Dell Inc., the world's largest producer of personal computers, is booting up to recall 4.1 million notebook computer batteries. The company has issued warnings that the lithium-ion batteries, which power Dell notebooks, may overheat and cause the computers to burst into flames.

The recall was announced Aug. 14 by Dell in conjunction with the Consumer Product Safety Commission, a federal agency charged with protecting the public from unreasonable risks of serious injury or death from consumer products. This will be the largest electronics recall in the agency's history.

The Internet has been flooded with reports of smoking Dell laptops and images of a computer bursting into flames during a conference in Japan. One man in Illinois was forced to dunk his blazing Dell notebook computer in water to extinguish the fire.

According to experts, the problems stem from production flaws related to the batteries, not the laptops. The batteries are supplied to Dell by Sony Corp. of Japan.

Individuals who purchased a Latitude, Inspiron, XPS or Precision notebook from Dell between April 1, 2004 and July 18 of this year are advised to remove the batteries from their notebooks and run the machines on AC power.

Replacements will be issued on a first-come, first-served basis. No estimates are available on how long the recall process will take, according to Dell Inc.

The company recalled 284,000 notebook batteries in 2001 for reasons reportedly related to overheating.

Between 2003 and 2005, the Consumer Product Safety Commission reported that 339 incidents, ranging from minor burns to more serious injuries, resulted from lithium-ion battery problems.

Other computer manufacturers, including Apple Computer Inc. and HewlettPackard Co., use Sony's lithium-ion batteries in their products.

It's expected to cost between $300 million and $400 million for the recall, but Dell says the process won't affect the company's financial standing.

Both Sony and Dell stocks rose in value despite the news.