The battery won't charge. The light is illuminated on the charger, but when I plug it into the laptop, the 'charging' lights are on for a few miliseconds. It was a progressively worsening condition. Inspiron 1150 with windows. Time for a new battery?

Hi Elizabeth,
If you have replaced the battery with a brand new one then it sounds like your charger maybe faulty.
I'm not sure what model Sony laptop you have but to check if the charger is working, plug it in and look for a charge light either on the front lip of the laptop or somewhere around the power button.
The charge light will only illuminate when the charger is plugged in and powered at the wall.

I hope this helps solve the problem for you. Let me know how you go!

V8

Remove the battery and plug in the Cord/charger, will it boot? If no, try another Cord/Charger with the EXACT same power specs. Replace battery if necessary.

I had a similar problem. I was going to take the charger apart but I ran into triangular socket head screws so in desperation I gently bent the 5 contact wires out from the battery socket. After slipping in the battery and plugging the charger into the wall socket, the charging light returned. The charger contacts that come into contact with the battery are easily pushed back and after a few battery insertions fail to make contact with the battery.

This is a common problem. It may be that the charger is dammaged. these Dell chargers have a micro thin communication cable in them that tell the charger to charge the battery. this micro thin cable can often break. Its use it to prevent the laptop battery from over charging, but if it breaks or becomed broken inside tha charger cable, then the laptop simply won't get the charge signal and the battery won't charge. If this is the case, then you will need to replace the charger with another Dell charger compatible with your laptop

If the laptop battery is more than 3 - 4 years old then the battery could be worn out. Rechargeable batteries have a finite number of charge and discharge cycles and will lose their charge capacity over time, i.e. won't charge to 100% and gradually the charge reduces until the battery won't charge up at all. OR The battery shows a 100% charge but when the adapter is disconnected the battery drops off to zero capacity in a very short time. If the battery drops to an unacceptable charge level then the battery needs to be replaced.

If it does not work with the Charger while the battery is out then I would say either your charger is bad, the dc power jack where the charger plugs into the laptop is bad or you've got motherboard issues. Does the charger have a light on it to indicate that it is on when plugged in the wall? Do you see any lights when you plug the charger into the laptop?

Take an ink pen and see if the little pin inside the computer where the charger plugs is loose and moves a bit. If so that is probably your problem. If the pin is tight and the charger works, then you've got motherboard issues.

is there charging indicator light on ....... check battery maybe its dry

Ann You probably have a problem with the charger and your batteries. If it has sat for several months and wasn't charged during that time the batteries are too low to be charged and the charger cannot pickup the charge on the batteries. Now check the charger to see if it has a fuse if it does check the fuse to make sure it is good If the fuse is ok then if Charlie has a voltmeter he cqn check the output of the charger at the 3 prong plug set the meter to 200 volts dc and touch the 2 outter pins of the plug careful not to touch the barrel of the plug. the voltage should be 27+ volts output. If you aren't getting any reading then the charger needs to be replaced. Hope this helps

This is a common problem with Batteries and AC Adapter you need to check, maybe your battery cells are dead or AC failing voltage

Likely to be a charger issue. You can pick up a new generic charger from your local supermarket for a few pounds