subject: Dell Inspiron 1545 Laptop Battery Plugged In But Not Charge [print this page] The most outstanding characteristics of laptop is its portability and ease of use, compared to desktop computers. However, the laptop is no longer portable if the battery could not work properly. It may function like a tethered desktop computer if the battery doesn't get charged properly. Most of the major laptop computer problems are battery related and they need to be solved immediately. Sometimes the battery was plugged in but did not charge.
Actually, most of today's laptop computers are loaded with a lithium ion battery of several hours. Of course, how long the battery will last is entirely determined by how you use it. To charge the dell laptop battery, an AC adapter with specific voltage settings is required, which is normally supplied with the laptop.
If the AC adapter is not working properly, then the charging won't occur at all. An laptop AC adapter, with lower than required voltage settings, will not be able to charge the battery. See to it that the AC adapter matches the laptop battery's requisite settings. A loose wire or internal breakdown, may render an AC adapter useless. Changing the adapter all together might solve your problem.
Power Management Software Problem
Sometimes, the problem is merely with the power management software. This is the classic case, when the laptop charges when switched off, but doesn't when the computer has booted. The software may have gotten corrupted which must be causing the problem. In such a case, go to the device manager section and uninstall the power management software. In case of Windows XP, uninstall 'Microsoft ACPI Compliant Control Method Battery listing' from the device manger section. Take care that you do not install any other AC adapter driver software. Then go for a 'hardware scan', which will automatically identify the toshiba laptop battery and reinstall the latest version of the drivers again. That will restore the charging facility of your laptop.
Internal Charging Circuitry Problem
If neither the AC adapter, nor the power management software has a problem, then problem can be with the internal charging circuitry of the laptop. In this case, there is little you can do other than sending the laptop to the manufacturer's service center.
Defective Battery
Another reason that could lead to the charging problem may result from a defective battery. Run the dell inspiron 1545 battery test. If your laptop is quite old, this could be one of the most likely reasons. Get the battery checked from the manufacturer and check if it has exceeded its predicted recharge cycle limit.