Battery + AC Power slowing laptop?

[1756GR2]

I've got a six/seven year old HP XP laptop that's got me puzzled. As of about four days ago it's launching programs extremely slowly. Ex: Program appears in about four minutes, is usable in another three minutes or so. It doesn't matter what program - browsers, Task Manager, Dreamweaver, no difference.

Machine boots up fine. Scans, registry cleaners, etc. come up empty. Task Manager (once it launches) says CPU usage is fine, with 30 or less processes running.

It does this, it seems, only when it's plugged into the wall and the battery's in the machine. Take the battery out and use only the AC power and it's fine. With just the battery, it might have the issue, or not. Nothing feels overheated.

Could the combination of battery and AC power do that? Or should I continue to look deeper?

[volatile]

Sounds like SpeedStep is being triggered due to your battery. I'd try turning that off. SpeedStep is a feature that ramps down the performance of your computer to conserve battery life. I'd also replace your battery.

[bsaana]

I would check into the battery. How old is it? I have recently worked on a 3 year old laptop where the fan was failing to stay running. Took the battery out and the system worked perfectly. The battery could only hold 1/10th the charge of a new one. It drug the voltages too low for the fan to run. Considering age and charge cycles this would be normal.

[1756GR2]

It's the original battery. Half the time it's out when it's on AC power, half the time I forget and leave it in after it's charged. Gives me about two hours or less on a fully charged battery, less than I remember when it was newer.

I'll try playing with SpeedStep and see what that produces. In the meantime I'll start saving my pennies for a new battery.

Thanks!

[Amadan]

I've only just got to this topic so sorry for the Necromancy - First day of in 9 days and I'm looking for an excuse not to do the housework, ie procrastinating.

I've got a six/seven year old HP XP laptop that's got me puzzled. As of about four days ago it's launching programs extremely slowly. Ex: Program appears in about four minutes, is usable in another three minutes or so. It doesn't matter what program - browsers, Task Manager, Dreamweaver, no difference.

Could the combination of battery and AC power do that? Or should I continue to look deeper?

I've seen this issue before on a HP laptop, As Volatile said it sounds like SpeedStep is kicking in for some reason.

Could you please post your HP's model no as the last time I saw this we were able to solve the issue with a BIOS update from HP's website.

Also just in case it's not Speedstep - have you tried running from a LiveCD such as Ubuntu and seeing if the issue can be replicated as it's still possible it could be a dodgy driver rather than firmware.

[1756GR2]

HP ze2000 (ze2108wm), XP Home if that makes a difference.

No, I've not tried a LiveCD but that can be tried over the next several days as a friend can do that for me.

Methinks there might be more going on, if it's related at all - I now have no Standby option on shutdown, and closing the lid doesn't put the machine to sleep.

[Amadan]

HP ze2000 (ze2108wm), XP Home if that makes a difference.

No, I've not tried a LiveCD but that can be tried over the next several days as a friend can do that for me.

Methinks there might be more going on, if it's related at all - I now have no Standby option on shutdown, and closing the lid doesn't put the machine to sleep.

Looking on the HP site there doesn't seem to be anything related to SpeedStep etc however it might still be worth doing a BIOS update. Clicky.