I have a dell inspiron 4050 and the battery died a year ago. i plugged it in whenever i need to use the laptop [made it into a ''desktop''] with the '''needs to be replaced battery''' attached. i bought a new battery recently since i now need the laptop for work. the laptop wont charge the new battery. not changing the battery when it needs to be changed and leaving it attached to the laptop affects the whole laptop system? thank you for the replies and answer/s to this question.