How to Optimize Laptop Battery Life
Aggravation sets in when your laptop shuts down due to its battery being drained. While the only way to prevent this scenario altogether is to keep your laptop plugged in permanently, you can lengthen the life of your battery with just a few simple tips.
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Instructions
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Charge the battery to its fullest capacity, and use it until it is drained completely. Your laptop battery is meant to be used. By exercising the battery in this manner, you can help to keep it at its prime. Keep in mind that no matter what you do, over time, your battery will hold less of a charge due to age.
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Allocate your computer's power usage. There are programs inside many laptop computers to help allocate the computer's resources and optimize power usage. These can be found under the "Control Panel" in all Windows versions from 98 onward. Look under the "Power Options" or "Power Management" icon. Click and wait for the menu. Select how Windows uses the power on your computer when it is plugged in or operating by battery. Select the "Power Saver" option for when the computer is running off of the battery.
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Turn off peripherals when you are on battery power. Following through step 2 can greatly extend the life of your battery, but you can also optimize it by only using peripherals such as disk drives, USB accessories, and printers when the computer is plugged in. External mobile air cards for Internet access and disk drives can quickly drain the power from a laptop computer.
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Darken your laptop monitor. You might notice that if you have selected the "Power Saver" option for when your computer is on battery that your monitor dims. A bright monitor will use more power. You should turn the brightness on your monitor down as much as possible to add minutes to the length of your battery's life before it is fully drained.
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Tips & Warnings
Do not use peripherals when running on a battery. Use the Windows "Power Saver" option when running off of a battery.
If your battery is getting low in life, save your work so that you will not lose any material if your computer shuts down.
