Computer dies Randomly (Battery also dead)

I have had my 3000 N100 Thinkpad for around 2 years now and after a year and a half I realised the Battery was no longer charging, soon after this happened my Laptop would just die randomly, when I say die I mean there is no shutdown screen it is as iff all power to the p.c. suddenly stopped.

At first I though it must be a Virus but after numerous scans and re-installing Windows the problem re-occured, Today I opened the P.C. and checked the fan as I thought maybe it was over heating and eventually giving in, I was relieved to see a load of dust and used the vacumn to clear the fan.

I thought that would fix the problem but now if anything it seems worse, I know the battery is dead as the charge level is 0 and the battery indicator on the front of the laptop flashes 5 times organge before disappears completely...

In a Final attempt I have disconnected the battery completely and am now running it only on the power adapter, I don't know if this will work but I need to do something...

What could cause a problem like this, all of my settings are correct my power settings are set to always on with no hibernation.

Any help will be wonderful.

Thanks

 

You have just joined our forum; a warm welcome.

I shall be upfront in that I do not have a definitive answer to your problem. However, I shall attempt each point in the sequence you wrote them.

Your Lenovo 3000 N100 is not a ThinkPad as you wrote of it to be. The Lenovo N100 is the low-cost cousin of the ThinkPad z60m. Almost all ThinkPads (of current production) are Lenovo notebooks but not all Lenovo notebooks are ThinkPads.

The battery. On the assumption that you run your machine extensively on battery, it is suffice to say that your battery has lasted about what it should be; in your case, about 2 years. Even the better reputation Fujitsu notebooks will have their batteries last for around 2 years of continuous use. Any duration beyond 2 years is just a bonus. Nothing is unusual about you battery not charging as it very probably has reached its life-span. Please have it replaced.

Your numerous scans and re-installing Windows. I have come across very stubbon virus that even my Norton 360 could not remove inspite it reporting that my system was cleaned. If it is really attributed to virus / malware, I would re-format the entire harddrive to be absolutely sure of virus / malware removal.

The interior cleaning. Did you also clean the heat-sink ? The fan-blades can be cleaned by vacuum cleaner but the heat-sink should be cleaned by using a pressurised air-can spray. It cannot be cleaned effectively with a vacuum cleaner. Be very careful when you use such spray; the can should be held nearly upright or else you risk spraying out freezing-cold liquid oxygen at the heat-sink.

Running on AC power. Assuming no virus / malware nor system over-heating and your machine still fails even with AC power, then please have it serviced.

rgds.

 

Many thanks for your reply, I did an experiment yesterday and removed the battery completely while running it on the mains and it has not died since, hopefully the bad battery was the problem, I just could not understand why when I was running the laptop with the mains connected and with the battery inserted it went crazy?

Just to clarify I did a clean install of Windows XP but installed the 32 bit version instead of the 64 bit which was probably a bad idea as I am not using all of the laptops resources... What do you think should I do another clean install with the 64Bit version?

As for the Heat Sink (Sorry I don't know what that is) I would not know what to spray either, I am guessing a deodorant might make he pc smell nice but is gonna do more harm than good... So they sell pressurised air canisters?

 

It's been two years, buy a new battery.

 

I think that has been covered already... I don't need a 8 word answer from a Mod to know my battery is dead...

Read my last post again, I had a question in there and it wasn't "Do I need a new Battery?"...

 

Aged battery attached while on AC power.
At this point, the logical speculation is that your machine was trying to charge that aged battery. When your notebook could not get the required response from that battery, it treated that as a malfunction and thus shut down abruptly. To prove / disprove this speculation, you will need to try with your replacement battery. If the new battery charges and your notebook also functions normally, the above speculation is valid; else, the fault may be with your notebook.

32bit vs 64bit Windows XP.
I would not be too hasty to jump into a conclusion without first understanding how and what you use your notebook for. In some applications, a 64bit OS helps while for most average users, a 32bit OS is more than suffice. I would invite you to read the following article to see the test results of each, then decide if the 64bit OS is what you need.

Click :
http://news.softpedia.com/news/Windows-versus-Windows-or-32-bit-versus-64bit-1349.shtml

The heat-sink clean up.
A computer hardware accessory store should have the compressed air-can spray on sale. Heat-sink is designed to conduct heat so that it draws heat out of the processor and in some cases, introduce colder temperatures. Below is an article on the cleaning of the Lenovo 3000 N100, which also covers the heat-sink clean up.

Click :
http://reviews.cnet.com/laptops/len...756411.html?messageID=2509842&tag=tip-2509842

Picture of your Lenovo 3000 N100 heat-sink. Click :
http://www.notebookparts.com/produc...000+N100+Cooling+Fan+&+Heatsink+-+ATZHW000300

rgds.

 

Can't thank you enough for your help, The computer has no acted crazy since I removed the old battery and now I know how to give the old machine a clean too... I think I will stick with the 32 Bit XP too since the 64 Bit version seems like an unjustified way of Microsoft generating extra cash...

Thanks again...

 

Hi,
Interestingly enough, my Lenovo 3000 N100 is having the exact same problem as described in this thread. First, the battery stopped working about 2 months ago, and recently it would shut down repeatedly within 5 minutes of starting up. By removing the battery, I have been able to use the computer off of AC power without having it shut down. This computer is only about 15 months old, so the battery lasted a lot less than I hoped it would. Also, its running Vista Ultimate, not XP. The consensus is then that the computer needs a new battery? If so, where do you recommend buying the batter for the best price/quality? Thanks.

 

Ebay, frequently has new lower priced Lenovo batteries for 3000s.

 

Yes I think we need a new battery, I'm not in no rush at the moment though as it seems to run off of the AC fine for now and the battery life is kinda rubbish anyway...

Just glad these guys helped me find out the problem...

 

I do not sugget buying a battery from ebay. If I was to buy a battery I would get it straight from Lenovo

 

I recently posted about the same thing. Your answers are helpful and I will try removing the old battery. Thanks...cady

 

New member here also...FWIW I am having a problem where my battery gets down to about 68% charge and then abruptly shuts down (I have my power management settings to shut down when critical). I have one month left on my warranty. It took a while on the phone last night to convince Lenovo I bought the computer when I did and not when they said I did, but eventually they said they will send me a new battery. I am satisfied with their response. They did note that the warranty on the new battery expires with the rest of the computer so I hope it works

PD
SF, CA
Lenovo 3000 N100
Core2Duo 1.66G, 1GB RAM, WinXP SP2

 

I'll second the "Don't buy from eBay" notion -- UNLESS the "date of manufacture" (listed on the box for any Lenovo shipment) is recent-ish. Lithium batteries degrade over time with or without usage, iirc.

Try giving Chris Hazell a call/email ([email protected]). He's a clutch sales guy on the US-side of things, and has made a ton of good things happen for my order(s). I asked for his manager's info so I could send compliments.

He's THAT good.

 

bollocks to lenovo mate...who wants to pay £80-£90 for a battery from lenovo themselves....rip off merchants, my battery lasted me one year, just bought one from china via ebay....warranty 6 months, same as lenovo themselves who also give 6months....rip off merchants.