NicoleJLeBoeuf's dashboard

BILL PLEASE HELP ME
I have my Essay for a school exam save on my computer but it wont turn on because my battery is completely drained and the ac power adapter can not be determined!! please can you send me a replacement?? its really important!!!! thanks

I am currently having the same problem. It has been popping up for a few days now. I would unplug it and plug it back in and it would work fine. Now it is doing NOTHING. Very frustrating as I work from my laptop everyday. I don't remember if it is under warranty still or not. Now I tried it again and if I plug it in to the back of the computer and hold it a certain way it will work. But then I do have several wires exposed close to where it plugs in to the computer. I had this problem with my Compaq when I had it. I had to replace the cord 3 times due to wires exposed.

Greetings Bill,

I just sent you an email about this issue as well. I have a brand new Vostro 1700 (less than 2 weeks old) and it gives me the same error message as indicated above. It's very annoying. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Yeah, I got a replacement adapter about six months ago. The same thing happened. When the problem first arose, I could just unplug and replug the adapter into the computer and it would work. Now, I haven't had my battery charging for about 2 weeks. I don't know about any conspiracies, but the fact of the matter is that these adapters are horribly designed and will fail after about six months. Don't worry about sending me a replacement, it's not worth the hassle but, please, Bill, tell your superiors that those adapters are terrible and that type of annoying issue is what drives people to buy Macs.

sorry vice versa:D I was so happy that's working that wrote it wrong, so first connect to laptop, then to electric and then turn on:-) – marfy4207, on August 17, 2008 11:49

Hi guys, i hope that i figured the problem with the adapter. I had the same problem. Then I try to connect adapter first to electric and then to laptop. Never see error again... Hope this help... Marfy

having the same problem with an Inspiron 1150, except the message reads a little differently: "Quickset - the ac power adapter type cannot be determined" and that system performance will be affected. Unfortunately, the battery expired and the system is now dead in the water. I think I'll try Bill...

Had the same problem. Contacted Dell, had a new charger in 2 days. Of course, I'm under a corporate next-business-day warranty. Nevertheless, I am quite pleased with Dell support and customer service.

My Inspiron 1525 laptop ac adapter that came with the system went bad along with the battery. Today I received replacements for they were under warranty still. The battery seems to be doing fine but when I plugged in the new adapter I get the same message as you guys. I got online with Dell and someone is sending me another adapter. I really hope just sending another helps the problem. How could a brand new adapter be bad. I thought maybe they send the wrong one but looking at my old one and new one they look the same.

I have been having the exact same problem with my Inspiron 1501, it just started recently as well. And the warranty just ran up.

i have an inspiron 6400, i got it in may of 2006, and just recently have been having the same problem. i took it on vacation with me and it worked fine but now that i'm home if i unplug it, it turns off and won't turn back on unless i plug it back in, and then the message about the power adapter comes up

Yeah... I've had the same problem with my power adapter. I (very stupidly) ignored it hoping it would be okay and wasn't that serious.

Except now my laptop battery won't charge or run on AC power at all. And both my battery and my backup are dead. So basically I now have a useless hunk of plastic and metal that used to be my laptop. Furthermore I am a writer who just (this weekend) bought a flash drive to back up all my work. Which I now cannot access because my computer is dead. Oy.

I sent an email to Bill (it is bill right?) and I hope a replacement power adapter is all I need! I'm crossing my fingers!

Also, it's really nice of you to help all of us out, Bill. Thanks a bunch!

I should add that the above can't work if your battery is completely drained ... step 3 will blank the computer!

I've learnt from the helpful Mr Wm Bivin that sadly, but hardly surprisingly, the replacement adapter offer is limited to North America.

This made me experiment with other solutions to the "adapter type cannot be determined" problem -- and I seem to have found one which works for me.

Switch off the computer and perform the following in rapid succession.

1 Restart the laptop using the power adapter.

2 During start-up, await the DOS-style error message that invites you to press F1 to continue. If you don't see this message, it may be switched off in BIOS, where there's an option of suppressing adapter warnings.

3 Pull out the power plug from the jack at the back of the computer.

3 Press F1

4 Immediately replace the power plug at the back of the computer.

This seems to "fool" the adapter into recharging the battery.

Of course this may only apply to laptops similar to my Inspiron 9400. Also, my adapter looks to be in sound condition, with no snapped or bent wires. And the motherboard seems healthy apart from this adapter recognition quirk.

I'd be interested to know if this works for anyone else.

I have a e1705 that one month after the warranty expired the graphics card (nvidia 7900 gs), power adapter, and power port on the computer all died. One or all of these problems ARE common with dell laptops. Dell even knows it, but they don't care about customers and refuse to help. Don't bother spending hours on the phone only to have someone tell you they will call you back and never do. I also believe this IS a way for Dell to make money by forcing people to buy more of their junky products to fix thier computers that should not be breaking down in the first place. The best advice I can give to everyone is NEVER and I mean NEVER buy any Dell products. Tell all your friends and family to NEVER buy Dell and tell them to tell someone and so on. Only this way will Dell get the hint to admit to these problems and fix them for all of us no matter if we have a warrranty or not. If they don't we will run them out of business. The web is latent with people having problems with Dell laptops, but Dell does nothing. They sell defective parts and don't care because they last till the warranty runs out and then Dell will tell you SORRY. That doesn't cut it when you buy a $3,000.00 laptop that dies for no fault of mine. I could go on and on, but it is a waste of time. I will never buy anything Dell again. Good luck everyone with your cheap and junky Dell computers.

Bill,
My Inspiron E1705 is having the same problem. I will send you an email. I'm glad to see this issue being addressed.

Thanks,
Jed

Joel,

I have 2 Dell Inspiron 1501 with the AC power adapter isn't recognized...Bill I wou;ld appreciate 2 new power adapters. I called Dell on tthis in April 08 and they had me remove battery and adapter, and plug in adapter only and push and hold the FN and power key it fixed nothing. I still get the error warning. One of the 1501 I tried updating BIOS to 2.6.3 and I get a flash failure error 144. PLease help Bill..I will supply service tags, etc.

Thanks,

Joel

Hi Bill, I just had the problem with my dell 1501. Im from the Philippines. I sent you an email.

bon

The comment from Bob above about RAZZA's suggestion of reseating the adapter plug had also worked for me. My AC Adapter is the PA-12 for Dell XPS M1210

Thank You very very much your an awsome help and saved my laptop ^_^