How to resolve the “Press F1 button” error ?
Laptop Dell after used for a long time often demand user to press F1 to continue. Reasons for this error are various, maybe because the CMOS battery is out, or the IC charging has malfunctioned or the adapter is not working properly. We hereby give you the general troubleshoot of this “Laptop Dell F1 button press request” problem.
How to resolve the “Press F1 button” error
Sign of the error
When you turn on your laptop, it paused at DOS with the following notice
Warning! Battery is critically low.
Strike the F1 key to continue, F2 to run the setup utility.
The AC power adapter Wattage and type cannot be determined.
The battery may not charge.
The system will adjust the performance to match the power available.
Please connect a Dell 65W ( 90W, 130W ) adapter or greater for the best system performance.
Strike the F1 key to continue, F2 to run the setup utility.
or.
The AC power adapter Wattage and type cannot be determined.
The battery may not charge.
The system will adjust the performance to match the power available.
Please connect a Dell 65W adapter or greater for the best system performance.
Strike the F3 key (before F1 or F2 key) if you do not want to see a power warning message again.
Strike the F1 key to continue, F2 to run the setup utility.
The cause
- Adapters after used for a while make them drop their voltage, and lose their power capability , or because you used an unqualified adapter. Adapter malfunction gets 90% of the case for the reason of this error.
- Laptop battery got degraded after some time of use, or the battery jack with the laptop mainboard does not connect properly. Prevent them from charging and get the error.
- Because the charging IC has malfunctioned, so that the battery cannot charge.
The ac power adapter type cannot be determined – How to fix?
1. Remove the battery and turn your laptop on AC power. If the error message does not display, the problem comes from the battery.
There are 3 cases possible :
– The connection of the battery and mainboard battery jack is not connected properly. Clean the connect plub of both mainboard and battery. Re-attach the battery to check if the error message still displays.
– Because of battery degradation, if the adapter is still working properly, this may be the cause.
– Because of the charging IC, this case is rare however. Normally even with the IC malfunction, the computer still logs on Windows without displaying the message, the battery will not charge however.
2. Even on AC power, the message still display, it is because the Adapter itself does not supply enough power for the laptop
In this case you have to replace a new Adapter that is officially manufactured by Dell with the right power capability (or higher).
Buy it on Amazon.com
If you do not want to replace the Adapter, you can still disable the error message by doing the following :
Turn on your laptop >> press F2 button to enter BIOS management screen >> choose Advanced tab >> Adapter Warnings >> tick on Disabled.
Press F10 to save your Bios setting.
Now you are free from the “press F1” error message, however some models require complete removal of the battery to work. Though you disabled it, in reality the adapter has malfunctioned and is not able to charge. This problem is just temporary solved. If you can, please buy a new Dell adapter to replace the old one. Good luck.
