Failed battery/adapter

Hello!

Okay, here's my situation...
Model: Inspirion 9200.
Battery status light: flashing, 4x red, then 1x green.
Battery LCD (single press): 3 blinking lights, which indicates temporary battery failure.
Battery LCD (press and hold): all 5 lights, which indicates needing a new battery.
Battery age: 3 yrs

So, I've figured out that I should go buy a new battery. Weird thing is that my battery charges fine and lasts long enough for what I need, and, well, batteries are extremely expensive.

Question #1... Am I going to hurt my computer by continuing to use this battery for a week? a month? 6 months?

Question #2... My power adapter has been acting flaky --every now and again my computer will jump back and forth between the adapter and the battery, until I jiggle the cord that goes into the computer. The green light on the adapter is always on. I think it's something in the cord itself. I figure I need a whole new power adapter, too, but my question again... is this flaky behavior going to hurt my computer if I continue to use this power adapter?

I have a sinking feeling my flaky adapter is the cause of the temporary battery failure. I took out the battery, and the blinking stopped and my computer ran fine --until the power cord flaked, that is-- so, I don't think anything is wrong w/ the computer itself. But I don't want to inadvertently hurt something that will be more expensive to fix than replacing the battery.

Thanks so much for any help!
Stephanie

Message Edited by steph291 on 12-06-2007 06:01 PM