Hi Damien,

Let's try the following steps:

Drain the residual power from the laptop:

• Disconnect any external peripherals (flash drives, printers, external hard drives) from the computer
• Then remove the adapter
• Remove the battery
• Press and hold the power button for 10 seconds
• Reconnect the battery and the adapter
• Try to restart the computer and check

I would suggest you to check the battery health:

• Right click on the battery icon on the task-bar
• Choose ‘Dell Health Meter’
• Click on ‘Battery Health’ tab
• Examine the information shown in the window. If the battery needs to be replaced, a red icon will be shown along with a message confirming that the battery is no longer able to hold a sufficient charge

Alternatively, please calibrate the battery:

• Remove the AC adapter from the laptop
• Turn on the laptop. Allow it to run on battery power until the battery is drained to 0 percent of capacity
• Remove the battery from the laptop. Keep it aside for 1-2 hours
• Place the battery back into the battery bay
• Plug the AC adapter. Charge the battery overnight. Do not power on or use the laptop during this time

Please refer to the link ‘Laptop Battery FAQ’ http://dell.to/w0gepP

Please reply if you have any questions.

Hello Appu S

Thanks very much for the advice!

So far, I have tried your first two steps of advice.

"Drain the residual power from the laptop:

Disconnect any external peripherals (flash drives, printers, external hard drives) from the computer

Then remove the adapter

Remove the battery

Press and hold the power button for 10 seconds

Reconnect the battery and the adapter

Try to restart the computer and check"

I carried out these steps, so far the only difference I have noticed is that the red X over the battery icon on the taskbar has disappeared, which brings me to your next part of advice:

"I would suggest you to check the battery health:

Right click on the battery icon on the task-bar

Choose ‘Dell Health Meter’

Click on ‘Battery Health’ tab

Examine the information shown in the window. If the battery needs to be replaced, a red icon will be shown along with a message confirming that the battery is no longer able to hold a sufficient charge"

I once again followed these steps and thankfully did not see any red icon, however there IS a message reading;

'Your battery is able to charge normally. However it is reaching the end of its usable life. You can experience a longer operating time with a new battery. You might want to consider purchasing a replacemnt battery now."

As for the third part of your advice, I would like to ask a few questions before I try it. Please forgive me if these questions seem silly, as I do not know too much about computers.

-You have mentioned that I should drain the battery to 0% however, any time that I have used my laptop on battery power alone, it goes into hibernation before it completely drains. Is there any way to prevent it from doing so, in order for it to completely drain?

-You also mention as the final step, to charge the battery without turning the laptop on. If my laptop lid is closed over and not powered on, but the ac adapter is plugged in and lit up, will the battery still charge overnight?

Once again, thank you for your help,

Damien

Hi Damien,

Thank you for the response. It seems that the battery has reached the end of life and may require replacement. 

 *If my laptop lid is closed over and not powered on, but the ac adapter is plugged in and lit up, will the battery still charge overnight?
Yes, as long as the AC Adapter is connected to the computer and the wall outlet is powered on, the laptop will charge.

*It goes into hibernation before it completely drains. Is there any way to prevent it from doing so, in order for it to completely drain?
You may go to Control panel -> Power options -> and change the settings.

Please reply if you have any questions.

I have the same Dell computer (Inspiron M5030), and the battery needed to be changed for a new one. The computer would beep loudly and wouldn't turn on any more. It sat for months, and I finally bought a new battery. I put the new one in, plugged in the adapter, and let it charge all day. When I tried to turn the comp on, the comp beeps really loudly in a steady rhythm. What is wrong?