Lap Top Users Running Vista...

Interesting,

I'm having the same problem on my laptop running VISTA business, or whatever the pro version is supposd to be.

Battery won't charge, or at least the computer doesn't think it will.

Is Micosoft suggesting the upgrade will fix the problem??

Dave

 

yes, upgrade to XP

 

hmmm....

That's not gonna happen. Gotta look for another solution than that.

DM

 

I am running Vista (Home Premium) on my Laptop, have not had a problem at all with it. No battery problems whatsoever.

My laptop battery is a monster, it'll run well over 5 hours while surfing the internet.

 

no charging problems on any. Other problems but no charging issues.

All or high end Toshiba's. Think we've got a few more laptops with Vista in the company, that are also running fine - a couple Lenovo's I think.

Nothing would surprise me though - good luck!

 

My Vista Home Basic is running smooth. I added some RAM when I got it, just a 1 minute job, to support Vista. I had way to many problems with my Toshiba laptop that didn't have Vista, and had that problem you are having I also had on my Toshiba, turned out the plug that is connected to the motherboard was loose, and no one wanted to touch it because if they messed up they would have more problems. Honestly, I don't really understand the problem that people have with Vista, I guess I am one of the millions that cannot tell the difference. Once you get used to it, you'll be like me.

 

I have never had this problem and I am running Vista Business on an IBM/Lenovo thinkpad T60. Been runnig this for over a year with no battery issues. I still have the OEM battery and I get 6hrs running time.

 

I'm running Vista (premium) as well. I have not encountered any problems at all. I have the laptop for almost a year now.

 

Running Vista premium on my laptop, no problems in the few months since I got this laptop. There's not fix from the google searching? Does windows kick into hibernate mode or something? Can you turn off power management and at least be able to use the laptop?

 

Are you sure it's a problem with Windows and not a hardware problem?

The "smart" batteries used nowadays have a circuit that monitors the voltage level of the battery to determine the charge - that's done in hardware circuitry on the laptop motherboard. If the charging circuit is bad, or (more likely) the battery is bad, it won't charge correctly. Since you've replaced the battery, are you sure it's not the laptop itself? I had the same problem in Windows XP on my last Sharp laptop. It was me using it on my lap (gee who'da figured!) that was flexing and stressing where the power connector went into the laptop... over time the circuit board cracked. That circuit board in there was also part of the charging circuit and it had caused the battery not to be able to charge. So I could run it on the power jack but not on battery.

Windows just reports what the smart monitoring circuit on the laptop is telling it, and it will enter shutdown/hibernate mode if the battery charge drops below 5% or 2% I beleive. But if the battery isn't charging, Windows has no control over that - thats all hardware. It is a common problem on laptops but usually due to bad batteries. The lithium ion batteries are usually only good for 12-18 months and they start degrading as soon as they are made, so it could just be that too. Have you called Toshiba for warranty support? Is the laptop still under warranty?

 

I have to agree with Mike on this one. Sounds like a battery or board problem. The battery might not be holding enough amps at this point. It happened to my macbook pro - so it is not even platform dependent.

Carbie, I have to admit it, I have a... a... Vista notebook now. *sniffs*

 

I bought a cheap Thinkpad (only need it for the university) recently. Vista Home Basic came with it. First start took 23 minutes, MS and Lenovo had managed to pack over 40 (!) programs and additional services in the autostart. Put in a Linux disc, formatted, now Linux (Ubuntu to be precise) is running, no problems at all and fast as hell.

 

mine is fine on it right now. I think it might be a battery issue and not really a OS issue

 

+10.

 

I am running Vista Home Basic on my laptop with 1.5gb of ram and have no problems with the battery...what Mike told you should be the problem

 

one of the advantages is Toshiba Service Depot's are real people you can actually talk to. I'd suggest finding one, and asking them to plug in a working battery and see if it charges in your laptop. They should do that on spec of charging you for a new battery?

I would not upgrade to Ultimate hoping that fixes a failing battery! I've got one machine running Ultimate, and not clear what I actually got for my $$'s. More likely just upgrading drivers that came with a new o/s install was all that's required for the online forums you're reading.

 

Starting point is @$200++ for the mainboard sans labor. I'd guess $300+ by the time you get the device back.

What make and model is your computer?

 

Upgrading to Ultimate won't do anything for you except lighten your wallet. The core functionality in each version of Vista is the same.

 

I paid my way through college fixing laptops for a local laptop rental company Happy to be of help...

I agree it is a very common problem, but I honestly don't think it's anything with Vista....and I'd hate to see you spend $$$ on software that won't end up fixing it. I think the reason it's common is partly because laptops are cheaper and perhaps less solidly built than back in the day, and also pretty much the only thing that's almost always connected to one's laptop is the power connector, so it tends to be the point of failure more than anything else. I buy a new laptop about every 2 years, because to me I now consider them disposable. They never last, be it a $3000 top of the line unit or a $500 cheap-o one. My most recent laptop I got a couple months ago... it's an HP with a 2.4Ghz (I believe?) Core Duo processor, a 17" screen, 250GB hard drive, 3GB of memory, a dual-layer DVD burner. It was $800... it will probably last me 2 years and when stuff starts breaking I'll toss it out.

Honestly, if your laptop is out of warranty, it must be at least a year old. Fixing the motherboard is sort of like replacing the engine in a car - it doesn't get much more expensive (other than replacing the screen). You're probably looking at $300 at an absolute minimum, but could easily be up to $500 or more. There may also be lots of sub-boards in the laptop, many Toshibas have a "battery board" but I am not sure if the electronics for the charging circuit are on that board or the motherboard. You can get laptop parts at places like www.sparepartswarehouse.com or www.excelcomputerinc.com but you'd then have to put them in yourself.

If it was my laptop, I'd probably just shop for a new one. If I was determined to fix it or if a new one wasn't an option, I'd scour google trying to find if this was a common problem with the specific laptop model you have, and if anyone had devised a fix for it. Failing that, you may be able to call Toshiba and work them to at least look at the laptop for free and tell you how much $$ it will cost to fix. Can you let us know the specific model number? I'll look online and see if I can't find any solutions or maybe someone would have an idea what hardware part may be bad....

Sorry to hear about it - it sucks when they fail just out of warranty (and on that note, perhaps Toshiba would give you some sympathy support with a little honey or a little vinegar if they ain't receptive to the honey... )

 

Let me guess.....Your big dollar jobs were re-soldering the stupid power charging connector! I had it done twice on my first Lifebook. The first was in warranty (Done at Fry's) and the second time (six months later) was out of my pocket at $250! When I went for a new laptop last week, that was the first thing I looked at! I compared the Fujitsu Lifebook against an HP and went for the HP, as the type of connector seemed to be a bit more solid.