Battery level not showing

  • Thread starter Thread starter DanaK
  • Start date Start date
D

DanaK

I've not been able to get my battery level indicator on my
laptop to show up consistently even though I've checked
the box to show it in the system tray. It will often
disappear whenever it drops below the 60 to 70% mark but
last night it was back up again. I know this means a
change of icons when the indicator drops to a lower level.
Could this mean the icon is damaged in some way?

I am running XP Home with service pack 1 and all other
critical updates have been downloaded and installed.

Thanks,
Dana
 
Nope, same battery the laptop came with. It's a Dell
Inspiron. Thanks for your reply.

Dana
 
Hi Dana,

I use an Inspiron notebook on an almost daily basis. I haven't encountered
what you described.
If you want to test the damaged icon possibility, you can delete the icon
cache database( IconCache.db) and windows will rebuild it when you boot up.
To do so delete C:\Documents and Settings\username\Local
Settings\Application Data\IconCache.db

Reinstalling battery.inf will reinstall the drivers which communicate with
and relay information about your battery status.

Another possibility may be your battery itself.

Both should leave your system with no ill effects.
 
This is just one of those things it's started to do out
of the blue. I love the laptop but I much prefer W2K Pro
for it's simplicity. We bought the laptop on ebay and XP
Home is the OS that came with it.

Thanks for the answers. You've been a big help.
Dana
 
This is just one of those things it's started to do out
of the blue. I love the laptop but I much prefer W2K Pro
for it's simplicity. We bought the laptop on ebay and XP
Home is the OS that came with it.

Thanks for the answers. You've been a big help.
Dana
Click to expand...

The icons in the Notification Area (by the clock) can be spotty in
appearance. There are various workarounds but no concrete solution to the
problem. You may want to place a shortcut to Power Options in your Quick
Launch or on your desktop so that you can peek at the battery level when
the tray icon isn't present. Not as convenient as the tray icon but at
least you can access the battery info with a click or two.

For a rundown on the workarounds I mentioned, scroll down to the
"Notification Area" sections of the "N-page" on MVP Kelly Theriot's
website: http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_n.htm
 
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