Computer not detecting any AC adapters anymore

[JadeW]

Hello everyone, I don't know if this is the good section for that but I have a strange problem.
First of, excuse my English, it's not perfect yet (especially talking about technology) but I'll try to be as good as possible.
I've had my Acer computer since 2011, encountered some issues but always managed to fix it by myself, but not this time.
2 days ago I wanted to use my computer, when it booted to the desktop I noticed it didn't recognize my AC adapter.
It didn't say anything, it just didn't charge, so I asked my mother for her AC adapter because it's the same. I noticed that it starts charging for about 10 seconds then stops, it does the same with my own AC adapter, for it to detect it again I have to wait minutes before plugging in the AC adapter again. Each time it charges for about 19 seconds then stop, the light when using the adapter turns off too.
I thought maybe it's my battery but I don't think so because when I took off the battery and tried using my computer with the AC adapter only it didn't work, as always it charges for about 10 seconds and stops charging.
I would really love to know what's going on? Maybe the motherboard or something like that? It was fine the day before and it didn't heat or anything.
I must also note that since about 5-6 months I had to use my computer with the AC adapter plugged in all the time or it would shut off. I never found the reason for that it happened all of a sudden and I don't know if it's related to my current issue since it started months before, but because of this and the current issue I can't try copying what's important on my hard drive to another external hard drive.
Is there a way (not too complicated if possible) for me in this situation, to copy my computer's entire hard drive to another hard drive? I've so much important things in it I don't want to lose and unfortunately I was supposed to buy an external hard drive next week to back up my stuff in case something bad happens...
Thank you everyone for your time.
I hope what I wrote is comprehensible

 

[mrjimphelps]

Your English is excellent, far better than a lot of the native speakers here!

If you and your mother have identical computers, you should be able to swap hard drives with her, boot up her computer, then copy your data to the external hard drive.

As for the power problem, it sounds like your computer is physically damaged. Has it ever been dropped? If so, then something could have broken internally. You could test this by booting with a Linux Live DVD and seeing if your charger will work in Linux. If the problem exists also in Linux, then you have a hardware problem. However, if the problem does not exist in Linux, then there is evidently a problem in Windows which is causing this.

To create a Linux Live DVD, go to one of the Linux websites, such as www.linuxmint.com. Download one of the .ISO files. Once it is saved to the computer, put a blank DVD in the computer, right-click on the .ISO file, and choose Burn Disk Image. The process should be self-explanatory from that point forward.

 

[JadeW]

Your English is excellent, far better than a lot of the native speakers here!

If you and your mother have identical computers, you should be able to swap hard drives with her, boot up her computer, then copy your data to the external hard drive.

As for the power problem, it sounds like your computer is physically damaged. Has it ever been dropped? If so, then something could have broken internally. You could test this by booting with a Linux Live DVD and seeing if your charger will work in Linux. If the problem exists also in Linux, then you have a hardware problem. However, if the problem does not exist in Linux, then there is evidently a problem in Windows which is causing this.

To create a Linux Live DVD, go to one of the Linux websites, such as www.linuxmint.com. Download one of the .ISO files. Once it is saved to the computer, put a blank DVD in the computer, right-click on the .ISO file, and choose Burn Disk Image. The process should be self-explanatory from that point forward.

Thank you very much for the well explained help.
Unfortunately our computers aren't the same, only the original AC adapters are.
My computer has never been dropped, nor did it ever received a hit or something.
The only thing I know for sure is that there has been one bad sector on the hard drive since 2014 but the hard drive never deteriorated after that and performances were always great.
I'll try booting with a Linux live DVD as soon as I can and get back to you.
Hopefully it's not too bad.
Thank you again for your great help.

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi,
Usually it is the battery has a bad cell... or giving false charged signal and cuts off
I'm sure you've removed and reinstalled the battery many times since the issue started.

 

[JadeW]

Hi,
Usually it is the battery has a bad cell... or giving false charged signal and cuts off
I'm sure you've removed and reinstalled the battery many times since the issue started.

Yes it's the first thing I tried, I also tried booting the computer without the battery but it didn't work.
I tried another battery too, same thing happened.
I'm currently trying to see if that is working using the Linux Live DVD, hopefully it will.
Thank you for your help

 

[JadeW]

So I'm not sure what the problem really is. I booted using the Linux DVD, was able to copy about 100 go out of 470 on another hard drive (Which is better than nothing).
As I was copying, the computer shuts down.
I tried powered it on again, it booted but this time with windows and ignored the Linux DVD.
The battery icon had disappeared and no way to know if it was charging or not. I tried some command line to know the battery's capacity like I had done it the past but it didn't show this information. It showed some errors, and mostly were about "on sector" and not "on battery".
It was like despite the battery being inserted, windows acted like a computer without battery.
Would that be a problem with windows or the battery? It seems that in the last week, every time I turned on the computer there is a different problem.
I'm kinda lost to be honest.
Would you recommend me to buy a new battery and see if everything is working fine like before?
I haven't used the computer yet today, if there's another problem or something I notice I'll comment on here.
Thank you for your help and time.

