i have a problem with my toshiba laptop which is all sorts of messed up...

the battery indicator is flashing red even when it is plugged in.

does it mean my charger doesnt work or the battery went bad?

 

How old is the laptop? When it's UNplugged, how long does it hold a charge? I'd guess the battery is the issue....

 

it is about 4 years old. it doesnt hold charge at all and usually shuts off after 5 min running..

 

Your actual battery is just dead, useless. But as long as the ac adapter is in you're fine.

 

Exactly. Just buy a new battery, or keep it plugged in and u'll be good ;)

 

see the thing is that when i took the battery out with adapter still plugged in, it shut off.

so both the battery and adapter are bad?

 

from what it sounds like, yes they both have gone bad.

 

Some just won't work properly without the battery there as a placeholder.

Try getting a new battery and see if that does it. What kind of laptop is it?

 

this might sound dumb but take the battery out and put it back in. i had that problem a week or so ago. somehow the battery got knocked out of place during the move to the new house and did the same thing. so try that as well

 

thanks everybody for helping out..

i will try to get a new battery and see if that fixes it. just didnt want to spend $100 on it before making sure it is bad and need to be replaced

hope that fixes the problem, if not, i'll be back asking questions lol

 

Good luck, Maria.

 

thanks Ian :D