My 2-yr old son wrecked the DC input on my laptop about a year ago.

I got by with using an ancient laptop instead, but it was stolen in a break-in last month (I'm going through a lucky spell), so I got my broken DC input fixed last week.

However, the laptop keeps freezing (mouse pointer stops and the keyboard doesn't register). I've found that the only way to rectify the problem is to remove the laptop battery. As soon as the battery is off, the laptop works ok, but put the battery back in and the laptop immediately locks up.

It does work sometimes with the battery in, and the battery is holding some charge (but doesn't seem to be going above, I guess, about 5% charge).

I'm not sure whether the battery is goosed or if something has been done to the battery connections when the DC input was being repaired. I don't want to put it in for repair if it's just the battery that's done, but equally I don't want to buy a new battery (I think they're about £50) only to find there's nothing wrong with the one I've got.

Anyone got any thought's on the most likely cause?

I'd had a few lock-up problems before the DC input finally gave up (not as bad as they are now), but I never linked them to the battery at the time and I'm not sure if the battery was the cause.

Cheers.

get a new laptop, seriously, that things about to burst into flames.

Is it an Acer laptop by any chance???? My acer laptop started doing the same thing a couple of monrths ago and I had to use it without the battery in it. Ended up buying a new computer as I couldnt find a fix for it.

Sounds like an Acer as I believe they are one of the only manufacturers whose laptops can function without the battery being part of the circuit.

2 things about the repair you've had done as I've done this myself. Where did you get the DC socket repaired? If it was the manufacturer then fair enough. If it wasn't, I'll give it a maximum of 6 months before it breaks off again.
When the repair was done, they wouldn't have touched the battery. It's a wee rectangular shaped box that gets soldered onto the motherboard.

Take the laptop into a place where you know they'll have that model of laptop (perhaps an independant local computer store) and ask them if you could perhaps see if you could put a battery in it out of one of their display models to see if that is the cause. If I were a gambling man, I'd put money on it being the battery.

Yep, it's an Acer. Probably a daft question, but did you try changing the battery on yours?



Thanks to everyone else who replied, btw.

Dont know if this is normal but when i take my charger out my laptop, while on it then it disconnects from the internet which is rather annoying.

Sounds like your power settings.

Most laptops will have different settings you can customise depending on what you're doing. So for example, your laptop can run on high performance when connected to the mains - wireless enabled, bright screen, graphics accelerated etc., but if you're just running on the battery, it can disconnect certain things to save power.

Try fiddling around with the power settings to see if that helps.

Its not a problem but just a tad annoying. If i am on Msn then i will get disconnected and then have to reconnect to the internet.

Most of the time i can sit with the charger in anyway. Will have a mess around with the settings tommorow.

Yeah, if my battery starts to run down the network card turns off to conserve power.

I was going to change it but I always have my laptop plugged in.

Didn't bother trying to change the battery as I didn't know anyone with a compatible battery and the cheapest replacement I could find was about £50. Just got a new desktop instead as the laptop was getting on abit anyway.

Is it one of these?