Laptop ruined?

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silverback
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Laptop ruined?

Post by silverback »

I have foolishly forgotten all about my laptop during the pandemic i.e. it hasn't been switched on for 18 months. Not surprisingly, when I did get round to switching it on yesterday, the battery was flat. I plugged the charger in and the laptop started OK with an indication that it was plugged in to the mains. However, hovering the cursor over the battery symbol showed that I had "255% available (plugged in). But the battery symbol has an X in it, and the charging light is still showing red - meaning not charged - 24 hours later. If I pull out the mains charger, the laptop just shuts down immediately.
If I click the battery symbol the resulting display says the battery is 100% Fully charged.
It's working OK now, busily updating all the windows updates from the last 18 months, but given that it won't work without the mains charger, is the battery ruined and will not now charge, regardless of how long I leave it attached to the mains charger?
Thanks
Silverback

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Leif
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Re: Laptop ruined?

Post by Leif »

First of all, join the club... :grin:

Secondly, it may depend on what kind of battery you have in your laptop. A quick Google search for <revive dead laptop battery> shows plenty of methods, including:
4 Ways to Revive a Dead Laptop Battery - wikiHow
5 Simple Ways to Repair a Dead Laptop Battery
Repair Dead Laptop Battery : 16 Steps (with Pictures) - Instructables
etc...
Leif

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silverback
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Re: Laptop ruined?

Post by silverback »

Thanks, Leif.
It's (very slowly) trundling through the updates, so I can't interrupt it at the moment.
Thanks for the pointers, though. There is still hope for the time being.
Silverback

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John Gray
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Re: Laptop ruined?

Post by John Gray »

It would be interesting to see the results of a laptop battery survey to determine the proportion of laptops which are used only on mains power because the batteries have died irrevocably. "Surprisingly high" would be my expectation.
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DaveA
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Re: Laptop ruined?

Post by DaveA »

My laptop is ON 7/24 and on house power. The only time it is on battery is when I need to take it somewhere or when the house power go off .
I am so far behind, I think I am First :evilgrin:
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BobH
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Re: Laptop ruined?

Post by BobH »

I have 2 that stay on the mains. One has a dead battery, the other has a relatively new battery but I keep it to run my 24" monitor.
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silverback
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Re: Laptop ruined?

Post by silverback »

Leif wrote:
22 Aug 2021, 11:56
Secondly, it may depend on what kind of battery you have in your laptop . . .
Good spot. It turns out to be a Li-Ion, which means none of the suggested methods are allowed.
So, dead battery. Buy a new one, or just run it off mains? Probably the latter.
Serves me right for not attending to it during pandemic/lockdowns.
Silverback

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Leif
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Re: Laptop ruined?

Post by Leif »

Leif