acer 5050 battery metre problems

Hey guys i recently bought an acer model 5050 laptop with vista 32bit installed on it. I tried to install xp but thats another story. Anyway the problem is the battery metre always shows under 10% no matter how long i charge it for and when i plug out it usually says laptop needs to be plugged in or find another power source or something but the battery will last a fair while before it goes off and also sometime the touchpad and keyboard stop working or get so slow that its unusable. I have looked this problem up and some say its a bad battery but id rather know if theres anything else it could be before i go forking out for a new battery. I got this laptop for half nothing and am trying to get it running right before i give it to my little girl. Has anyone got any ideas?

 

Hi,

you can install Battery Bar from osirisdevelopment.com and see what it reports for the battery wear.

Since you have other issues, is this Vista installation from the pre-owner, or did you restore the factory installation?

Michael

 

Hi Michael

Vista was on it when i got it but i tried to install xp and everything went fine until i had to type in the users during the installation and the keyboard would not work i tried a usb keyboard but wouldnt work either so i had to cancel installation an reinstall vista i will install battery bar and see how that goes anyway

I downloaded the battery bar is there any information in paticular you would like me to post up
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ok i figured it out well the keyboard and mouse anyway. I reinstalled vista 2 days ago to try fix the keyboard and mouse not working problem and it did fix it. But today windows update popped up and there was like 90 updates so i downloaded and installed them restarted the computer and straight away mouse and keyboard not working well the mouse works but is so laggy its unusable. So i tried starting in safe mode and wala everything works fine. Has anyone any idea what i can do bar restoring and not allowing the system to update. Is there some way i can find out which updates are causing the problems and stop just those ones from installing. Or better still how to get xp on this machine (note my problem in the above posts regarding the last time i tried installing xp. Any help would be really appreciated guys thanks

 

You could try disconnecting the touchpad cable and see if it works ok after. I had a faulty touchpad on a 5050 which worked fine sometimes but would bluescreen/freeze the laptop randomly.

 

any one have any ideas how i could get xp on this machine guys im really stuck here. is there a way i can install the keyboard driver or somethin before or during the xp installation???????????????

 

Hi,

what I am thinking of is the drivers for the pointing device and the keyboard.
You should uninstall Launch Manager (which is acting as keyboard driver) and the driver for the pointing device using the "Programs" thingy in Control Panel. I suspect, these are conflicting with newer system files that are installed by Windows update.

If this is successful, then check Acer support website if there are newer versions available (Launch Manager is in the Applications section) . If Windows 7 drivers are offered, I'd even prefer these.

Michael

 

There is no keyboard driver for the 5050 and the touchpad will also work with the driver installed by xp. It sounds like you have a hardware issue which is why i suggested you disconnect the touchpad in my previous post.
My advice is still to disconnect the touchpad and even the keyboard, plug in a usb keyboard and mouse and try the install again, if it works you know that one of them is the problem.
It only takes 5mins to undo the 2 screws from the back of the hinge covers,open the laptop and prise off the power strip/hinge covers, undo the 2 keyboard screws and disconnect the keyboard and touchpad.
With respect to michael recycled the launch manager is for programming the buttons on the power strip not for the keyboard/touchpad. Nor have I ever encountered any problems from windows updates under xp,vista or win7 on my 5050.

 

Im actually just going turn off the updates altogether now and give to my daughter. I cant face another installation. A usb mouse and touchpad do work during xp install its just the keyboard does not and usb keyboard does not work either. I dont mind pulling apart a laptop believe me but im just so sick of this laptop now it will be fine the way it is. Cheers for the info though mate much appreciated

 

Is there any way i can try installing xp again without removing vista. I have reinstalled vista twice and cleaned up all the rubbish thats not needed and its a long grueling process so i just want to try installing xp agian but leave vista and if the xp works out this time then remove it. Can this be done guys?

 

As far as I've understood, the factory preinstall worked fine until Windows updates were installed.
The Acer factory preinstallation comes with Launch Manager (which is a keyboard driver) and of course the drivers for the touchpad. One of these might conflict with newer system files that come with the OS updates. No hardware problem, IMO.

So, my suggestion - to rule this out - would be to reinstall the factory image and then uninstall both, Launch Manager and the Touchpad drivers, so only Windows generic drivers are active.
Then load Windows updates and see what happens.

Giving the laptop away in an unsecure, unpatched state is not a good idea at all.

Michael

 

Cheers mate but would it not be quicker just to uninstall the launch manager and touchpad drivers and install updates and if it results in the same problem returning i could just do a system restore

 

@ michael My bad installed the launch manager and saw that it does install legacy keyboard drivers along with more than I realised.
However just installed a fresh copy of xp pro with only updates and sata driver on my 5050 and everything works fine, no problem with the keyboard or mouse at all, most of the Fn keys work too without any Acer drivers. Maybe there is a problem with your copy of xp?
Are you installing all the vista updates Before removing all the Acer bloatware or after? is it something you are removing that is causing your problems with vista?

 

Yes, this is one of the options you have. Go ahead and try out.

That's why I mentioned that

This all depends on the laptop model you have. Some Fn keys do work with Windows default drivers, others won't.

I don't have a problem with that I am only trying to help

Michael

 

@ Michael I do realise you are trying to help and so am I, I should have put @NICKM1 after the second line in my last post as the rest was directed at the OP not you
@NIKM1 Was bored and repeated the xp install on my 5050 this time without an "unattended" xp disk and what do you know the usb keyboard stopped responding at the point of entering the user name too and later at the change resolution screen , my laptop keyboard was still working so I used it to enter username etc and completed the install. Tried again with the laptop keyboard/touchpad disconnected and again the usb keyboard stopped responding and without the laptop keyboard connected couldn`t finish the install.
Solution seems to be to use an "unattended" xp disk,no typing, although it also has to be worth trying to reseat your keyboard connector as yours should be working right through the install.

 

cheers mate any idea where i could get an unattended xp disc i really dont want to buy one

 

DIY.
Documentation is available on microsoft.com
Also there should be some stuff (tools and documentation) about this on your original XP disc.

Michael

 

Ahh no prob will look into it cheers mate appreciate all the help

 

Just curious but if i started and logged into vista and put the xp disc in would i be able to install xp from vista and then remove vista i know its a long shot but could i do that

 

No.
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