Inspiron 9100 No Longer Game?

I bought the Inspiron 9100 back in 2004 with P4 2.8 Ghz, 512MB Ram, and 64MB ATI Mobility 9700... At the time it was good, but now it just seems to have flopped.
Originally I could have played Warcraft 3 with no problems, but now it lags, even on the lowest graphic settings...
Also, I tried to play The Sims 2 today and yesterday, but the computer would literally turn off and disconnect its connection from the AC Adapter whenever the game started to run. WTF?
Is this an overheating problem? The fans are always on. it's so annoying.

at least I am getting my m1530 soon!

 

So now the battery has these glowing lights on even when I take it out... Whyyyyyyy

 

Lol, those tell you how charged the battery is. Each light represents around 20% battery life.

 

uhm but since when does it indicate its status when its not hooked up to anything? I find that to be a little bit odd. In addition to that, it apparently no longer holds a charge of more than 1% so it being lit up, signifying 100% charge, is really weird

 

I own one, too, though I got it with the 128 MB card to "future-proof" (it runs Vista with Aero, though too slowly to really be useful).

The battery holds a charge sometimes, then does not at others; batteries do have limited charge/discharge cycles.

The first thing to do is clear temp files/junk/spyware and unneeded apps like Google Desktop which Dell insists on putting on. Next, remove excess startup "helpers". Finally, defrag the drive. If that doesn't help, it's time to reformat and start fresh.

 

Also if you haven't done so you may need to clean dust out of it. That could cause slowdows and restarts if the air isn't moving good and it is heating up.

 

read my post here

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=3105346

it explains why the battery thinks its 100% when its not.....(if you dont understand it then its cuz you left the ac adapter in too much when it wasnt needed and the lithium cells built up a memory thinking the most they can discharge is 1%, so even when its fully charged it thinks that after putting out tiny amounts of current its dead)

or you killed the battery so low that a cell went under 3.7volts....if a lithium cell goes under 3.7 volts then its dead for good.

 

and for this post.......

the battery has like a mini voltmeter hooked up to led,s. certain voltage will make certain numbers of led's light up. why would you think it needed to be plugged into the computer for this to work? it's all in the battery.....if you ever see a segway, their batteries have computers in them their pretty amazing things.

 

Well I think my adapter shot my battery. Is that possible? I used to use the adapter that came with the laptop but it stopped working, so when i went home for spring break, I remembered my mom had a Dell Inspiron 600m that also came with a power adapter. It had the same socket, so I put it in. It seemed to work for a while, and then the battery stopped working and the adapter is now pretty fragile, as if i move it then it'll lose its charge. But how could that happen? Like a surge of electricity?
I will try to reformat once I get a flashdrive that won't freeze my computer (UGH!!) I think i'll just buy a 1GB one at bestbuy or something.. anyways i tried to dust it, take the battery out, and still same problems.

 

I wouldn't think most adapters would be interchangeable. I'd assume the 9100 uses a lot more power, but I'm just guessing.

 

If you are not using the 9100 power brick (150W if i remember) the GPU and CPU will not run at full power. You want one of these :
http://www.parts-people.com/index.p...9&prevaction=category&previd=141&prevstart=24

Won't bring your battery back, but should run your games back at full power.

 

im using the one that came with the 600m so i doubt its 150w. i think it keeps shutting off because the GPU is trying to draw more power and my adapter couldnt handle it, so it shot out, and in turn, killed my battery. i called dell wondering how much a battery was and they wanted to sell me a refurbished one for 400! i could buy a WHOLE NEW LAPTOP FOR 400! my poor lil baby. its officially on its last leg. thanks for the link

 

Yikes, they must not make batteries for it anymore, since at one point that would have been way cheaper.

I wonder if the battery could have died too just from being charged and discharged too often. Like it was getting discharged whenever the system was on.

 

But do they really expect for somene to buy it for 400? i mean how many people are asking for it? I have never even seen someone use an Inspiron 9100 back in the day or even now, but that's besides the point.
I just need this thing to work until my m1530 arrives... I probably will try to buy another charger and/or battery off of ebay, but i'm hestitant to buy a battery off of ebay cuz it'll most likely arrive dead.