<p>Yikes.</p>
<p>She is not sure if it is related to her battery or adapter plug in cord. She says her battery hasn’t worked well for awhile -only lasts for a few minutes when running on battery only. She tried to start up this morining using battery only, and the system wants to do a “check” on her computer for errors right away (because it didn’t shut down properly) but the battery warning light comes on before the check is done - so when she uses her adapter then the screen goes black - she can faintly see the screen in the background.</p>
<p>Of course IT people not available on Sunday. Any advice?</p>
<p>Has she tried powering on the computer with it plugged in? I wonder if plugging it in is causing the disruption of the system error check. Also, has the computer possibly gone into hiberation due to the lack of battery available?</p>
<p>Two suggestions:</p>
<p>See if anyone else has the same model laptop and try their power adaptor. Also have them power up using her adapter. This will eliminate the adapter as the source of the problem. </p>
<p>Secondly, If she knows anyone with a desktop computer, try plugging her laptop into their monitor. This will eliminate the screen as being the problem. </p>
<p>If both ideas fail, she most likely has a hard drive problem. Does she have disks that came with her laptop? Try booting with those. </p>
<p>If any if these ideas work, have her do a backup asap!!!</p>
<p>I will forward your suggestions as they come - thanks people!</p>
<p>She is also worried about trying to start it up too many times that she might cause more damage to it - any truth to that?</p>
<p>Same thing happened to my D’s mac and there’s no Apple store in her college town (big city–very surprising). Anyway, after serveral phone calls to the 800 #, they shipped her a box and she sent it off. It’s been over two months. I think it went into a big black hole…I wish your D much more success than my D has had…</p>
<p>If she hasn’t done so already, have her remove the battery from her laptop and power up with her plug-in adaptor. Since she can see a faint image on her laptop screen, removing the battery will lessen the current draw between her near dead battery and the needed start-up voltage for the laptop. If her laptop starts up normally, then the battery is the culprit. If her screen is still faint, the power adaptor may be at fault. The voltage output can be easily checked with a VOM (volt ohm meter). The voltage and current output should be printed on the adaptor. Does the adaptor get hot to the touch when it’s plugged into the wall outlet? </p>
<p>We “know” the battery was on its last legs.
We “don’t know” if the power brick was damaged trying to recharge the battery and run her laptop at the same time. A hot to the touch power brick is an indication that the laptop and the bad battery is calling for more current than the power brick can provide.
If the laptop starts up with the power brick plugged in and with the battery removed, then a new battery is needed.
If the laptop doesn’t start up and the screen remains faint, the voltage and current output of the power brick needs to be checked with a VOM.
If the power brick’s voltage and current output does not match what’s printed on the adaptor, you’ll need to replace the power brick.</p>
<p>As already suggested, plug the laptop into a desktop monitor. If the external monitor shows the same faint outlines as her laptop screen, then the laptop’s internal video circuit has been compromised and it’s time to look for a new laptop. Since the laptop’s video circuitry is built into the motherboard, the only fix is to replace the motherboard which is not cost effective unless your daughter has an extended warranty.
A bad hard drive will not allow the laptop to start up, but it should not affect the video circuitry which should clearly show an error message.</p>
<p>My fear is that your daughter has been trying to run her laptop with a bad battery and trying to compensate using her power brick which was attempting to do double duty. A near dead/dead battery stresses the power brick which may compromise the laptop’s motherboard ability to run with insufficient voltage/current…</p>
<p>A timely replacement of the battery is much cheaper than replacing either a stressed power brick or a laptop. Good luck!</p>