Is this a warning ..

LadyDee

that my laptop is in need of some TLC?

Over the last few months and probably once every few weeks, I have had trouble trying to turn on my laptop. I have previously just tried not to panic, held down the power button for about 20 secs and it's come to life.

This morning though that didn't work and as a last resort I removed the battery then replaced it and was able to turn on my laptop at the first.

I've had my laptop (a Lenovo G570) for around 3 years. Does this sound like I need a new battery? If so, I'd appreciate recommendations of where I should go for a replacement.

Hoping that it's nothing more serious - I'm not having a great week tech-wise:(

macman

So does it work OK on mains power? Batteries are widely available on Amazon, eBay, unless you want to pay for an original one.

LadyDee

macman wrote: »

So does it work OK on mains power? Batteries are widely available on Amazon, eBay, unless you want to pay for an original one.

I haven't tried removing the battery and leaving it permanently plugged into the mains, perhaps I'll do that to see how I get on.

If it happens with only the mains plugged in I'll come back for some more advice.

Thank you.

r2015

I would back up any files/pictures/mp3s etc. you can't afford to lose to an external drive.

gjchester

Could be the BIOS battery is failing too, low BIOS battery power that can cause slowdowns but not be low enough to alert the user it needs replacing.

LadyDee

r2015 wrote: »

I would back up any files/pictures/mp3s etc. you can't afford to lose to an external drive.

Yes, thanks. I'm now just doing a backup to an external hard drive.

LadyDee

gjchester wrote: »

Could be the BIOS battery is failing too, low BIOS battery power that can cause slowdowns but not be low enough to alert the user it needs replacing.

Hmm... wonder if in fact that could be the problem then because I have thought that my laptop has been a bit slower to boot up than it used to, not enough to worry me unduly because once everything is up and running it's great.

Checked online what the bios battery is and where it is (!), it doesn't look too difficult to replace if necessary (she said, hoping against hope that she doesn't have to go delving into the works).

I'll see what happens over the next few weeks.

Thanks again for your help.

bsod

bios batteries usually last much longer than 3 years, if it had failed your clock would be wrong.

I'm intrigued where this idea that it can cause shutdowns or slowness comes from, it holds the time and a few settings, that's it, once the machine is started up (ie 1st second after power on), it's out of the equation.

Did you shut the machine down fully before this happend, or suspend, or hibernate?

Holding down the power button or removing the battery (same effect) forces a cold boot, rather than a resume from power saving, there's no real indication from your post that this is anything to do with batteries, if it was shot and needed replacing, it wouldn't hold much charge.

kwmlondon

Could be a fault with the power-on button?

[Deleted User]

If the BIOS battery, you can expect the clock to drift from the correct time, while the machine is switched off.

Is this happening OP?

Annie1960

I thought 3 years was the expected lifespan of most laptops (and 5 years for desktop).