Problem with Power

[elAmericano]

Within the past couple of days, whenever I start my computer, it beeps (more than just the POST beep) a couple of times and a message pops up that says something to the effect of, "Your power cannot be determined. Your power doesn't match this computer. System performance will be affected by this." My CPU's performance is at less than 1/4. (It's a 2.2 GHz P4 processor and now runs at about 500 MHz.) Also, the thing won't charge my battery anymore. Instead of saying "AC Charging" on the icon in the system tray, it merely says "AC On." This just started a week ago, and I haven't had trouble with it before. I'd really like to get this fixed as soon as possible. I've tried System restore to way before when it happened, but nothing has worked. What is the problem? Thanks a lot!

elAmericano

(If you can't figure it out just from what I've told you, just ask for more info. It would be great if you could even tell me how to diagnose the problem effectively without buying anything. Is it the adapter? The power supply? The battery? The wierd thing is that the AC power works but isn't optimal. It doesn't apparently give enough power to charge the battery or something...)

 

[Therock]

IMO it's the power supply. What kind of power supply do you have? and did you get a new video card or something recently?

 

[DJ-CHRIS]

It's a laptop

 

[AT2005]

Im considering this is a Laptop right? If so have you gotten any new upgrades recently in the past few months were you the original buyer or did you get it off someone and what the laptop is mainly used for? Such as gaming, mainstream video/audio/image editing or a buisness style as in forms paper work??

 

[elAmericano]

Yes, it is a laptop; the only piece of hardware I've ever installed was a simple wireless PC Card. That was right after Christmas. Would that have anything to do with it? Thanks for looking into the problem. I appreciate it.

elAmericano

 

[jinexile]

Sounds to me that you're battery might be faulty.

 

[elAmericano]

Okay, thanks. Would that affect how the power gets to the computer? I mean, would that cause my computer to run at a lower performance than usual even when plugged in?

I have a friend that's getting an Inspiron 8600 (I have an 8500), and I'm going to test out his adapter w/ my comp. to isolate the problem. I'm going to keep the battery in mind, and if the adapter doesn't fix it, I'll consider getting a new battery (ugh!). Thanks for the help.

elAmericano

 

[jinexile]

It could also be the mobo itself... If you have a dell why not call the tech support... most of the time I've had good luck with them at work and I beleive you should have 3 year warrenty on the parts.