Dell laptop Question

Discussion in 'PC Hardware' started by bdearen, Jan 9, 2011.

  1. bdearen

    bdearen MDL Junior Member

    Oct 3, 2009
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    Hey guys this is not really related to win7 but you guys that lurk this forum are extremely knowledgeable. Anyways I have an older del laptop that I got from a friend because he didn't think it worked anymore. Formatted it put a fresh win7 on it and boom I have a new laptop. So the problem just started recently when the computer is booting in bios I get an error saying the power adapter I am using cannot be determined. Then it says system performance will be reduced. Press F1 to continue. I boot into windows and everything runs so slow. When I mouse over the power options it says 75% plugged in (not charging.) This just started happening when I first got Win7 up I never got that error and the computer was running great. Now I can't even stream movies or anything because it runs so sluggish. I have done some research myself saying that the laptop ac adapter or the motherboard plug could be bad but how can that make the computer run so slow? Is there anything I can do besides buying a new ac adapter ect.. ?? Thanks guys
     
  2. gamepoint

    gamepoint MDL Senior Member

    Jan 4, 2010
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    u said that it is an old laptop.Have u check the compatibility with windows 7?
     
  3. gamepoint

    gamepoint MDL Senior Member

    Jan 4, 2010
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    Thanks venu..that's what i meant...And have you check the outdated drivers, or even BIOS?
    Reformatting to windows 7 doesnt ensure your laptop will be faster..If u have very old laptop and low spec..just use windows XP..or any linux distro
     
  4. bAiLeY

    bAiLeY MDL Novice

    Oct 22, 2009
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    Hello m8,
    It could be a charger issue, on dells with the large circular jack and a centre pin the inner voltage is 19.5v and the centre pin can be 13v.
    I seem to think the combined output is 65watt, anything less will give the error you state. Try and borrow another charger just
    to rule the power adaptor out.
     
  5. TheStar

    TheStar MDL Novice

    Feb 21, 2010
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    I agree, try a new charger. I have seen a bad charger affect performance on DELL.
     
  6. ThrowOutPC

    ThrowOutPC MDL Novice

    Jan 11, 2011
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    My first post! :)

    I have a Dell Latitude D620 and have received the same error you are getting in the past. It turned out the generic power supply I bought from Amazon.com was not up to spec. The problem disappeared when I purchased a Dell branded AC Adapter off of Ebay.

    I'm not saying that is your problem, but it is one thing to check. The fact that your problem started after installing Win 7 may be coincidence.

    The first thing I would do, if I were you, is try another adapter.
     
  7. TheStar

    TheStar MDL Novice

    Feb 21, 2010
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    What does it show your speed as in the Properties?
     
  8. totalfixation

    totalfixation MDL Novice

    Jun 18, 2010
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    have you tried a different hard drive?
     
  9. gharri7

    gharri7 MDL Novice

    Jun 2, 2011
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    I am hoping new power cords help us. My wife and I have 2 Dells, Inspiron 1420 dual core 1.8 GHz 4 gig memory Inspiron 1318 dual core 2.0 GHz 2 gig memory both with win 7 installed as update to Vista. Her ac adaptor crapped out and we got her a new one, no problem then mine crapped out and I got a new one too, neither of these power cords were "Dell issue" they were cheaper and seemed to work. Well then after a while her ac adaptor crapped out again so we started sharing mine, only problem was that mine was not in good shape either. I had it set up so that it would not move and it worked as it should. Now that I moved it, that cord does not work either, so like any good husband would do, I spliced the working part of my ac adaptor to the working part of her ac adaptor now we both have to use the power cord to run our laptops and both are getting the system start message that basically says you don’t have a good power source and things may not run well. That is for sure nether neither my wife’s computer nor mine run well at all, very slow. Should get the new cords on Friday and they are both “Dell issue” and I will post back here and let you know if our computers did pick up or if they have been damaged due to my splicing job. Oh yea and right before all this her computer (1380) was ginving her the SMART HD error message of impending failure so I bought her a new 500 gig and instlled it. Im hoping that the power issue was not the reason for the SMART message too.
     
  10. TheStar

    TheStar MDL Novice

    Feb 21, 2010
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    The SMART error wouldn't have anything to do with your Adapter. Your hard drive is failing. Make sure you start to back up anything that you want to save.