Laptop Battery "Plugged in, not charging"

13883 Views 3 Replies 3 Participants Last post by zoomba, May 20, 2011

Drey Zerker

Discussion Starter · Jul 4, 2010

I'm currently running Windows Vista on a Toshiba Satellite laptop. And it's having battery charging problems.

A about halfway through the school year, my computer's battery charge level plummeted, meaning I'd charge for an hour then the battery would last for 1o minutes in class before I'd have to charge it again.

In the middle of May, for the first time, the battery level came up as "Plugged in, not charging" and the charging light went off. I quickly solved it by unplugging it and plugging it back in. It was fine since.

Now here it is, July. The battery last for about 2-3 minutes unplugged. And only just this morning, it has a constant "Plugged in, not charging." I've taken the battery out, plugging it in, rebooting it.. Everything. I know the outlet works because I'm able to charge other devices.

The battery came originally with the laptop, which is a just under two years old. when we bought it, we were told that the battery would last 3 years. We bought the extended warranty on it so idk if that will count under it.

Both of my parents are unemployed- mom refusing to work, and my dad hasn't had a job for about a year now, so we can't afford anything expensive/ no online shopping, and my dad would probably flip if he found out the battery was messing up.

Any help would be appreciated. Any additional/needed info will be added later. Thanks

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Watford_LLC

· #2 · Jul 4, 2010

Hi,

I would give Toshiba a call to see if you can get a new battery. Sometimes the extended warranties do not apply to the battery. If it is covered then no worries, Toshiba will send you a battery free and probably want the old one in return.

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Drey Zerker

Discussion Starter · #3 · Jul 5, 2010

I'll have to find all my laptops manuals and my receipt from Staples first and call. Should I call Staples -since I bought the laptop and extended warranty there and if I remember correctly, have a program for disposing of the battery properly as well and see what they'll do? I know sometimes for us Canadian buyers, we have to get it through the store.

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zoomba

· #4 · May 20, 2011

Right.
I’ve almost killed myself and my machine (Toshiba Sat Pro P200-1K9 - Vista) fighting to solve this for 3 weeks in a row, having my laptop just on AC during all this. Tried everything that could google, reset bios, bought new battery and mains adapter etc.
Below is step-by-step how I managed to make it work but it still does not make any tech sense to me.

Starting stage – laptop on mains only, battery taken out, Power plan Balanced (important!):

· Change Power Plan to Saver
· Turn off laptop
· Unplug the mains cable. Now your comp is totally unpowered.
· Press start button and hold it for 10-15 secs
· Plug the mains back in and boot the computer
· Insert the battery back on.
Worked for me, it started charging. Although interesting thing – once I decided to change the Power plan back to Balanced – it all happened again (“plugged – not charging”) and I had to re-do this voodoo once more.

So it seems to be sensitive to this change.

Anyway, I hope it will help at least someone else.

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