Inspiron 1501 Warning: Battery cannot be identified

I was able to get through to Dell and they used a remote and fixed my problem with the warning.  Dell told me the warning indicates the battery may need to be replaced in the future.  My warranty ran out in December for parts, but thier telephone technical support is for life.

As for ZORLAC7's suggestion.....if you have an INSPIRON 1501, DO NOT try this suggestion to download the bios update for the system (A16)!!!!  WOW!  What a mistake for me.  After I downloaded it, my screen went black with a notice saying that NO OPERATING SYSTEM IS DETECTED.  As I previously mentioned, I granted the Dell people permission to access my computer remotely and they fixed the issue.  They told me that BIOS update was what messed up my computer and deleted my operating system.  It was a nightmare.

Thank you everyone for your help and I hope your problems are resolved.

This just happened to me as well.  I had a problem with my old ac adapter and this started to show with new ac adapters as well (which I got because I am still under warantee).  I may try getting a new battery and see what that does.  There is a possibility that some liquid seeped through the keyboard to the motherboard and caused the issue.  I had some dell agent glash the bios for me.  Once they flashed it, it did not work and my error message still had a problem. 

My main issue isn't the warning but the fact that my battery also won't charge.  Does anyone have a problem with the ac adapter being recognized, not charging the battery, and having this error?

I did the BIOS upgrade and I did get the black screen with the message NO OPERATING SYSTEM DETECTED.  All I did was do a power down and then turned it back on.  The system came back up and it took about 5 minutes for Windows to find all the new hardware.  They system again rebooted and everything is back to normal.

It did fix the error Batter cannot be identified.

when I started up my laptop, a DOS warning on a black screen comes up that says:

Warning:battery cannot be identified. This system will be unable to charge this battery. Press any key to continue.

Press 2 times to enter setup.

Press and any key to enter boot menu.

After that I skipped these options and entered.. That time it gave this message "your battery is able to charge normally however it is end of its usable life". So far I know I am still within the warranty period tell me what I will do? From where can I get the help?

Pleas just update youre BIOS true DELL-Support web sight..

After that everything wil run smoodly...

The same thing happened to me! My computer was fine last night and then this morning I recieved the same message when I powered it up. I ran tests an everything and it says passed!?! I Wish I knew what was going on. I have had more problems with this computer than it is worth! I exit out of the screen that says f2, or

f12 and have tried starting my computer every which way I can. When I CAN get it to load to my welcome page, my Icon isn't there and either is my guests' icon.... It just automatically logs me on with the same settings (Icon, name, wallpaper, etc..) of when I first purchased this computer! I have no files or programs that I had previously downloaded. No picutres, no music, no previous settings,- nothing! Then before a minute even within the first 45 seconds my computer goes blank to a blue screen with white lines, goes black then back to the battery can not be identified menu. Then I start all over and do it again. I can't even get my computer to stay on long enough to get online to download any updates that might be helpful! I dont understand how all of this stuff could disappear overnight while my computer was turned off?!?!? Please help if you have any suggestions. I'm still researching and I'll let you know if I find anything out.

A couple of days ago, I went through the same problem.  It seemed to take care of the problem, but it now my home Internet doesn't work.  My computer recognizes/acknowledges the wireless signal but can't connect.  When I tried to reinstall the software, I tried to connect manually, but my computer keeps saying that I'm not connected (tried new Ethernet card too).

My Internet was fine up until I performed the update mentioned in this thread.

Any suggestions?

Hello,

I encountered the same "Warning: battery cannot be identified" issues upon loading up on my Inspiron 1501. Despite the mixed messages regarding flashing the BIOS, I proceeded apprehensively to update the BIOS by downloading the Dell Inspiron 1501 System BIOS version 2.6.3, A16 on:

http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/download.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=gen&releaseid=R174470&SystemID=INS_PNT_1501&servicetag=&os=BIOSA&osl=en&deviceid=13120&devlib=0&typecnt=0&vercnt=9&catid=-1&impid=-1&formatcnt=1&libid=1&fileid=236967

After downloading and executing the BIOS update files, I am glad to proclaim that the Inspiron 1501 machine is back to normal. I no longer get the initial "Warning: battery cannot be identified" message upon start up. All other applications and wireless internet connectivity work as before.

Hope this helps.

I started recieving this error three weeks ago (about 3 days after my warranty expired) and I decided to update my BIOS as suggested.  I have no idea what happened (corrupted or incomplete download, user error, etc), but my computer failed when I tried to restart.  When I turn it on, I hear the fan and DVD player sarting followed by one long and two short beeps (Video card error?).  No picture on the LCD, the only proof that it is on is the power light. 

I am a fairly experienced user and I know my way around recovery consols and registrys, but I am at a complete loss on this one.  Is there anything I can do?  This laptop has been a complete , and this is the 4th serious error I have had in the year I have owned it, so I might just take it in to get the hard drive re-imaged.

what if i can't get it to turn on at all because its completely dead i guess? is there any way i can fix this? my laptop has all my schoolwork on it!!