bios updating and new battery...

[bot]

so i have an old dell inspiron 5000, and recently bought a new battery for it (from a non-dell site)...

so, a few months later, the battery isn't holding a charge worth crap... contact the site i bought it from, they tell me "you should've updated the bios"

this just makes me REALLY mad because it said nothing about that on their site, and to me makes no sense... why should i have to update anything if this battery was specifically for my laptop.

they won't even replace it because they say "it's the computer's problem, not the battery"

does this sound right to anyone? anyone know where i get updated bios for a battery? a search only finds updates for a new hard drive...

ps- it's running windows 2000 NT

thanks guys!

[HAL9000]

Sounds like you're getting the run around.. BIOS has nothing to do with the battery.

[bot]

'zactly what i thought... they said it had something to do with this new battery's charge or some bs... grrr

[Force Flow]

Personally, I wouldn't even *try* a BIOS flash if the battery is dead.

[bot]

it's not dead, it just doesn't hold a charge long at all. plus, what would that matter if it's plugged in?

i'm mad because i bought a new one since my old one didn't hold a charge for long at all, now this one doesn't either and it's only a few months old...

[flanzig1]

Two possiblities for your woes: cheap, crummy battery or the charger in the laptop isn't working right.

[PMich]

According to the Dell support site, flashing to bios version A08 resolves a battery charge issue (details not given). May make it worth a shot. It also mentions to flash to A06 prior to going to A08.

[glc]

Originally Posted by HAL9000 Sounds like you're getting the run around.. BIOS has nothing to do with the battery.

Not a runaround in this particular case - I've seen this with Dell laptops. PMich has the answer.

You may need to take the battery to a battery specialty store such as Batteries Plus and get it tested and possibly reconditioned. They have a machine that drains and recharges it several times.

[bot]

Originally Posted by PMich According to the Dell support site, flashing to bios version A08 resolves a battery charge issue (details not given). May make it worth a shot. It also mentions to flash to A06 prior to going to A08.

i called dell and they said i had the latest version... (?) who knows if that tech support girl knows what she's talking about... she gave me an "uh oh" when i told her what my laptop was.. it's pretty old (like 5yrs)

do you know how i see if i have version A08? will it say it specifically anywhere?

[bot]

Originally Posted by glc Not a runaround in this particular case - I've seen this with Dell laptops. PMich has the answer. You may need to take the battery to a battery specialty store such as Batteries Plus and get it tested and possibly reconditioned. They have a machine that drains and recharges it several times.

i'm not sure if we have any of those around here... but the place that i bought it from (non-dell) are complete idiots, and have no dignity for their customers, wants me to send it back to them... YAYY!!!1!

[PMich]

On my Inspiron 3800 it gives the bios version under the dell splash screen at POST. I believe it will actually read "BIOS version X" (mine is A17). You may very well have the latest version because the A08 BIOS revision (the most recent) was released sometime in 2001.

[ZYFER]

Originally Posted by glc Not a runaround in this particular case - I've seen this with Dell laptops. PMich has the answer. You may need to take the battery to a battery specialty store such as Batteries Plus and get it tested and possibly reconditioned. They have a machine that drains and recharges it several times.

HP laptops have a utility which does the same thing, Dell may have something similar