EileenH 496 Posted July 27, 2015 Report Share Posted July 27, 2015 Advice needed. This morning the light on the front of my laptop is flashing. It`s the little light that shows that it`s plugged in. The battery is dead so I have to have it plugged into the mains. It`s flashing red and white - four red flashes and then one white. It`s working as normal. Is it broken? Is it safe? Is it going to blow up? Have I got to get a new one? I know that I`m IT-dim so would welcome advice - - please. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TBI 2,351 Posted July 27, 2015 Report Share Posted July 27, 2015 Is the dead battery still in place? It sounds like it's just indicating the battery is kaput. If so, switch off, remove it and reboot and the lights will probably go out. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
EileenH 496 Posted July 27, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 27, 2015 Thanks for the advice - Yes the battery is still in but it`s been dead for months and the red light has just started this morning. Perhaps I should take it to a repair shop and get a new battery fitted. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DAVIDW 1,690 Posted July 27, 2015 Report Share Posted July 27, 2015 Is it a Dell ? Would appear it may need a new battery . ttp://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/laptop/f/3518/t/19365654 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
EileenH 496 Posted July 27, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 27, 2015 Yes - it`s a Dell! How`d you know? I wish I were clever like that. I`ll do that then. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mick2me 3,033 Posted July 27, 2015 Report Share Posted July 27, 2015 Get the product number from the battery and search eBay? Cheaper than taking it to a repairer. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
EileenH 496 Posted July 27, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 27, 2015 Thanks Mick - never thought of that. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
loppylugs 8,429 Posted July 27, 2015 Report Share Posted July 27, 2015 I bought a battery for my dell laptop from some cheap online store. It lasted about three months so wasn't really cheap when you think about it. I like the old computer, its about ten years old now so ancient by computer standards but it runs Linux real nice. So probably just keep plugging it in. Only had a power blink that made me reboot once. I don't do anything on it that is critical re losing data. I suppose I could get a ups to plug it into but probably not worth it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mick2me 3,033 Posted July 27, 2015 Report Share Posted July 27, 2015 Replaced my HP battery via Ebay, no problem Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rob.L 1,090 Posted July 27, 2015 Report Share Posted July 27, 2015 From past experience, Dell computers can be a sod with non-Dell batteries or chargers. Like Apple, they embed chips so that you MUST use their own replacements. Having said that, I did manage to get a reasonably-priced "pattern" replacement battery off eBay for our daughter's Dell a couple of years ago which worked fine for a year or so until the laptop said "not recognised". Never, ever, had a problem with any of the Zenith, HP, Lenovo, or Toshiba laptops I used over the years. Which reminds me, I still have a Zenith 486DX laptop in the loft. As I recall, it had 64k memory and 6.4 gig HD, running Windows 3.1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
loppylugs 8,429 Posted July 28, 2015 Report Share Posted July 28, 2015 Hate to part with those old laptops. I still have an IBM thinkpad about 16 years old. It came with WIN 98. I later installed XP but that made it pretty slow. It has about 64 meg of Ram and a 4 gig hard drive. Huge in its day. About all it's good for now is a glorified photo frame or a doorstop unless any of you computer buffs out there have some other good ideas. Hate to just toss it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
EileenH 496 Posted July 30, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 30, 2015 Well, this morning I noticed that the old laptop had stopped flashing red lights on the front. Then amazed to see that the battery icon shows 'fully charged'. It`s been as dead as a doornail for months. Resurrection? So it wasn`t going to blow up, then. Not yet anyway. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Michael Booth 7,364 Posted July 30, 2015 Report Share Posted July 30, 2015 It must have realised it was about to go in the dustbin (or through the window), EileenH. I'm pleased it's ok now. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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