Laptop does not start unless battery below 15% ???

[Lynx]

My laptop is not starting (before boot). Nothing comes on the screen but I am using power. I have an IBM T52, 5 years old, 2 years on the boat with 85% hard drive used.

Laptop will start in either battery or when charging when battery is below 15%. System restore did not help. I have had problems with poor battery connections, I could not move the laptop when running on battery it would crash but computer was 93% full then.

Advice please, Could this be a bug, bad battery, or something else?
I have backed up system a few months ago and saved files that I used recently.

[Mario G]

If you got 5 yrs out of a battery concider yourself very luckTheres also a large watch battery on your motherboard  I would recommend replacing both

[AdriftAtSea]

I'd point out that most Lithium Ion batteries have a working life of about THREE years....regardless of how much they are used or how they are charged.

[Lynx]

Thanks, I did not know. I guess I did well with 4 1/2 years of use with my battery.

[Lynx]

Well, I have not done a good virus scan for over a year. I found over 165 backdoor Trogens and a few other things. getting rid of these really speeded up my computer.

New Battery should arrive this week.

[Lynx]

I got the new battery in. It did not help. I am missing the first start up screen, The black and white one with the bars going on the bottom and I cannot access "Safe Mode"

Does "System restore" Go this far back?

[Christopher]

lynx,

I might recommend that you try to get your files off and back them up.  If you cannot boot into your OS at all, Windows I assume if it's a T series stinkpad, you can boot with a live CD and get your files off to a jump drive, network share, or even burn to CD if you have a burner.  I have used knoppix for a long time for just such things http://www.knoppix.org/

If your machine boots with a full charge with the knoppix CD, then your problem is software (Windows) related.  If you have the same problem with the knoppix disc, it might point the finger more firmly to a hardware problem.  You can get newer thinkpads on ebay for really cheap.  Parts are common because of how many companies sell them to employees when they've run their course.

[Lynx]

Thanks, I did that. The motherboard crashed and then the Hard Drive. Looking at the Netbooks for replacement. Cheep and will do what I need.

[tomwatt]

You can pick up a hard drive enclosure for that laptop's hard drive for about $15 or so, and pull the hard drive, mount it in the enclosure and still access all your old data. Just a thought in case you didn't know about that avenue.