1

I have an HP laptop that has an old battery. The battery is working but lasts for short time.

However I don't need the battery as most of the time I am using it plugged. I tried to remove the battery and run but it does not run without battery. I purchased a new battery (not original, since HP stopped producing old batteries) but it does not boot with it (even it is the SAME 7.7V - 41W). I now returned the old battery and the laptop is working. Can I somehow remove the battery and run the laptop without it? (maybe plugging the power cable directly to input caple without going through battery?)

4
  • 1
    HP laptop should boot without battery on AC power, usually an indication of a mainboard malfunction or needs a bios update. More tips>>>>h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebook-Operating-System-and-Recovery/…
    – Moab
    Mar 27, 2021 at 16:01
  • @Moab - there's nothing on that link to indicate it should boot without a battery.
    – Tetsujin
    May 12, 2021 at 13:16
  • Never said there was.
    – Moab
    May 12, 2021 at 15:08
  • It would be useful to know exactly what model of laptop it is. May 31, 2023 at 2:34

5 Answers 5

1

You need the battery in order to start the laptop. There is no practical way to bypass the battery if not installed.

Leave the old battery in so you can use the laptop. Depending on the computer, the charger is normally designed to charge the battery and may not power the computer by itself. For laptops, even if possible, it is not a good idea to run without a battery. That is a general comment for completeness as your machine does not start without a battery.

Look on eBay or Battery sites for an OEM HP Battery so that a new battery will work. A third party aftermarket without the HP chip circuitry in the battery pack will not work.

Good luck

7
  • +1. This might seem like an "unfair" limitation, but it's because the charger is not designed to power the computer, it it designed to charge the battery. Under high load, the charger will not be able to keep up & the computer will crash. Therefore, it is a safety measure [for your data] that the battery must be in circuit.
    – Tetsujin
    Mar 27, 2021 at 13:32
  • 1
    I did add some additional general commentary about batteries in laptops.
    – John
    Mar 27, 2021 at 13:36
  • Thanks. I always think this is worth adding because people just assume "well, it's plugged in, right… so it should work" without realising this essential part.
    – Tetsujin
    Mar 27, 2021 at 13:39
  • @Tetsujin Point 1: What do you mean with "Under high load, the charger will not be able to keep up & the computer will crash. " Can you elaborate? I can take several laptops apart to replace mobo's, memory and CMOS, but I'm not technical beyond that. For example the diff between Watt, Volt, Ampere eludes me. Point 2: letting the laptop work without a battery is not so much "unfair", it's also unpractical, cause it then scraps a backup/workaround. It should be an either-or thing, unless there's other technical issues which I hope you can explain in layman style. Tnx! May 12, 2021 at 13:06
  • Chargers are just not powerful enough for high loads. That's what the battery is for. Boot is a high load scenario, as everything spins up at full speed initially, until the management systems start up, so you would hear the fans get momentarily louder etc. Desktop computers have much bigger power supplies to be able to cope with high loads. Laptops' smaller ones are only good for charging the battery. It's not an either/or thing.
    – Tetsujin
    May 12, 2021 at 13:19
0

Just an update / my 2 cents.

So if the old battery is dead, but the computer powers on with the battery installed, and not when the battery is out, so the charger is giving enough power to run the laptop so your point about no battery no laptop is invalid.

1
  • 1
    As it’s currently written, your answer is unclear. Please edit to add additional details that will help others understand how this addresses the question asked. You can find more information on how to write good answers in the help center.
    – Community Bot
    Jul 4, 2022 at 17:40
0

Just had the same issue with a HP Elitebook 820i. Device wouldn't boot, even with AC power plugged in. Well it would, the laptop started and then 5-6 seconds after it booted it'd power off without warning or error with or without an AC charger plugged in. Power light wasn't on, but would flash a few times on start up (it should be always on).

I swapped out the PSU for another PSU, but i got the same behaviour.

I happened to have a spare HP Elitebook 820i, so i transplanted the battery from the working on to the non working one. This solved my issue, and i was able to SSH in and recover my work.

Edit: I've removed the battery completely and actually with the battery completely removed it does seem to work. So if you have a bad battery, you're forced to completely remove it, however i should add it didn't boot up automatically. I had to faff around in uefi to make it boot, maybe the settings are somehow preserved by the battery?

0

The majority of laptops run on a power supply even without a good battery installed. Some unscrupulous companies may make a laptop that forces you to continue to buy batteries to use your laptop. In 30 years of IT I have never encountered any laptop that wouldn't run off a charger with a bad battery installed. Just leave the bad battery installed to fill in the hole.

If your laptop won't work without a good battery then you have a problem. Maybe the power supply is not providing enough power to run the laptop without the battery. Check and see what the power requirements of your PC, then test your charger to see if it is the same or slightly more than the specified voltage range. If its under that voltage that may be your issue.

2
  • As it’s currently written, your answer is unclear. Please edit to add additional details that will help others understand how this addresses the question asked. You can find more information on how to write good answers in the help center.
    – Community Bot
    Jun 20, 2023 at 14:18
  • "When you have a problem, you should not have used that machine.", this is not the kind of answer people are expecting here.
    – Dominique
    Jun 20, 2023 at 14:59
-1

Odd, I've had this happen with a Lenovo laptop, not with HP. They are usually less predatory about their hardware.

To answer: A solution is to replace the motherboard. On the usual sites, it's around 50 euros (=70 USD) for an old system. A cheaper solution is replacing the DC Jack cable first, the internal cable which receives the plug and connects to the motherboard.

3
  • I don't think that motherboard can be the cause neither the cable. Mar 27, 2021 at 12:30
  • why not? This is my factual experience, as well as that of others. And technical experts SAY that it is. I am curious why you THINK otherwise, since you haven't apparently tried it. May 12, 2021 at 13:08
  • I had the same issue with a hp laptop. It wasn't the motherboard, it's the battery. See my answer. Replacing the motherboard would not have fixed this issue, it would have incurred unnecessary expense, and they probably would have broken all the laptop case plastics at the same time.
    – Owl
    Apr 24, 2023 at 9:53

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .