How To Extend The Life Of Your Laptop Battery

Generally, most of the people compare Laptop batteries to the people because according to them inevitably and eventually they also die. They are just like normal people, since they do not obey any form of the Moore’s Law. This means that one cannot expect the next year’s battery to last more as compared to the previous year’s battery. Though it can be noticed that the Battery technology is improving a bit over the time because of the latest technologies, efforts and tools available but this does not mean that this is surely going to increase the life of batteries. Though there can be many interesting possibilities that are popping up, but this does not signify any kind of major breakthrough in the coming future.

Since it is expected that the battery is going to die eventually, but proper care can be very helpful in putting off the inevitable. You need to know the ways through which you can keep your laptop batteries working for longer periods. With luck and proper care these laptop batteries can also last until there is a need to replace the aging notebook.  Below are given some important tips that can be utilized if you really want to keep your battery going longer in between the frequent charges so that now can work for the longer period without the need of AC power.

Never run your battery. Down to Empty: if you try to squeeze out every drop of the juice out of your lithium ion battery then it can cause strain on it and can weaken it further. However, doing this just once or twice would not kill the battery, but if this is carried out continuously then this can badly affect the performance of your battery and will definitely shorten the lifespan of your battery. Realizing the importance if this fact, these days most of the laptops that are designed in a way those they automatically shut down before the complete battery runs out. This can really save you from the trouble that is waiting for you ahead. In fact, operating systems like Vista as well as Windows 7 usually come up with a setting that is meant especially for this purpose. If you want to check this, then click the Start button and type power in the search option and then select Power Options. Now, Click on Change plan settings and, then click on the Change advanced settings link. Now, in the upcoming dialog box, you need to scroll down and then expand the Battery button. Next you need to expand Critical battery section. The normal setting will be about 5 percent, and this is considered as the good place to leave. However, windows XP did not come up with such a type of native settings. But the setting can be done by the vendor. There are many people who believe that one should never recharge their battery all the way but that is just a myth.

There has been a considerable amount of controversy on the point. According to experts, it is advantageous to leave home with fully-charged battery as it enables you to use your laptop for the long period of duration without AC power.

Keep the laptop away from direct heat: it has been noticed that the Heat can break down the life of battery, and therefore, it can reduce the overall life of battery. Whenever you are using your laptop, and then make sure that all the vents are unblocked. It’s better not to work with your laptop on cushions or pillows. Try to put the laptop on some raised stand that can allow plenty of airflow. Also, do not forget to clean the vents often with a can consisting of the compressed air. This can be bought easily at any kind of the computer store for just few bucks. Be sure that you follow all the directions that have been marked on the can. Do this task only when your notebook is off?

Give It a Rest: If we are planning to work exclusively on the AC power for some days or a week then it is better to remove your battery first. Otherwise your battery will wear out because of constantly charging as well as discharging. Constantly working can heat up the battery of your laptop so it’s better to remove it. It has been seen that an unused battery start losing its power over the time so make sure that when you are removing the battery of your laptop then it’s not completely empty. So it’s better to remove it when it is half charged.

Never try to remove the battery of your computer when it is on, or if it is in standby or the sleep mode. Because doing so can crash your system and can also damage the hardware of your system. Even if you try to insert a battery into the running laptop then this can also damage the system. So try to remove or reinsert your battery whenever your laptop is completely in off position or is in hibernating mode.

In case you have never removed the battery of your laptop and don’t even know how to do it then you should check the documentation that has been provided to you. The instructions usually involve turning of the laptop in the upside down position and then holding down the button while you are sliding out the battery. There are many people who believe that a person should refrigerate his battery but this is again a myth.

There are many people around who always recommend that battery should be stored in the refrigerator, in some plastic bag. However, it is important that a battery should be kept in the cool place, but this does not mean that you need to have a wet battery, because if it is kept in the refrigerator then there can be some condensation and this can be really dangerous for the life of battery. Instead one should always try to store the battery in dry place at the room temperature. For this purpose, a filing cabinet can be fine.

It is advised that the battery should not be left out to get empty quickly. If you are using your computer without battery for more than 2 months then this can really harm the life of your pc as well. It’s better to atleast put in the battery for few hours. Before you take your laptop up on the road, do not forget to reinsert the battery and also let it get charged for few hours before you unplug the machine. Allow your battery to get the full charge before removing the AC power.

Heal the Sick Battery: remember that it is not possible to rejuvenate a battery that has been worn out completely. This is because it is not possible to make the old lithium hold the number of electrons more than that it can manage currently. But in case your battery is running out at an unexpectedly fast pace or in case your laptop is in some kind of trouble and is not able to figure out that how much power is still left then it is possible to fix the gas gauge of your battery. In case you are suspecting out that your battery is not able to tell how much it has been charged and how much is still left then it’s better that you run it through a couple of the cycles. In this scenario, you can try Draining out all its power, after that you can recharge the battery to 100 percent, and again can repeat the same process.

There are many people around who still don’t know how they can drain out the battery completely when Windows are not allowing them to do that. Never ever get bothered because of the settings that have been described above. This is because they are not safe and there may be a need where one needs to change them back. These cases may be when there is no chance of getting the accurate reading.  Instead, it’s better to unplug the AC power so that you can keep the laptop running until it hibernates automatically. After that reboot, the PC back and then go directly to your system setup programs. This may take a couple of minutes to get to the right timing. If there is no longer enough power to let the pc boot, then you can plug in the AC until you reach at the setup programs, and then can unplug it. Leave your notebook on till the time it shuts off on its own. However, this can take around 45 minutes. Once your PC is off, you can plug in AC power, and can then wait for few hours before the rebooting of Windows starts and this time you need to be sure that you have got your pc fully charged. Try to repeat out the same process atleast once or twice. Remember that with proper care your battery is going to be useful.

Longer Life in Between the Charges: there are many people who still do not know that for how long a laptop can run without the AC power. There may be people who would know most of the tips already, but one should try to refresh the memory.

Dim the screen: remember that a laptop’s backlight usually requires a lot of the juice. So it is better to keep it as dim as possible just comfortable enough to read.

Shut off the hardware that is not required: it’s better to turn off the hardware devices like Bluetooth if you are not using the internet, turn off Wi-Fi receiver. Try not to use the external mouse or similar kind of devices. Muting the sound system saves a lot of power.

Avoid multitasking: try to run few programs so that you can get away easily with them. If possible, try to stick to one application (that you are using currently with some antivirus or firewall in the background. In case you are not on the internet then there is no need of the other two as well.

Know when your pc needs to sleep and when its need to hibernate: one should know when there is the need of saving the power. This can be done mainly by sending the laptop into sleep or Standby mode. Sleep modes of XP, Vista and Windows 7 keep the PC on, and use some of the power, but this power is very less. Hibernate saves a lot of the PC’s state and then shuts it entirely. In this case, there is no power that is used. It has been noticed that Windows usually takes much longer time to go in and to come out of the hibernation. And during those minutes the battery drains out heavily and a person can’t work. Standby mode of XP isn’t really very efficient. It is believed that on Adding RAM battery life of computer is saved but this is just a myth again.