witching from the mains to the batteries and back = many troubles

Problems with the laptop Dell e6400 and possible workarounds

(I have the BIOS A27, and latest drivers and other Dell software installed)

-          Problem 1

• Not possible to switch internet options (specifically Connections) in Internet Explorer’s settings (the menu hangs).  Usually, this happens when I boot the laptop on battery. Characteristically, the Dell ControlPoint Connection Manager tab shows during the boot up and it is impossible to make it disappear (i.e. not possible to close it).  Also, it is then impossible to shut the notebook down properly. I have to kill the non-responding programs (Windows shows which ones do not close during the shutdown and offers to kill them), as they do not close regardless how much time I give (once I tried some 6 hours).

-          Problem 2

• Sometimes (I believe this is also attributed to working on batteries), the mobile broadband (GPRS/EDGE/HSPA) adapter becomes disabled due to the need to “activate” it and impossible to use. The workaround is to reboot the laptop again – annoying.

-          Problem 3

• Sometimes, when I switch the brightness of the display whilst the notebook is logging in/booting up (I believe, this happens after logging into Windows), the system starts to misbehave (e.g. display problem 2).

-          Problem 4

• When I connect the computer to the docking station, the Ethernet stops working. The workaround is to disable and enable the Ethernet adapter in Windows Device Manager. Well... yesterday it did not help and I had to reboot computer and then enable the device. The Ethernet was then recognized and started working. Unfortunately, the CPU was then loaded 100% (by System Idle process), probably overheating (fun was working loudly), and killing the programs sporadically showing upto 53% CPU load, did not resolve the issue. I think this must be a driver issue (which driver I do not know).  Just now, I again did not have the Ethernet and, miraculously, the Ethernet got connected (after some 2 hours of working).

-          Problem 5

• The fun is often working excessively, despite seemingly low CPU load (~5-10%; no computations or graphics, e.g. just using MS Word), making annoying noise.

-          Problem 6

• I have tried to install Dell Mobile Broadband manager, but it is unable to work, saying that ‘The mobile broadband device is not communicating’.

-          Problem 7

• Sometimes Dell ControlPoint Connection Manager drops the connection established with Intel ProSET/Wireles WiFi Connection Utility. This may happen after I worked for several hours using the WiFi connection established by Intel’s utility.

-          Problem 8

• Frequently, having Bluetooth enabled drops the WiFi connection (at 2.4 GHz). Interestingly enough, some long time ago (in 2009?), they were able to work simultaneously with no such problems.

-          Commonality

• Many of these problems seem to be attributed to switching from the mains to the batteries and back. The main workaround is to boot up on mains, THEN switch to batteries, and, probably more importantly, connect to mains BEFORE shutting down.
• The reinstallation of Dell software solves the many of the problems (I have not tried if it solves all of the problems) ... until the first disconnection from the mains and going to battery.