diagnosing laptop battery or power adapter problem?

[amheck]

Hey gang,

We have a 5 year old Toshiba laptop, hunk of junk, haven't used it in a few years. Son is now on the internet and is using Mom's new laptop which she does not care for. So I'd like to look into getting the old one fixed.

When plugged in, it will turn on briefly, start to boot up, and then die. I'm not sure whether its the battery or the power supply that's messed up. I think replacing 1 would be cost efficient, not sure about replacing both. But any ideas how I find out which one is the problem?

 

[mpilchfamily]

Sounds like the adapter is bad. An d a 5 year old laptop battery is automatically bad just from age alone. If it will charge it may only last a few minutes. But if you have the same problem with the unit starting with the battery removed then its the power brick.

 

[amheck]

oh, interesting....didn't think of that. Should the laptop start without a battery with the power supply plugged in (assuming it works?) I didn't know that