Will not recognize AC POWER, Running from Battery only- now battery is dead.

Hello
Booting process take so much current from the battery. If the battery is not capable of supplying enough current to boot up, this may happen. Replace the battery with a new one. the present battery inside it will have insufficiant current for first boot up.

With 2GB RAM or more you can install/run Windows 7 on it and it should run okay (in my humble opinion).

IT IS DUE TO BATTERY PROBLEM
CHECK YOUR BATTERY

ther must be a short in the plug, get it checked before something goes really wrong

Does it not seem to get power? This is a common issue with the S149. If you have a charged extra battery or one from a similar Toshiba laptop like the S311 you can see if it starts with a charged battery. If it does the problem is likely the soldered connection on the motherboard for the power cord. This commonly breaks and causes the laptop to not run off the power cord and not charge the battery, but it will run from a charged battery. If this is the case you will need to resolder the power connector to the motherboard. The laptop must be disassembled to make the repair. If you do not have the tools, knowledge or experience to do this or the solder job then you will need to locate a technician that can.

all laptops are capable of running strictly on ac power. if your battery is not charging it sounds like time to get a new one.
you can get one here:

http://www.atbatt.com/laptop-batteries/b/toshiba/m/satellite-m35x-s161.asp

Had the exact same problem. New AC adapter fixed it.

these laptops are known for the ac adapter to come loose from the mother board. ther are kits available to repair

Could be a number of things. Is it plugged in (charging) or are you running from the battery only?

On my Toshiba, it's very picky about the battery power level, and will do that if it's low, and not plugged in.

Try plugging it in, and letting it sit for an hour or two.

you may have a faulty motherboard connection, but try connecting the power adapter in without the battery and see if it runs, then replace the battery back in the compartment.