I just received an Inspiron 8000 from my father in law. He said it has never run on battery power. He believed he through out the battery with the packaging. He did not of course. it has a battery in the primary bay. It is the right bay. bios sees it as 100% charging. The left bay has 3.5 floppy drive and bios sees no battery installed on left bay. windows me sees #1 battery not installed #2 battery 100% charging. If you unplug AC it shuts down instantly. the battery has a test button which lights all 5 led green. before i spend money for a new battery what else can I do. Shouldn't windows see the only battery and call it #1. if I un plug the battery in bios it sees it not installed and then when I put it back it imidiately sees 100% charging.
thanks for any help.

Is this a old laptop? My laptop about 3 years old has a dead battery, if I remove the power lead it goes of almost instantly. Batteries lose their zero point if they are constantly recharged with some charge already in it.

yes it is an old laptop and the battery is old but the led indicators on the battery show it is fully charged. I have heard of "recalibrating" batteries but not sure how.

Yes it will show as 100% so does mine because it can hold very little charge.

I don't know how to recalibrate batteries, but I did unplug the battery leave it for a few days for it to lose some charge and it did last a little longer, but nothing worthwhile.

Thanks I will probably order a new battery. it is over due in calendar time. and if it is not bad I will have 2.