Noob here. Was directed to this site by the wonderful folks at Spybot. I have a rather old Gateway ML3109 laptop. I have one gig of ddr2 ram, running Vista, Intel Celeron M, and ATI Radeon graphics card. Been on a couple websites…..I am guessing this machine dates from 2007 or thereabout. So….
Used to be that every once in a while I had to do the unplug AC, unplug battery, hold down start button 30 secs and then the machine would power up after I plugged the AC cord in. It would work fine without the battery in. Now…….the only thing that happens is the battery light flashes 4 times when i push the power button.
The laptop was running extremely slow and I was going to give it a sweep with malware software, etc….but I cant get it to power up at all so I am kidn of stuck.
Is this a power supply issue? am I going to have to take the machine apart?
First thing is to check that your power supply( the external black brick) is supplying the correct voltage to your computer….. if you are handy with a multimeter then check that you are getting 19v at the plug that fits into the laptops socket….
If you dont have a multimeter or or not used to working with one ask your loacl competent computer technician to check it for you or simply try it with a known good 19v PSU that will fit your computer.
If the battery is dead then just remove it and proceed as normal
Never…ever…ever would I have thought the problem was related to the EXTERNAL power supply. And in fact, the cable from the PS to the unit was defective……ran upstairs…..shuffled through years of spare parts………voila! the old standby is back.
