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Hi there,

I've been having some power issues with my laptop for a while. For some time now, my laptop has been constantly losing power and shutting off, regardless of whether I am running off the battery or the power supply. There does seem to be inconsistency as to whether the computer is getting power from the supply (it will be plugged in and off, and sometimes the light that indicates that it's charging will be on, and other times it won't.) I've also noticed that the power supply, as well as the bottom of the computer, get extremely hot. Sound like a bad power supply, or something else? I just think it's weird that it dies regardless of whether it is running off of the battery or the power supply. Perhaps the battery isn't getting power and it thinks it is?

Thanks for your help!

You don't tell us which laptop you have, but the odds are that the power cable connection into the laptop has failed because the socket is coming off either the power controller or the motherboard. An unstable connection can arc and cause heat. You need to get this fixed before it does any more damage and becomes unrepairable. A decent laptop repair should do this for less than $200/£100 or local equivalent.