Why is my laptop has no sign of life after charging?

Hi @bbbaba

Try a full power refresh and check if that resolves the problem.

Here’s the procedure:

a). Turn off the laptop and disconnect the charger from the laptop, (if connected).

b). Remove the main battery from the laptop.

c). Disconnect the RTC coin cell battery from the motherboard.

Here’s the owner manual for the laptop. Go to p.10 & p.28 to view the procedure to remove the main battery and the RTC coin cell battery, respectively. When the RTC battery has been removed, check its voltage with a voltmeter. If it is <2.4V DC replace it. Search online for Dell C8KT2 battery to find suppliers. If the RTC battery is older than 5 years replace it anyway as it is a non rechargeable Lithium battery and 5 years is about its expected lifespan.

d). Press and hold the laptop’s Power On button for a full 30 seconds and then release it.

Reconnect the RTC coin cell battery (or its replacement), re-assemble the laptop, re-insert the main battery, close the laptop, connect the charger to the laptop and try to start it.

If it starts OK, there may be a message about the date and time being incorrect. This is normal as the above procedure has reset the BIOS back to its factory defaults. Once the date and time have been adjusted, the message won't appear the next time the laptop is started. Any user defined BIOS settings that have been altered by you to suit your particular operating requirements will need to be changed back also.

If it does start create a battery report to check the status of the main battery. When you have the report, compare the Design Capacity value versus the Full Charge Capacity value to get an idea of its status. For a good battery the values should be nearly the same. You can work out as a percentage just how good the battery is by using the formula, Full Charge Capacity value x 100 ÷ Design Capacity value. If the percentage is <40% you may want to think about replacing the battery.