Computer Question. (1 Viewer)

[Jenn]

Since there are a lot of people who understand computers more than I, I figured I'd throw this out here.

I bought an HP Pavillion Laptop last year...late October I think. It was sometime between the Vegas Nat, and the Vegas Div. Anyway, it's still under warranty.

Last Friday I took it off the AC Adapter to use and the battery lasted about an hour, and so I got the adapter, plugged it in, and it wasn't charging. So ran the HP battery check utililty and it said that the battery failed the test, contact HP following this link. So I did. HP recommended that I recalibrated the battery and updated the BIOS. (Whatever that is). So they emailed me instructions and eventually the battery charged but then drained. I asked them if I could do one before the other and they said I could do it in either order. So I decided to go with the BIOS thingy because the battery wasn't fully charged. I followed the instructions on the email, and it started to update but then the screen went white and it stayed white for a couple hours. It never shut down like the tech said it would.

So I contacted HP again, and they said to turn it off, I tried to but it wouldn't SHUT off. So they told me to unplug it, take the battery out, drain the power by pressing the power button for thirty seconds, reconnect, and try again. Did that...and then the darn thing wouldn't turn back on! They made me check some other stuff, reseat the memory, etc, but finally said "We'll send you a call tag and pick up the computer".

But I'm wondering, what the heck happened? Any ideas?

 

[willy]

I see no need for them to have messed with the BIOS, Jenn. It's not that old.

Sounds like a simple bad battery to me..considering you drained it and after charged, it still wouldn't hold the charge.

Hopefully, the not fulfilled BIOS update doesn't cause a problem. They will send the tag and since it's under warranty..you'll get it back like a new one.

Let us know how it goes.

 

["Dr. Dirt"]

No geek here (my son does all that) but I'll tell you what I've done for all my laptops. I go on the Internet (even eBay) and purchase another battery as a backup for each laptop. I have found that these aftermarket ones will outlast the OEM unit almost two to one in charge time as well as life time. It's wise to have another for exactly this case you are discussing.

 

[Jenn]

What does the BIOS do exactly?

David, the rep acted like I had to update the BIOS to validate the theory that the battery had failed.

Bobby, I've never had a problem with the batteries although I'd wanted one for a while because of the time we travel and the fact that I'm always afraid I'm gonna shock the yell out of me when I plug the inverter into the Toterhome.

Another reason I hadn't bought a battery was that they are still expensive even aftermarket, and I've got a wedding to pay for. Oy. First it was tuition, now it's nuptuals.

 

[yoda]

I'll have to agree that your battery has just gone kaput, Ninji... HPs seem to get a good year before they start to go, especially if you run it on battery life most of the time (Trust your inverter, young padawan...)

Doc is right about the aftermarket ones, but since you are still under warranty, hold on to the HP one to send it in so that way there is no excuse they can give you about "sub-standard aftermarket parts".

From GetStuff: Definition- BIOS:

One of the most common uses of Flash memory is for the basic input/output system of your computer, commonly known as the BIOS (pronounced "bye-ose"). On virtually every computer available, the BIOS makes sure all the other chips, hard drives, ports and CPU function together.

Whatever that means...

 

[willy]

What does the BIOS do exactly?

David, the rep acted like I had to update the BIOS to validate the theory that the battery had failed.

Bobby, I've never had a problem with the batteries although I'd wanted one for a while because of the time we travel and the fact that I'm always afraid I'm gonna shock the yell out of me when I plug the inverter into the Toterhome.

Another reason I hadn't bought a battery was that they are still expensive even aftermarket, and I've got a wedding to pay for. Oy. First it was tuition, now it's nuptuals.

There are BIOS updates but it's fairly moot in this instance. An update makes sure hardware updates play nice. Which isn't relevant unless a major component of your system is updated. A battery doesn't fit that criteria. Let HP fix it Jenn..all will be well. They'll also fix any BIOS issue you have when they are in possession of it.

It's all good.

 

[Al smith]

the bios contains instructions for starting your computer. It tells the computer where to look for the hard drive, what size it is. what drive to boot from. or boot from cd. What tft screen to use, the keyboard and mouse inputs. the boot virus detection (if selected) If the computer should give you a flash screen when started. or to check for external devices, Once the computer starts and loads the operating system bios is no longer needed as to OS takes over. when you upgraded your bios did it prompt you to save the old bios settings? It usually does. If so it may be possible for you to undo the damage done. as for the battery I see no reason why you had to upgrade the bios because of the battery. as the two are unrelated. sounds like they were reading from the wrong script and misunderstood your problem. They may have thought you lost your watch battery on the mainboard and the bios reset to default settings.


here's some hp bios info

HP Pavilion dv2000/dv6000/dv9000 and Compaq Presario v3000/v6000 Series Notebook PCs- HP Limited Warranty Service Enhancement - HP Customer Care (United States - English)

NOTE: It is recommended that the notebook PC is connected with an AC adapter and connected to the Internet via an Ethernet cable as interruptions in power or wireless connections may result in the download failing to install.

 

[Jenn]

There are BIOS updates but it's fairly moot in this instance. An update makes sure hardware updates play nice. Which isn't relevant unless a major component of your system is updated. A battery doesn't fit that criteria. Let HP fix it Jenn..all will be well. They'll also fix any BIOS issue you have when they are in possession of it.

It's all good.

I hope so. I didn't know how a battery could make my computer not even turn on but hey, go figure.

Thankfully they had online real time chat support because when I had to call HP, I couldn't understand the accents. Oy.

Thanks the help. HP said I'd have a call ticket by tomorrow. I commanderred Tom's laptop for the night, so I have life support. LOL.

 

[Jenn]

Oh, and BTW, when they pick up the laptop, they told me to keep the battery anyway. The battery is what supposedly started this whole mess.

I hope they make the fan quieter while they have it.

 

[Bowtie]

Oh, and BTW, when they pick up the laptop, they told me to keep the battery anyway. The battery is what supposedly started this whole mess.

I hope they make the fan quieter while they have it.

Don't count on it, they will just flash the bios and send it back. Like others have said, buy an aftermarket battery, fully charge it for at least 14 hours and then use the laptop with out the power supply until the battery is down to 10% then recharge. if you leave them plugged in all them time, you actually shorten their life.

 

[Jenn]

Update! My computer came while I was in Dallas, but now that I'm home, I opened the box and the paperwork says they replaiced the system board. Don't know what that is, and haven't tried out the computer but we'll see.

 

[willy]

Well, you basically have a new computer now, Jenn. Cool.