Laptop is flashing at me? Solved/Closed

Question

Hello,
(Just to clarify right away, I'm using a Dell Inspiron B130 PC Notebook.) 
Yesterday when I booted up my computer, one of the four normally green lights at the bottom of my computer (below the keyboard) started flashing red/orange at me. Since the computer didn't give me any error messages, I figured it was something I did shutting down or starting up, so I re-started and the problem seemed to go away, as the light went back to green. 

However, today, I've been using the computer and surfing the internet for over an hour and the light started up again a few minutes ago, seemingly out of nowhere. I haven't done anything differently and it still won't give me error messages, so I have no idea what kind of problem the light could be indicating or even if it's just the light on it's own. Obviously I'm concerned about it, but since I don't know what it is I thought it might be something I want to be aware of, and I don't want to just re-start my computer every time I see this if it is something important. 

Hopefully this is in the right place -- Honestly, I have no idea, because this site just came up when I typed the problem into google, so I'm just trying.

bradda19 · Accepted Answer

Hi!  I have had a similar problem with my Dell Inspiron 6000 laptop.  I think it overheated as I left it on the bed still on while I went away and did somehting else.  The lights were 3 or four amber flashes followed by a green one.  It drove me crazy.  In the end I fully discahrged the battery and put it in the fridge overnight.  I then charged it up and hey presto problem fixed.  I hope this helps you as I'm not sure what type of computer you have.

xpcman · Answer

from left to right the lights are Power - Hard Drive - Battery - Wireless


This is directly from the User Manual:
If the computer is connected to an electrical outlet, the Battery light operates as follows:
- Solid green: The battery is charging.
- Flashing green: The battery is almost fully charged.
If the computer is running on a battery, the light operates as follows:
- Off: The battery is adequately charged (or the computer is turned off).
- Flashing orange: The battery charge is low.
- Solid orange: The battery charge is critically low.

myverse · Answer

I experienced the same Orange Flashing this morning, but I had just purchased a third party "compatible" 12 cell battery.  The orange flashing indicated a low charge, however, when I booted the machine it showed a fully charged battery.  When I drained the battery slightly and recharged.... it reported "charging" in by power management, but there was no green LED indicator.  

Everything else is functioning fine with the new battery.  Is this a simply circuit problem between the indicator and the battery, or do I have a compatibility issue that will cause further damage to my computer?

parker · Answer

Seriously?
He didn't put the laptop in the fridge, just a battery.

Isabel · Answer

My power light is also flashing orange. It's normally white, but now it flashes orange four times and then white. This happens for the entire duration that the laptop is turned on.

Funny thing is, it only started happening yesterday after my inspiron laptop was returned back to me from Dell. The battery has been acting up for a while now, the computer will only function if the power supply is plugged in; so Dell took it back for repair, but they didn't fix it, so there is no difference to it; now this light is constantly flashing. I know it's nothing to do with the battery, because the laptop thinks it's 86% charged...but when you take out the power supply, the entire computer shuts down. Dell said they'd send out an engineer tomorrow. If it's not fixed I'm going to demand a new laptop because this is crazy. The whole thing is worse off than before I gave it to them. Windows has also become very slow as well :(

Kaylee · Answer

My computer just started the same flashing last night. Today I took it to Staples and they told me that it was the battery and it was going dead. As long as I keep it pluged in, which I do, it should be okay until I can afford to get a new one. Just thought I would throw this out to everyone.

kanabeatya · Answer

Same problem. I am aware that I need to get a new battery. But for the moment everything is slow on my computer especially internet explorer. Is there anything I can do to make my IE faster as I wait to buy a new battery?

Iceman · Answer

Dell issued a recall on a number of batteries. I just got mine replaced through the recall and once I plugged in the new one the lights blinked for five minutes or so after I plugged in the power, now it's a solid green and charging like a new one. Here's the address to check for recalled batteries.

https://www.dellbatteryprogram.com/Default.aspx

Laptop is flashing at me?

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