Need help w/ gift for 9yo son- Battery issues and Network wont connect

[teufeldog0231]

I have an HP dv6 for myself for work (for 3 years and I love it). My son is getting in to computers and coding, so for his birthday I found him a used HP dv6-1230us that appeared to be in perfect working ordder (just had some minor plastic cosmetic pieces chipped off).

The real issue started when I found out it wasn't properly wiped and there were personal.... ummm.... let's just say honeymoon videos and photos. Plus it came with Vista. I found a computer tech who completely wiped it and installed a legal Win 7 copy. To top it off, he wouldn't accept any money (I am a disabled Marine and he tried joining the Corps but washed out). So I would feel like I was taking advantage asking him for more help.

On to current issues: When I first got this in May this year it had an aftermarket batter and charger, and both worked GREAT. My dv6 gets maybe 1.5hrs on a charge. His got 3+. And of course it connected to our wifi no problem. BUT it only had 4GB RAM (not enough for Minecraft apparently), so he preferred mine with 8GB of self-upgraded RAM. I began working on his and it now has two major issues:

1. The batter will not hold a charge more than 2%. Even plugged in overnight, and I tried using both charging cables, taking out and superficially cleaning contacts with dry q-tips, still nothing.

2. The network adapter WILL connect to our home wifi, but not the internet. I've tried all kinds of trouble shooting, but this one it major league problem and I only play pick-up games on weekends.

Any help appreciated. He really wants to learn to code, but that aint happening on my work laptop, lol. Thank you in advance.

 

[samuria]

Welcome to the forum. Can the laptop connect to a free wireless network that's not encrypted very often old wireless card's can't use modern encrypted network in which case you have to reduce your encryption or get a USB wireless adapter. I would assume the battery is past its best and you need a new one

 

[teufeldog0231]

A bit of an update. I am trying to trade it, so I attempted a sys restore that failed because bit defender was on. I took it to office depot, they put it in safe mode and got the internet back. The problem is now (besides the battery possibly being shot) is on boot up it says "serial number not found". It said the same thing when I bought it used. I gave it to a tech who wiped vista and installed Windows 7 and that apparently took care of the serial number issue.

Right now I'm going to uninstall bitdefender and retry system restore. A battery can be had for $15, so ill just knock that off the trade price. If I'm missing something I would love to hear your thoughts.

 

[townsbg]

You should probably go with a battery built for that laptop. It may be more expensive but it should be more reliable. Your current battery might be shot but it might also be incompatible. They unfortunately aren't all the same.