laptop - Dell Latitude D620 turns off when power connected

I've got an odd problem with a Dell Latitude D620 laptop.

If the laptop is running on battery alone then it works perfectly, however the moment you connect a power adapter to the laptop it shuts down. If you try and boot the laptop with a power adapter connected it remains powered up for 3-4 seconds before shutting down.

I've tried two different power adapters and both behave the same. The laptop charges the battery normally if it's left turned off.

Does anyone have any ideas on what could possibly be up with the laptop, or other things I can check.

Thanks, Jon.

Answer

I think you need to change your power options or your performance optinos.

When plugged in, the system is changing its settings (or it's power plan more accurately) (and this could mean more power to your board/CPU etc which makes it over heat, it could be a brighter screen and a hardware glitch is going funny, it could be the voltage is just screwing something else up).

I suggest you load the laptop up with the battery and open up Control Panel, Power Options. Ensure the settings when plugged in match when you're on battery power (since we know battery power's options work).

If this resolves it, then you at least have a place to trouble shoot (and you can start enhancing the machine slowly to see what is killing it).

If this doesn't resolve it then it's probably hardware (either the power socket on the laptop or the battery itself).