weird computer charging issue

[Zoe Girl]

I have 2 work lap tops, both dell. One is mine and the other for the site staff. Of course all the documents are on mine. This morning mine gave me a battery warning so I plugged it in and left it for awhile, came back and it had no charge. I noticed the charger didn't have a light on it. So I unplugged everything, tried a new outlet, the charger still did not have a light. In various tests with 2 laptops and 3 different chargers what is happening is that the charger works fine plugged in or used with other computers. When the charger is plugged into my computer the light goes out on the charger. Then it stays off for awhile. Eventually it turns the light back on.

So I am going down to the office of the tech support people tomorrow. I already had to argue my way in, apparently they are short staffed and it is summer, most of the school district is not working so they should have time for the few of us that are working over the break. I have all my documents on this computer!! One attendance document that took hours to complete and is due tomorrow to wrap up our grant.

[ToomuchStuff]

Is the battery removable?
Is the data backed up?
Is the drive easily removable?
I wonder if this is one of the laptop power connector breaking things, that I have heard of often. (requires a motherboard replacement)

[bae]

Batteries in laptops have a finite lifespan, and eventually stop holding a charge.

If the charger is working fine with other machines, as you describe, I'd see if your battery was still OK.

[Rogar]

From my experience I think Bae's idea is a good probable, however I have also had the socket where the charger plugs into fail. If you have access to another Dell with the same battery model, maybe you could switch them out and see if that helps?

[Tybee]

I had a Toshiba with that problem, and it turned out to be what Rogar said--the socket basically fried. It happened to the one I bought my mom, too. When I googled the problem, it was really common with that make and model.
The computer repair place put in a new socket and fixed it.

[Zoe Girl]

I took it in to out tech support office and they unscrewed the back to get to the battery, it was fried. They were able to get me the files and show me how to use the district shared drive, so no matter what computer I can get to the files. I can order another battery for about $100.