Wierd computer issue.

[Happydude]

wow, that sounds really weird. IT sounds as though something is wrong with the battery, like it's not keeping a charge.

I haven't come across a problem like this, and you said it came on randomly...which makes it even harder to troubleshoot.

There are a few options:

1. If your computer was plugged in when the power went off, there might have been a short circuit overloading and blowing some capacitors which are used mainly in the start-up process.

2. There might have been a small dust piece or something that has gotten in between the battery and the electric pins that the battery connects to.

3. your computer is just old.

The only one of those options you can check yourself is #2; for the others you would need to take it in to be repaired or replaced.

[Professor S]

It sounds like you got a power surge when the power went off or on again, and it blew some stuff up. I'm not familiar with how laptops handle power, but hopefully only your battery got fried a little. If this were a desktop we were talking about, your whole system might have gotten crisped up a nice golden brown.

In any case, in the future, even with a laptop, I'd advise investing in a voltage regulator for charging the battery. You don;t really need to regulate voltage with an on board battery, but they make the best surge protectors, IMO, with the added bonus of a secondary power source if power goes out for a LONG time.

[TheGame]

Thanks for the tips guys. I think even though its working I'm going to invest in a new laptop next friday. I don't have cable, and video games don't do it for me like they used to. Can't really risk having my best entertainment source going out lol. I'll have about $700 to spend on one (after taxes), might have to hit up walmart or something. :x

To Happydude... It could have been dust, but I don't know, nothing changed from the last 3 attempts to turn it on, except for the 3rd time it worked randomly. And my computer actually just hit its 2nd birthday as of today (what were the odds?). And I think its likely that it got fried when the power came back on, since I left it plugged in like an idiot, it was working just fine when the power went out lol.

And to strangler, I'll likely get one of those regulators a bit after getting my new laptop. I guess the only good though, is that it is randomly working now. Hopefully it holds out one more week. :P