Replacing Laptop Battery - Dell D630 Laptop

williacg

Oblivion wrote: »

In the system tray (bottom right of the screen) you should have a battery icon. Hover the mouse over it and it should say if it's on mains AND charging. If it doesn't say 'charging' it probably isn't. Also if it's charging this is usually indicated by the battery icon pulsing from empty to full.

As has been said, Dell operate a policy of not cooperating with non-Dell replacements. I think it's appalling but they seem to get away with it. If you've purchased from ebay you've probably got a cheap lookalike which your Dell laptop refuses to recognise ... it may even be a scam product.

I made the mistake of buying a 'Dell' mains charger for my lappy off Amazon. It looked well made and identical to the failed Dell product it was replacing. But when I plug it in a message pops up saying the charger is not a recognised Dell product and that the laptop will now operate at reduced speed! Very annoying.

Hi Oblivion,

Thanks for taking the time to try and help me identify the problem with my laptop before I have to hand over lots of cash for repairs or replacements.

I was concerned that it might well be the fact that it was not a Dell battery, and so firstly, I contacted the supplier to tell them of the problem, and am awaiting their response, but secondly, I switched off and disconnected, took out the battery and actually replaced it with the original Dell battery that had run down to 62% when I first replaced it, but is now reading at 60%, but it does in fact recognise the Ebay replacement when I put it in, it just remains on 48%.

With regards to a battery icon on the system tray, there isn't one, is there any other location that it would be placed at? the only battery icon that I have ever noticed is the Power Meter.

Williacg (Totally baffled and exhausted)

tonyh66

have you tried charging the battery with the laptop switched off? there should be a little light with a battery icon(next to all the other little lights)that flashs or is red to tell you the battery is charging.
The lights on my D620 are on the right hand screen hinge.

Oblivion

williacg wrote: »

With regards to a battery icon on the system tray, there isn't one, is there any other location that it would be placed at? the only battery icon that I have ever noticed is the Power Meter.

That's very unusual. What Operating System do you have?
Could it possibly be a hidden icon. On the system tray, have you got an icon which is an up-arrow 'Show Hidden Icons' ... if so click on that and see if the battery icon is revealed in the resulting small window and if so, drag it down onto the system tray.

williacg

Oblivion wrote: »

That's very unusual. What Operating System do you have?
Could it possibly be a hidden icon. On the system tray, have you got an icon which is an up-arrow 'Show Hidden Icons' ... if so click on that and see if the battery icon is revealed in the resulting small window and if so, drag it down onto the system tray.

Hi Oblivion,

I have Windows XP, and there is no up-arrow icon. I therefore went into computer - tools to show all hidden icons, but no further icons have appeared.

Back to the drawing board!

williacg

tonyh66 wrote: »

have you tried charging the battery with the laptop switched off? there should be a little light with a battery icon(next to all the other little lights)that flashs or is red to tell you the battery is charging.
The lights on my D620 are on the right hand screen hinge.

Hi TonyH,

Will give that a try and do it over night to give my lappy a bit of a break, as I am currently working from home, and have a lot of work to forward before Monday.

Many thanks for the tip.

Williacg

tonyh66

williacg wrote: »

Hi Oblivion,

I have Windows XP, and there is no up-arrow icon. I therefore went into computer - tools to show all hidden icons, but no further icons have appeared.

Back to the drawing board!

its not unusual to have no battery icon in the tray.

Right click anywhere on the screen,
choose properties,
then screen saver tab,
then power,
then power meter tab.
Click on the battery which should give you battery information and whether it is charging or not.

GunJack

on xp, go to control panel > power, then advanced tab, and click the checkbox to show the battery icon in the system tray (or however it's worded, been a while since I looked )

williacg

tonyh66 wrote: »

its not unusual to have no battery icon in the tray.

Right click anywhere on the screen,
choose properties,
then screen saver tab,
then power,
then power meter tab.
Click on the battery which should give you battery information and whether it is charging or not.

Hi TonyH66,

The Power Meter states that the battery level is at 48% and still charging, but it said the same thing yesterday. An earlier poster suggested charging it while switched off, which I will do over night, who knows, it might work - fingers crossed.

williacg

GunJack wrote: »

on xp, go to control panel > power, then advanced tab, and click the checkbox to show the battery icon in the system tray (or however it's worded, been a while since I looked )

Within the Control Panel, there is no Power option to go into, but it might be the Performance and Maintenance option that you're referring to, however, there is no Advanced tab to give the option to show a battery icon.

GunJack

williacg wrote: »

Within the Control Panel, there is no Power option to go into, but it might be the Performance and Maintenance option that you're referring to, however, there is no Advanced tab to give the option to show a battery icon.

hmmm... might have to fire up an XP machine......