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Laptop trouble

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mightyWBA | 07:46 Sat 29th May 2010 | Computers
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I have a Dell inspiron laptop that constantly freezes after a few minutes,the battery won't charge and a message says the wrong adaptor is plugged into it(even though its the one that came with it)

Tried all sorts to solve these issues but now it's getting worse.(Mind you I don't know what I'm doing!)
Any ideas before I throw it away!
It's just over a year old.
Help!
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it's a known design issue with dell laptops!

Dell laptops have a little chip in the PSU and another in the laptop that "talk" to each other, the idea being the laptop knows it has the correct PSU connected and it's able to supply enough power for the laptop. the problem arises when one of 3 things happens.

1) the Power socket on the laptop becomes loose and disrupts the communication between laptop and PSU

2) the PSU cable starts to break, again increasing resistance in the data lines and disrupting comms between the laptop and psu

3) the Chip physically dies at either end.

Number 2 is the most common, and the only practical fix for it is to obtain another PSU from Dell. as it's a well known problem stick to your guns with Dell and insist that they replace it free of charge.
yup mighty-all that ^ is correct
chuck just beat me to it
When you get a new PSU I'd also suggest seeing if there is a BIOS update available from dells site, some models have a new BIOS available that lets you dissable the "feature"

Now you may thinking "well in that case why not just update the BIOS now" and the problem will go away. Unfortulantly Dell laptops (and most others) will not let you update the BIOS unless the laptop is on AC power and as yours has the fault it never thinks it's running on AC power so you can't install the update to fix it

catch 22 anyone?
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Cheers Chuck and Beejay...I was going to use the old "Birmingham screwdriver" on it...
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BTW...What's a PSU ?
you dont know what a PSU is mighty
strewth
PSU = Power Supply Unit (the brick that plugs into the wall and powers the laptop)
Sorry, pmsl beejay :D
I know you won't mind my saying that WBA xx
bensmum-it might be a bit too tacknical for you in here
:-)

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