im about to buy a laptop from a friend. The only problem is that the battery doesnt seem to work. Now i dont know how to tell if it is just the battery that is broke or if it is the laptop. Now when i plug the laptop in , the charge lite comes on. I have left this on for awhile to charge up the battery with no result. I dont have any extra batteries to test this out on. I was also wondering if the little color dot on the back of the battery has anything to do with its power.So can anyone give me any suggestions on what i can do to tell if it is the battery or the laptop that is broke, thank you.

OK, some notebook batteries have a self-test button on the battery itself. There should also be a couple of indicator LEDs to show the charge level of the battery beside it. So press the button and see the charge level. Charge the battery for 10-15 minutes and check it again, is there an increase?

On Windows notebooks there is something like a battery meter program that normally resides in the system tray. I know KDE has something similar too. Maybe you can use that app to help you.

Try removing the battery and then plugging the laptop into the mains. If the laptop works ok, the battery is at fault. Have a look at the connectors on both the battery and the laptop to see if there is anything wrong there.

You may beable to get a new battery from the manufacturer or a spare part place or even on eBay.

You can also plug the laptop into AC power, and use a volt meter to test the points in the battery compartment. As long as it is plugged in you should have a DC charge on the points where the battery connects.