1.How-To: Calibrate Your Laptop Battery
As a general rule, you should calibrate your battery every month or two to keep it running in top form.
To calibrate your laptop's battery:
1.Plug your laptop in and let it charge completely (your battery icon in the menu bar will be completely full and the charger's connector light turns green).
2.Keep the laptop plugged in for another two hours (after it is fully charged).
3.Disconnect your laptop from power. Use it until it falls asleep from low battery.
4.Turn off the laptop and let it ?"rest"for about five hours.
5.Plug your laptop back in and let it fully charge.
It is completely fine to use your laptop during all of these steps (except, of course, when the computer is asleep).
2. Laptop screen very dark..help?
First, try pressing Fn and the up arrow a couple of times to see if the screen will brighten. If this does not work, then hold the power button down until it turns off, and if it will not turn off still, then take the battery out (located on the underside of the laptop) and put it back in after it has turned off. After this, power the laptop back on and the screen should be lit. This worked for me and it sounds like the same, exact problem.
3.Spilled liquid
Laptops exposed to small amounts of spilled liquid are repairable in some cases. Liquid can cause the following types of damage:
A. Short circuit due to wet liquid (problem goes away after liquid evaporates)
B. Short circuit due to dried liquid residue
C. Corrosion (especially bad with soda such as Coke or Pepsi)
D. Electronic components damanged by above short circuits
Immediately when a spill occurs, you typically want to turn off the laptop, turn the laptop upside down (so the liquid goes out the same way it came in), remove the power and battery, and allow to dry at least overnight.
To remove dried liquid residue: Try removing the keyboard and cleaning any components that have dried liquid, by using distilled water and Q-tips.
4.Computer turns off randomly
Your computer can turn off due to: power overload in the AC adapter, overheated processor / clogged fan, overheated battery, pushing the power button, Windows telling it to, the BIOS telling it to, loose wires (especially the power cord), or intermittent short circuits.
The most common problem is cooling. Try going somewhere air conditioned. Notice if the fan is broken or clogged with dust (common older HP problem).
5.AC Power adapter LED is off when you plug the adapter into the wall but not into the computer
Has it been overloaded? Is the power strip turned on / is the outlet working? Is the cord from the adapter to the wall fully plugged in on both ends (try wiggling)? Your adapter may be fried- try borrowing an indentical adapter from a friend and seeing if that one will work in it's place (but do not plug it in to your computer, or you might fry your friend's adapter).