Laptop/power on-off

HELP!!
My Dell Inspiron1100 Lap Top is acting very strangely. Running XP Home, SP2, 256 memory. Plug cord into outlet. Hit on button. No light (right light) shown on laptop for power. Power indicator is on (Left light) Middle light blinks.
Battery icon appears in the tray and the computer is running on battery.
The powercord show a light to indicate that the connection is good.
Does thi make any sense to anyone out there?
Is it possible that there is an easy solution that I have missed?
(The battery doesn't seem to be charging. Only discharging)
TIA, willieboye

 

Power Off/On

Thanks Pete, I will give this a try. I will get back to you. But right now I am on another "mission" out of the house. willieboye

 

Laptop/Power on off

HI Pete, Gave your solution a try, but Dell doesn't offer this kind of help. It didn't work. Thank you for the suggestion. I really appreciate it!
willieboye

 

willieboye,
You might try this forum: http://forums.us.dell.com/supportforums?category.id=inspiron
You will have to register but it is not to hard and worth your time.

quickshot

 

Hello quickshot,
Many thanks for your input, That link to DELL seems to have quite a bit of information. Right now I do not have the time. I am working on another angle which I hope will solve my problem. Again, thanks, willieboye

 

Hi Pete C, Quickshot, et al. I finally wised up and went digging into my files. I realized that I might have insurance coverage from DELL. (But I thought that it had expired.) I located the information and found that I did indeed have insurance coverage which expires in two months. WOW.
Naturally I got on the telephone with DELL and after a shorter wait than is usual talked to a tech (from you know where) and stated my problem and asked if it was covered by insurance. After some discussion with others while I was on hold, she advised that it was a motherboard problem which was indeed covered. A technician just left my home after installing a new motherboard. Everything appears to back in shipshape condition. Thank you all who spent time on my behalf. Very much appreciated! Especially after the fact that I could have taken care of it myself before contacting you! willieboye

 

Glad you had a positive experience and all ended well.

quickshot

 

Hi Pete C., Quickshot, etal,
Just a recap on this ongoing problem.
After installing the new(?) motherboard (with no solution), it was decided that I needed a new(?) processor. The previous installer of the motherboard was in a bad auto accident, so after several days of waiting, a new tecnician came to the house and intalled the processor. Again, it looked good for a day but went back to the mode of using the battery, but not recharging it! For several more days I tried to contact DELL with the special link that I had. Told him what was not happening. After some more questions, he decided that the AC/DC cable needed replacing. A couple of days later I received a replacment cable. This seemed to be the answer, although I couldn't see the green light indicating that the lap top was on AC/DC power. So had to tell what was happening. Then got a warning that the battery was low. Tried to contact DELL with the special link. Couldn't for a few days. but finally got a phone call, went through the porcess again and he informed me how to download a program. (DELL Quick Set-Power Management) He would call me the next evening. He never did. A couple of days later, another person called saying he was calling for an ill technician. I didn't know what this program was to do. The first few times that I tried to download it, I couldn't. Finally I was able to download the program and found that it was for Power Management. All is great(?) now. Icon in the tray, but the green AC/DC light is still missing. At this stage in the game, I feel that this is a very small matter and I can live with it. After nearly a month. Lucky that I have a backup computer stowed away. This is very long winded, So I will leave it up to you if you want to publish it. It might be of no help to others. Willieboye

 

Laptop Power on/off

Thanks Pete C,
The information is great. Even the technician who was helping me via phone didn't mention this.
Thank you for all the help. willieboye