Since laptops now out-sale desktops, I decided to bring this tip out of the archives.
We had a call last weekend, and I get the same question from many laptop users: “Why is the battery life on my laptop so poor?”. The biggest reason is that the battery doesn’t get enough exercise. Most rechargeable batteries today don’t have the memory problem like they did eight and ten years ago. However, unless the battery does get used on occasion, it tends to lose its ability to hold a charge.
Even if you don’t take your laptop outside of the home, I recommend that you run your laptop off of the battery at least twice per month. You don’t have to drain the battery all the way down (some battery experts say not to let it completely deplete ever), but use it until it’s pretty close to empty then plug it back in to recharge. Cycling the charging and depleting of the battery will give your laptop many more productive hours of battery time.
When running from the battery, your laptop will show a little blue battery icon by your clock that shows the approximate batter life remaining. The time shown isn’t 100% accurate, but gives you a quick place to eyeball the remaining time you have on your battery.
Related articles:
Loading ...
HelpMeRick.com started as a monthly tip site for beginners in 1996, and now supports our popular call-in computer show, and hosts thousands of useful computer tips and links.
My battery stays charged o.k. on my Compaq laptop. The problem I have is my battery icon on the toolbar has gone away somewhere. I searched on-line and some recommended messing with the registry (not a big fan considering my skill level.) Seems this is a common problem (disappearing icons) with XP. I downloaded a free shareware battery meter that works fairly well, but would like to get the “original” on back working. Have tried control panel, power options, advanced and checked “always show icon on toolbar.” Still not working. Volume icon was missing but got it going again. Also, shouldn’t I have a volume meter that comes on for a few seconds on the screen when I use my “hard” volume buttons? Any help would be appreciated, thanks!
Dave
Thank you for your writeup on these batteries. I prefer using rechargeable (http://www.ardenmktg.com) aa lithum battery so that I don’t need to keep buying batteries.