Alienware plugged in not charging

Charging issues?

Annoying right. Is your alienware plugged in not charging they a couple of things that you can do to fix it.

The following applies to all alienware laptops, alienware m17x r2, Alienware 16r 3 which ever you have.

Eliminating the obvious

Charger problem

First I will eliminate the obvious if your Alienware charger is either deformed, frayed or chipped, you need to replace it. If any part of the charge looks like the images below  buy a new one here or on Amazon

Its simply not worth it to save on a charger. In actual fact it might end being more costly after frying your motherboard or causing  short circuits. So just get a new one

Battery

Same principle applies to the battery. Just because it works if you do workarounds on it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t throw it away.

Dont ever use swollen batteries.

If it shows physical deformities I highly recommend getting a new one.  One faulty cell is enough to cause your battery to stop working. Here is a list of available batteries at reasonable prices.

Now for the real troubleshooting. The other causes of the error plugged in not charging are, voltage and amps charger issues, fake chargers, BIOS malfunction, Windows services and drivers.

I will start with the software side

Uninstall Microsoft ACPI-Compliant Control Method Battery

The Microsoft ACPI driver is the one responsible for power management as well as plug and play functions. Disabling and enabling it may fix the error and have your battery charging again. Here is what you do.

1. Go to This PC, Right Click on this PC and select Properties
2. Select The Device Manager on the left column, Alternatively search for select Device Manager from the Start menu
3. Now go to Batteries section, click to expand
4. Right Click on Microsoft ACPI-Compliant Control Method Battery
5. Select Uninstall, don’t worry windows will restore the drivers back automatically
6. Now shutdown the Laptop, then unplug it and remove the battery
7. Finally, put the battery back and connect the charger, switch on your laptop

Windows will automatically reinstall the drivers and your laptop should now be charging if it was a drivers issue.

Charger Voltage and Amps

We are not going to go it electronics here, will keep it basic.

Your Alienware charger has a sticker like the one below which shows the voltage and amps that your laptop needs. Its usually written something like “output DC  19.5V (19.5V) 4.62A(4.62A). This is very important when you getting your replacement charger.

You need to know those numbers when getting the replacement get one with the same volts and amps.

If you get a different one it might be able to only power on your laptop but not charge it. Also the laptop might be very slow because of low power output from the charger causing throttling.

Alternatively if this is complicated to you, buy your laptop charger from the alienware or Dell website. This allows you to put your service tag which identifies your laptop then you don’t have to worry about voltages and such.

You will get the same charger as the one your machine came with.

ePSA battery test

Ehance Pre-Boot Self Assesment is the tool built into Dell an alienware compare for troubleshooting and identifying hardware problems Using the built in Dell Diagnostics can help identify if the battery has issues.

To start dell diagnostics, Switch of the laptop, then turn it on immediately pressing the F12 key on the Alienware logo to stop the normal boot process. Select Diagnostics,  Hardware diagnostics should start.

Note you can save time by running diagnostics just on the battery. To run diagnostics just on the battery, cancel the current running diagnostics then double click on the battery icon.

Diagnostics will now start checking the battery for issues, if any are are found you will get an error code.

Errors with the battery in most cases require you to purchase a replace battery

Third party chargers

If you are not careful you may have bought a knock off of a charger. Dell and Alienware chargers come with a chip which the laptop recognizes as original and safe for the laptop to charge.

If the chip is not there or not configured correctly, it will turn the computer but it wont charge.

Another issue that shows with these fake chargers is the interference with the touch-pad. If your cursor becomes jumpy when your laptop is plugged in, chances are you got yourself a fake charger.

Disconnect the charger and the erratic mouse behavior is gone.

Get you chargers from reliable stores.

Drivers and BIOS update

Force BIOS update

Another fix that you can try is update the BIOS and drivers. Computer manufactures make it harder to update your BIOS if the battery is not charging.

This is a safety precaution. If you lose power during the update you can brick your 2k alienware and have it fail to turn on.

But you can force the laptop to update using command prompt. We have already written a guide on how to force a BIOS update without the battery.

Note, make sure you an uninterrupted power supply as your update without the battery.

Even better if you get another fully charged battery of the same model, you dont have to do the forced update. Just update the normal way.

Updating Battery Drivers

This one is easy, go to Device Manager the same way we mentioned above when uninstalling windows ACPI drivers. Now instead of selecting uninstall on the options list select properties then go to drivers tab and click update.

Should be on a windows like the one below

Alienware Support

If your laptop is still under warranty you can send it back to Alienware/ Dell and have you battery replaced or have the issue fixed.

Most of the times they replace either the battery or charger, whichever is causing the fault.

How did you fix yours?

You solved your issue differently. That’s great

Let us know in the comments section how you were able have your battery charging again. Any constructive feedback in general will be greatly appreciated.