Try this,Control Panel>Power Options>Left side of panel"Adjust the Display Brightness" click on it>You will now see 3 options,use the last option on this screen and move the slider all the way to the right for full brightness(both sliders).Now when the battery is removed the screen should stay bright.

Thank you for the quick response.  I've looked and looked for this setting after seeing it in threads that I lurked but I can't find it.  I'm using Windows XP.  When I go to CP, then Power Options, all my screen shows is:

Power Schemes / Alarms / Power Meter / Advanced / Hibernate

I do not see anything that says "Adjust the display brightness" let alone any slider bars.  I am logged on as an administrator of the machine right now so I don't think that rights are a problem to what I am seeing.  I've also looked under CP / Display and CP / NVIDIA Control Panel.  Nothing like this is displayed on my machine.

Do the sypmtoms change when you set your power scheme to "always on"?

Thanks.  Tried your suggestion.  No effect.

For reference, the video is NVIDIA GeForce Go 7400, 256mb.  Bios is V5.72.22.21.F5.  It is operating at 60hertz.

For what it's worth, I have the same problem with an Inspiron 600m. The problem manifested itself after I reinstalled Win Xp due to hard drive issues. I did reinstall most drivers but it's possible I missed one.

Bob

rheiney,

The driver for the display is a generic windows driver that loads automatically when detected(2006 driver that is).So there is no driver to miss for this.

That's too bad - because I have no idea why the LCD screen goes dark when on battery. I don't recall having this problem until I reinstalled Windows. I was hoping perhaps I missed a driver.

The machine works fine when on AC. I have yet to find a setting that changes the brightness on battery.

I have an XPS M1330 and have the exact same problem  I cannot function without a bright screen so I am stuck with constantly being plugged in.  I have tried all of the same items you have listed to no avail.  However, this issue has been present since I first got the computer. If anyone has a solution please let us know.  thanks.

Usually i don't read old posts but i saw your question posted from yesterday.

You can always hold the fn key and the up arrow down to increase the brightness,of course,you will have to do this every time you log onto windows on battery.

My laptop has a program called Dell QuickSet and it give you an option for power management wizard. you can change the brightness of the monitor there. It will use more power but the screen brightness will not change when you unplug the AC if you select the maximum in the setup. Hope this helps

I recently resolved this same problem with my Inspiron 1420.

Restart your computer and go into BIOS (Hit F2 on startup).

Scroll down to Video and hit enter. Here you can select the maximum brightness when on battery or on AC.

Select brightness for battery and use the arrow buttons on your keyboard to increase the amount of brightness when on battery.

Note: the specific terminology may be different since we may have different systems, but the idea and concepts will be the same

Hope this works!!

You are awesome!  Thank you so much!

It worked! Thanks! I wouldn't have thought of the bios adjustment!

I recently resolved this same problem with my Inspiron 1420. Restart your computer and go into BIOS (Hit F2 on startup). Scroll down to Video and hit enter. Here you can select the maximum brightness when on battery or on AC. Select brightness for battery and use the arrow buttons on your keyboard to increase the amount of brightness when on battery. Note: the specific terminology may be different since we may have different systems, but the idea and concepts will be the same Hope this works!!