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CompTIA A+ Certification All-in-One Exam Guide

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• A swollen battery will probably go unnoticed at first, and the

symptoms it creates may be hard to identify if you aren’t aware it can

happen. The cause is usually over-charging, perhaps due to a failure in

the circuits that should prevent it, but the early symptoms might be a

laptop that doesn’t quite sit right on flat surfaces, a screen that doesn’t

fit flush when closed, problems with input devices like the touchpad or

keyboard, and trouble removing or inserting a removable battery.

Eventually, the device’s case may be obviously deformed. While

battery packs are designed to handle a little swelling, it increases the

risk they’ll puncture—and a punctured battery can be dangerous. Don’t

ignore these symptoms; open the case carefully tog check the battery,

and very carefully deliver it to an e-waste recycling or disposal site.

• If you have a laptop with a battery that won’t charge up—a battery not

charging problem—it could be one of two things: the battery might be

cooked or the AC adapter isn’t doing its job. To troubleshoot, replace

the battery with a known good battery. If the new battery works,

you’ve found the problem. Just replace the battery. Alternatively,

remove the battery and run the laptop on AC only. If that works, you

know the AC adapter is good. If it doesn’t, replace the AC adapter.

• The reasons for very short battery life in a battery that charges properly

are fairly benign. The battery has usually outlived its useful life and

needs to be replaced, or some programs or hardware are drawing much

more power than usual. Check wireless devices you usually keep

disabled to make sure they aren’t on. Follow recommendations in the

preceding “Poor Performance” section to address problem programs.

Overheating

• Because overheating can be both a symptom and a cause of a variety of

issues, you should be alert to any device that is hot to the touch, or is

running hotter than usual. Note which parts of the device are hot—this

can give you important clues. If the device feels dangerously hot, err

on the side of protecting the device from heat damage instead of trying

to diagnose the cause. Power the device down and remove the battery

if possible. Set it on a cool, hard surface, out of direct sunlight, with

the hottest part of the device exposed to air if possible.

• Likewise, look for possible signs a device is overheating—like

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