Toshiba PA 38 question

that would depend on the power management settings
but I would think, it should work when plugged into 120v, even if the battery is bad

You need a new battery.

Regarding your wireless issues what OS and SP are you running?

WPA wireless security is not supported prior to XP SP3.

Is the home connection a new issue?

Def need a battery-I rejuvenated one in the freezer for a few hours while I waited for the new one to come from ebay ;)

I have not been using this particular computer very much But it has worked fine on my Home wireless network before. It does show my network with a strong signal but when I click to connect, it tells me its out of range? The wireless switch on the side works BUT if I recall correctly, when switched on, it usually glows green which it does not do now...stays amber? As stated, the only difference now is the battery situation.
How about another question while I'm at it...... my other laptop that I'm using now, the screen comes on and off randomly(I have it hooked up to a separate monitor now) so I'm guessing it's not the driver and I can't seem to locate any loose connections?

Sounds like laptop number 2 has a bad connection between the base and screen-honestly, not worth dealing with if it's old.

I would shutdown and unplug the modem, router, and all your home computers for at least 30 seconds...Turn everything back on individually starting with the modem, wait 60 seconds, then the router, wait again and start computer. This reset may fix things. Sometimes routers can need to be reset when not used for a while-are any of your computers hooking up with it? If not-you may need to reinstall the router and reconfigure the network you built at home.

Laptop #2 sounds like loss of backlight,
Bad connection or backlight power supply is failing

The AC-Supply ***SHOULD*** be capable of running the computer even with the battery removed... I know I have run some older computers that way.

And the battery should not make any difference to the Wi-Fi, but the key word is SHOULD, it might, epically if the mode of failure was causing RF-Interference.

In any case, take it to a Batteries PLUS store,,,,, Odd are they can fix the battery.

Just got me a new Toshiba C55D at Staples for 250.. That's not far from the cost of a new Laptop battery these days (Around 75-150) heck it's only 100 less than the cost of the hard drive that is in it (500 Gig Laptop drive). Nice box.

Oh, that price... Deal of the week, GOOD TODAY ONLY. goes up to I think 400 tomorrow.

I know what you mean about battery prices.....its almost worth getting another low price computer especially since I'm not using this for anything Hi-tech. To answer one question, I'm able to connect to my home wireless with other computers......might have to check that deal out on the new box. Thanks all.

Toshiba PA 38 battery for as low as $17 w/free shipping on e-bay. if was mine and wasn't really obsolete i would buy a battery and use a USB dongle for WiFi. I just bought a new battery for one of my HP laptops from e-bay and it works very nicely. I got a 12 cell for $26. Replacement battery prices for older laptops have dropped dramatically in the last couple of years. I'm happy with the core 2 duo machine as a backup. I think I would go to control panel and remove WiFi adapter and reboot to reinstall drivers. It should auto detect the WiFi adapter and install drivers and detect the network if it is working properly.

Yep....just saw a battery on Amazon also for 17 bucks and I was thinking about using an external device to reconnect wirelessly.....great minds think alike lol :)