 

[JadeW]

Update : it's going back to problem no.1. detecting AC adapter for about 10 seconds then stopping. It's doing this with or without battery, booting up with the Linux DVD or not. If I let the AC adapter in for few minutes it will be charging 10 seconds then stops for about 2 or 3 minutes and then it stops again and so on.
Since it does this with any AC adapters and two different batteries, maybe the problem is something inside ? Maybe motherboard or power ? Any idea?
Thanks

 

[mrjimphelps]

Sounds like you definitely have a bad AC adapter. If you have a multimeter, you could test your AC adapter to know for sure; but I think we have enough evidence to conclude that your AC adapter is bad.

Here is an example of a very simple multimeter:
https://www.amazon.com/Tekpower-TP1...=1525276260&sr=1-4&keywords=analog+multimeter

For testing your AC adapter, a simple analog multimeter will be ok. I prefer analog (the kind with the needle which moves), because it is really easy to see and understand the results; also, analog is cheaper than digital!

You can purchase an analog multimeter in a hardware store or in an automobile parts store. I don't know how much they cost in your country, but in the United States, a simple analog multimeter will cost between $10 and $15. And a multimeter is very useful for any kind of electrical testing, so you will be able to use it for other things beside this. For example, you can test batteries with a multimeter.

 

[Marie SWE]

When you plug in the power connector into the computer, does it feels like the connector sitting a bit loose?

 

[JadeW]

Sounds like you definitely have a bad AC adapter. If you have a multimeter, you could test your AC adapter to know for sure; but I think we have enough evidence to conclude that your AC adapter is bad.

Here is an example of a very simple multimeter:
https://www.amazon.com/Tekpower-TP1...=1525276260&sr=1-4&keywords=analog+multimeter

For testing your AC adapter, a simple analog multimeter will be ok. I prefer analog (the kind with the needle which moves), because it is really easy to see and understand the results; also, analog is cheaper than digital!

You can purchase an analog multimeter in a hardware store or in an automobile parts store. I don't know how much they cost in your country, but in the United States, a simple analog multimeter will cost between $10 and $15. And a multimeter is very useful for any kind of electrical testing, so you will be able to use it for other things beside this. For example, you can test batteries with a multimeter.

I brought a new AC adapter few days ago and it does the same, but I'll try your advice
Thank you very much for your help

 

[JadeW]

When you plug in the power connector into the computer, does it feels like the connector sitting a bit loose?

No, not at all, I also checked to see if something was damaged but everything looked fine.
After checking that out I decided to check the entire laptop (inside it), nothing seemed broken or moved, no dust etc.
Thank you for your help

 

[Marie SWE]

No, not at all, I also checked to see if something was damaged but everything looked fine.
After checking that out I decided to check the entire laptop (inside it), nothing seemed broken or moved, no dust etc.
Thank you for your help

Okay, I had that fault on this computer and I have had it on two other laptops, so that's why I thought about it.
I hope you find the problem and it's easy to solve. I'm curious of the solution for future hardware troubleshooting.
when you had it disassemble, you didn't see anything that looked burned near the connector or that it smelled like burned electronics?

 

[JadeW]

Okay, I had that fault on this computer and I have had it on two other laptops, so that's why I thought about it.
I hope you find the problem and it's easy to solve. I'm curious of the solution for future hardware troubleshooting.
when you had it disassemble, you didn't see anything that looked burned near the connector or that it smelled like burned electronics?

No, nothing looked burnt or smelled like it was. I really don't know what's going on.
I think I can say goodbye to my beloved laptop, unfortunately.
Is there a way to connect the hard drive in it to another computer?
Thanks so much for your time and help

 

[Marie SWE]

No, nothing looked burnt or smelled like it was. I really don't know what's going on.
I think I can say goodbye to my beloved laptop, unfortunately.
Is there a way to connect the hard drive in it to another computer?
Thanks so much for your time and help

sad you can't rescue your laptop.
Of Course you can connect your HDD to an other computer.
If you have a desktop pc its only to connect it. In other case you can use a Sata to usb adapter like this
https://www.ebay.com/bhp/usb-3-to-sata-adapter or this https://www.ebay.co.uk/bhp/sata-to-usb-3-0
or a HDD docking station like this https://www.ebay.com/itm/UNITEK-USB...ernal-Docking-Station-Enclosure-/122838054273 or this https://www.ebay.com/p/UNITEK-Usb3-.../4011030933?iid=123051020542&var=423480715944