How To SOLUTION - Laptop Plugged In, Not Charging in Windows 7/8/10

[ruslruslrusl1]

I'm seeing many posts lately about issues in Windows 7/8/10 laptop batteries showing "Plugged in not charging" and after much research and trial and error I wanted to share what finally worked for me. I had this same issue on my Acer Aspire ES1-711 laptop with "non-removable battery" running Windows 8 x64 - system reported battery at "0% plugged in, not charging". However this proved to be a software/operating system issue and the battery was fine (I was still able to boot and operate Windows 8 with my AC adapter disconnected).

NONE OF THE COMMON SOLUTIONS WORKED FOR ME, though it's possible they played a role in part since I did attempt them first. I'll add a note about that at the end. I tried every solution recommended on various forums from Acer to HP to Dell - most of which focused around uninstalling the "Microsoft ACPI-Compliant Control Method Battery" driver in Device Manager, disconnecting the battery, discharging residual power, rebooting, etc. My laptop's battery is "non-removable" so I even removed the bottom of the laptop case to inspect the battery and attempt solutions requiring battery removal (cable disconnect, rather than using the pinhole button on this laptop model).

ALTERNATE SOLUTION THAT WORKED FOR ME - battery needs to be fully drained, then recharged, and thus recalibrated to the operating system.

• change power settings in Control Panel to not shutdown/sleep/hibernate on battery power, then set critical battery power shutdown to 5% so battery can nearly fully drain.
• [OPTIONAL 2nd STEP] This might be the time to uninstall the Microsoft ACPI-Compliant Control Method Battery Driver in Device Manager - DO NOT SCAN FOR HARDWARE CHANGES AFTER DRIVER UNINSTALL COMPLETES
• disconnect AC adapter - Windows might shutdown/sleep/hibernate immediately if it thinks your battery is low/critical, if so leave AC adapter disconnected then reboot and run on remaining battery power (even if meter reports 0% as mine did). If Windows did shutdown/sleep and you had to reboot, the Microsoft ACPI-Compliant Control Method Battery Driver may reinstall itself upon reboot. Check Device Manager to confirm it is still uninstalled or uninstall again if necessary.
• let battery discharge to 5% and Windows shutdown automatically. I recommend leaving it shutdown and disconnected from the AC adapter for an additional hour.
• reconnect the AC adapter and allow the battery to charge with the laptop still powered OFF for about 2 hours or until mostly charged.
• [SECONDARY ISSUE] At this point I actually booted to a BSOD with error code 0xc000021a and had to resolve that issue separately before I could boot to Windows normally to check on the battery issue. If you have this issue as well, my solution was to tap F8 at boot to get to the Start-up Recovery Menu, booted in Safe Mode, ran Command Prompt and scheduled Chkdsk c: /r for next boot, then rebooted. After chkdsk completed I was able to boot to Windows 8 normally.
• Boot to Windows normally and the battery should now be charging and reading correctly in the system tray.

As I mentioned, I had tried a variety of commonly suggested solutions before draining/charging/recalibrating my battery seemed to be the correct solution. Consider adding parts of those solutions to your method as well if you still have issues and are certain both your battery and AC adapter are not defective.

 

[webworkings]

It is also possible that the adapter is going bad and needs replacing. It is extremaly common for the adapter to work to power the device but not charge the battery when it is going bad and needing replacing.

 

[ruslruslrusl1]

It is also possible that the adapter is going bad and needs replacing. It is extremaly common for the adapter to work to power the device but not charge the battery when it is going bad and needing replacing.

My solution and other previously mentioned solutions operate on the condition that you've already tested and determined that your AC adapter is not defective by running a hardware test and/or testing an alternate AC adapter. My solution resolved my issue so clearly my AC adapter is not defective.

 

[webworkings]

I do understand that you may have already tested this. However, since you did not include that in your instructions, others may not realize this, or have checked it themselves, hence my adding it to your information.

Always best to start with the obvious (charger, battery, etc.) before delving in more deeply. Hence the addition.