Laptor won't run on battery; only AC

The problem is that my laptop, a Dell e1405, will not work with the battery currently installed but Windows XP and the BIOS seem to recognize its presence.

It was a 3rd party replacement battery that I purchased from Amazon in May 2010, and I opted for it because I wanted an extended battery but this one seemed to have better reviews that the official extended battery offered by Dell.

The battery worked very well and kept a long charge for all this time, but now, all of a sudden the machine can't boot up without the AC cable and instantaneously shuts off if I pull the AC cable out while it's working.

Windows indicates the presence of the battery and its charging percentage, and if I were to take out the battery while Windows is running, it will recognize that there is no battery as well. The BIOS also shows the battery being fully charged.

The little physical battery meter on the battery also works and shines 5 out of 5 lights.

I assume that it is some sort of physical problem with the battery but I wanted to get your input on this to be sure. Unfortunately, I disposed of the original battery after this battery kept running solidly for a year, so I am unable to test that out.

Recent changes to the laptop: I had purchased a used replacement bezel (mine was chipped) and a used replacement DVD drive (BIOS wouldn't recognize the older one resulting in excruciatingly long waiting times)

Thanks for your help.

 

The battery could be bad and unable to hold a charge at all which seems uncommon to me. Usually they die by holding less and less of a charge not all of a sudden. Also there could be a motherboard issue. I don't want to say try another battery and cost you money for no reason if it's a motherboard issue.

 

Slightly off topic, but may come in useful after you solve your present dilemma.

How to buy a laptop on a budget -
http://majorgeeks.com/page.php?id=26
A tutorial from MA at MG.

Top 15 Ways to Extend Your Laptop’s Battery Life
http://www.friedbeef.com/top-15-ways-to-extend-your-laptop-battery-life/

20 Ways To Increase Laptop’s Battery Life
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/20-ways-to-increase-the-life-of-your-laptops-battery/

Google Extend Your Laptop Battery Life
http://www.google.com/search?q=extend+laptop+battery+life&hl=en&num=10&lr=&ft=i&cr=&safe=images&tbs=

How to Prolong Lithium-based Batteries
http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/how_to_prolong_lithium_based_batteries

Bazza