strange problem with laptop

[Krusher]

Ok, I will try to describe this the best I can.

With laptop plugged in to the mains charger the laptop runs extremely slow but when it runs on battery it is quick as it should be.
Also when the laptop was left overnight to charge up, the battery only showed as 26% charged and then subsequentally went flat within 5 minutes.
If I run the laptop without the battery even connected whilst plugged in to the mains it still runs really slow, I'm confused with this now has anyone got
any ideas please??

[john (smifffy)]

it might be running a little warm have you cleaned round the fan & heatsinc of al the dust that gathers inside

[Krusher]

All clean there smiffy

[marcsony]

I had same fault with a old laptop of mine, how old is the battery ? cause i changed mine with one off the bay.
the problem that caused my fault was leaving it on charge all the time and not decharging once in a while.

[Alchamist]

Ok, as a question, what make and model? Many laptops employ "smart-step" or similar technology, allowing them to profile the CPU and bus speed depending on the power source etc. This is normally set at fairly sane settings, but of course they can become messed up, meaning that less resources are allocated when on mains power.

There might be some bios settings involved as well - but let's start with the simple stuff!

Do you have all the correct drivers installed for the laptop? Might be worth visiting the manufacturers website to see if there are any updates.

[Krusher]

Hi Jay

Laptop is a HP compaq 6910p. When this problem first started I tried running the anti virus and then disabling start up items through msconfig
but to no avail. Then I thought I'll have to reformat the hard drive which I did.Reloaded windows xp pro with all the manufacurers drivers which I had on disc but the problem is still there. When I type a sentance it doesn't appear on the screen for about 25 seconds later, thats why my reply has taken so long

[Alchamist]

Is there anything eating CPU time or memory in the task manager? I have also had PC's before where the CPU resources are at 50%~ish at idle due to ...... dust! A quick blast of the old compressed air and it dropped back again, so they can be a little funny!

[Krusher]

I am starting to think that maybe I need a new battery because as marcsony stated earlier he replaced the battery on his laptop after showing simalar symptoms after not allowing it to fully discharge from time to time. That is one thing I'm guilty of, I didnt realise that by not allowing it to run on battery and discharge now and again that it would knacker it. I thought battery "memory" was a thing of the past. So could it be that because the battery is fubar that the laptop is running on the "basic resources" mode because the battery is sucking up all the power from the mains charger even though it can not store any of the charge??

[Alchamist]

I would have agreed, except for the fact that you said it ran the same with the battery out. Battery "memory" sadly hasn't gone, but it's a lot better with Lithium-Ion batteries.

It might be worth seeing how much a new battery off fleabay would cost, but it's a bit of a gamble at £40-£50.

[Krusher]

Oh yes, It is the same with battery out forgot about that bit. UUGGHHH b****y pc's see Jay they just dont help do they???

[Alchamist]

Interesting test ...

Download Kubuntu live CD and see if the performance difference between battery and mains still exists (don't worry - you don't have to re-install anything - it runs of the CD). If it does, then it's going to be hardware, if not then something in Windoze is messed up ...

[Krusher]

Thanks Jay

I will give that try, but I will have to wait for an eternity for the lappy to charge up eneough before I can run the test. I can go online and download the software with my desktop though at least cant I?

[Alchamist]

Yup - you need to burn it to a CD anyway (it's an ISO CD Image), which will make a bootable CD which will run the lappy

[Krusher]

Thanks for your help Jay I will get on the case now.

[Alchamist]

No problems - let me know how you get on

[Krusher]

Interesting test ...

Download Kubuntu live CD and see if the performance difference between battery and mains still exists (don't worry - you don't have to re-install anything - it runs of the CD). If it does, then it's going to be hardware, if not then something in Windoze is messed up ...

Sorry Jay, just noticed what you said about it could be something in windows thats errmm , messed up. I have installed a fresh copy of windows after all this started and same symptoms are still there, Is it still worth me running the test that you recomended?

[Alchamist]

Yes - because it might be one of the Windoze drivers causing problems, and running on a completely different OS will eliminate that question without costing a penny

[Krusher]

Ok then, I ran the new operating system and the problem is still there. So looks like I have a knackered laptop. I am now completely
stumped as to where the problem lies, but strangely enough as I'm typing this out it has rectified itself although it will resurface again.

EDIT

No its gone again, back to a snails pace again

[Alchamist]

At least you know where the problem is now. Perhaps next stage is to replace the battery

[Krusher]

Just tried it again without the battery in and it still runs slow, so as you stated earlier Jay cant be the battery then