Battery not charging after some time, and charging sporadically

[Guest crysis_ftw]

I've had this issue from the past 4 days. My notebook doesn't seem to charge battery properly after reaching a certain percentage level like 70% (if charging from 30% or below) or 90% (if charging from 50% or above). Forgive me for the bleak details, as even I don't understand this pattern.

 

 

What happens:

 

1. When I plug in my notebook to AC power, it charges normally for some time.

 

2. After some time, the charging stops and the battery icon in the status bar says 'plugged in, not charging'.

 

3. Battery doesn't stop charging altogether, it just seems to charge sporadically, i.e., charges for 5 seconds, then doesn't charge for another 5 or 10 seconds. Then charges for 5 seconds, then again stops charging for another 5 or 10 seconds.

 

 

What I've tried so far:

 

1. Turn off the laptop, remove battery, turn it on again (without battery, running on AC directly), turn off, replace battery and turn on again.

 

2. Uninstalled 'Microsoft ACPI-Compliant Control Method Battery' driver in Device Manager, and restarted the computer.

 

 

My query:

 

1. Is this a hardware fault or a software fault?

 

 

Details:

 

1. Notebook - Dell XPS M1530

 

2. Battery - Standard XPS M1530 6-cell battery (56Wh)

 

3. Model - Dell TK330

 

4. My notebook is fairly old now (about 5 years), so though I can understand that the battery is getting old and careworn, I don't think that even old batteries are supposed to behave this way. Batteries just have a lower charge holding capacity and take a longer time to charge. This sporadic charging is something new to me.

 

 

Any thoughts?

 

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