Mac book white battery / charger issue

I have found this to be a common problem with older MacBooks, The battery doesn't hold a charge, for that matter, charge at all.
I plan on first trying a different MagSafe, if thats not the problem I will get a new battery.. but I was wondering if anyone know a fix for this?
I tried reseting the PRAM and NVRAM along with a combo of taking out the battery and MagSafe. Any Suggestions/Solutions?
Thanks.

Also, sorry if this is not the right area for this post as I am new.

Try resetting SMC, that's what controls charging etc.. not the PRAM/NVRAM.

Dysfunction said:

Try resetting SMC, that's what controls charging etc.. not the PRAM/NVRAM.

Click to expand...

are there certain steps?
for example,
> shut down
> remove battery
> power button
ETC?

Assuming it's an intel mac.. the procedure's documented here

Intel-based Macs: Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC)

You don't say how old the MacBook or its battery are, so just in case it's not obvious -- all batteries degrade over time. Based on my own experience, the lifespan of a normally-used LiOn battery seems to be about four to five years. Less if you use it constantly, perhaps more if you carefully follow Apple's battery-care procedures. But it will most definitely degrade eventually, and there's nothing much you can do about that if that's what is going on.