[Hominids R Us]

Well, it's finally happened. My Toshiba Satellite, purchased at the beginning of last year, has stopped receiving power from the wall socket. After consulting with a Geek Squad agent, it appears to be a power cord issue, but I probably will not be able to replace the power cord for a month or two.

I've already moved all my important work and documents to my smaller (in processor speed, memory, and HDD size) yet larger (in size and weight) notebook from a couple of years before. Fortunately, I had already quadrupled the stock RAM of this computer by the time I bought the new one, so I know have half as much memory to play with as opposed to an eighth as much. The older computer, an HP, suffers from the aggravating can't-wake-up-from-sleep issue, and on waking from hibernate it cannot access the internet. The battery meter is woefully inaccurate but it doesn't matter since there appears to be only about an hour of life in it when recharged. So, goodbye to being able to head out to a coffee shop for a change of scene, unless I know I'll get to sit near an outlet. With all my software installed and a WinSxS folder nearly 10G in size, I have 27G free on my HDD--really not much more than the differential increase in space I recover on the newer computer from a routine Tune-Up Utilities cleaning.

OK, so: Now that I have to put the good laptop on the shelf for a couple of months, what would be the best practices in doing so? Regarding the battery, should I (a) remove it from the computer, and (b) discharge it first? Is there any other precaution I should take to ensure that the computer will be in good working order when I am able to use it again?

Edited by Hominids R Us, 04 April 2010 - 11:59 PM.

[Advertisements]

This may not be a power cord issue, it's more likely to be a broken power pin. Investigate all avenues first otherwise you may end up buying a power pack that you don't actually need.

Regarding the battery, all batteries discharge themselves naturally over time. However I should remove it from the laptop in case it leaks.

[Neil Jones]

This may not be a power cord issue, it's more likely to be a broken power pin. Investigate all avenues first otherwise you may end up buying a power pack that you don't actually need.

Regarding the battery, all batteries discharge themselves naturally over time. However I should remove it from the laptop in case it leaks.

[SpywareDr]

How to store a laptop battery properly to save it from an early death
http://4sysops.com/a...an-early-death/

[Hominids R Us]

This may not be a power cord issue, it's more likely to be a broken power pin. Investigate all avenues first otherwise you may end up buying a power pack that you don't actually need.

Regarding the battery, all batteries discharge themselves naturally over time. However I should remove it from the laptop in case it leaks.

The Geek Squad tech tried it out with one of their own cords and wasn't able to duplicate the error no matter how much he wiggled the cord up and down or side to side. I am slightly alarmed at the range of motion of the pin/jack but it seems to have always been that way. If I insert a narrow implement into the jack and apply lateral pressure to the pin, it still seems quite firmly in place.

[Hominids R Us]

How to store a laptop battery properly to save it from an early death
http://4sysops.com/a...an-early-death/

The battery is about 60% charged, so from looking at your link it seems I need to remove it now.

This is my second battery for this system. With the original, I had made the mistake of thinking the battery works like a cell phone battery, meant to be routinely discharged in use. So, if I wanted to work away from home for a couple of hours, or even just move into another room of the house, I routinely unplugged the system and worked off the battery. This abusive (albeit unwittingly) practice caused the duration of a charge to go from about four hours to 30 minutes, quite suddenly.

I've learned to use battery power only when there's no alternative. The manufacturers really need to give greater emphasis to this fact.