16h 3-4h 8-15h 2-3h
Overcharge tolerance moderate low high very low N/A moderate
Self-discharge per month
(room temperature) 20% 30% 5% 10% N/A 0.3%
Cell voltage
(nominal) 1.25V 1.25V 2V 3.6V 2.7V 1.5V
Load current > 2c 0.5-1C 0.2C 1C or less 0.2C 0.2C
Operating Temperature 040º to +60º C -20º to +60º C -20º to +60º C -20º to +60º C N/A 0º to +65º C
Maintenance requirement
(to obtain max. service live) 30 days 90 days 3 - 6 months not req. not req. not req.
Typical Battery Cost
(Cost by US prices) $50.00 $70.00 $25.00 $100.00 $90.00 $5.00
In commercial use since 1950 1990 1970 1997
Not released 1992
Bit of a read that. lol. I compare regular spec laptop power batteries for the regular user as the majority of laptops are produced with them.
I was given a really good PC once - the guy thought it was dead... all I did was replaced the CMOS battery. Worked fine after that - I offered the guy his PC back, but he let me keep it
. Must have been coz I was honest with him. Not a bad bit of luck that - cost me £2 lol. 0 -
Thankyou for all that info, I havent taken it all in yet but I'll read it properly later. The laptop is an acer one and just has the battery it came with. Ill probably tell her when shes got time to read this thread just on case she ever finds herself in a mess. I've never backed up a whole computer drive only things I need so would have to find out about that. Her hardrive is not that big only 20gb so she was thinking about getting another external one could she copy absolutely everything onto that in case anything wemnt wrong?Thanx
Lady_K0 -
Yes Yes she could copy the whole lot, P.S, If the battery needs a good charge it is usaully best to run it down so much so that the PC Starts to warn you of a low battery then do a charge its a lot better that way.
When doing this just leave the PC alone with no programs running.0
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