The situation is quite typical, you are in a meeting, or traveling, or in class and when we need to use the computer, it turns out with horror that the battery is almost completely discharged. In theory, the problem is solved by attaching the PC to the power supply, but this is not always possible or practical because it may be that the electrical outlet is far away or unavailable.
In this situation, hope is not lost yet and if there is at least a 5% or 10% battery charge, there are some settings to be modified to extend the remaining battery as much as possible and save time before it turns off the laptop. .
Some of these techniques are precisely to be memorized and used in that moment of need, others are preventive and allow the battery to last longer.
Among the latter, in a third section, we will also see some good programs to automate charging prevention, maintain and extend battery life on Windows laptops.
FIRST: Low battery situation
If we are at a time when we still need to use the computer and cannot connect it to the power supply, there are some useful tricks to immediately extend the battery life.
None of these actions, of course, can increase the remaining battery charge, but they will be effective in making its depletion and consumption as slow as possible.
1) Activate the computer's power saving mode.
Each computer has its own power saving options, a mode that automatically deactivates some PC functions to make the battery last longer.
For example, the monitor becomes darker, turning off after a short period of non-use in order to consume less energy.
We talked, in another article, about how to optimize the laptop battery with Windows
2) Turn off unused devices and USB ports
An effective, though somewhat extreme and not recommended at all, way to reduce energy consumption is to disable the components that use it, including USB ports.
Then disconnect everything from the PC, including the mouse or an external hard disk and disable the bluetooth receivers or the wifi if it is not needed.
To disable unused devices on Windows, open the System Control Panel, go to Device Manager and right-click on those that can be disabled.
This is a somewhat extreme way of working, you will then have to remember what has been disabled to re-enable it the next time you turn it on and you must also be careful to know what you are touching, avoiding turning off some vital hardware component for the PC.
Usually, there are 4 devices that can be deactivated without consequences: the graphics card driver (found under Video cards), the optical CD or DVD drive, the Ethernet socket and Wi-Fi control (under Network adapters) ).
In Device Manager it is also possible to disable all unused USB ports (but to do it first it is better to use a program that enables and disables the USB ports on the computer with a click.
On a Mac this disabling USB ports is something you shouldn't do.
3) Settings to be changed
If the automatic power saving mode does not intervene, you can extend the battery life manually by changing some settings:
- Disabling the keyboard backlight (if any).
- Lowering the screen brightness to the maximum.
- Lowering the volume to a minimum or using headphones.
- Lower the screen resolution.
4) Stop applications and processes that are not needed
It is not only hardware devices that consume energy, but also the programs that are used.
If we are running out of battery, it is better to end all the programs that we do not need at that moment, by deactivating them.
In Windows, take a look at the taskbar and right click on all the various icons at the bottom right near the clock, to see if in the menu that appears there is the close option.
For the others, open the Task Manager by pressing the Ctrl + Shift + Esc keys together, watch the open programs in full view and end the processes that consume a lot of CPU or memory (by pressing on it with the right button).
For example, you can terminate programs such as Google Drive, Dropbox, Spotify, Skype and those that do not cause problems if turned off.
5) Use light programs and one at a time.
At a time when there is little energy, opening multiple programs together can be deadly for the battery and the computer will not take long to shut down.
You must therefore avoid seeing videos, listening to music or opening video games or graphics programs that are those that use the processor.
You could also save time by using lighter programs than classic ones.
For example, if you have to write a document, you can use the free light program Free Office instead of Microsoft Word.
READ ALSO: How often to charge the battery of the mobile phone / laptop to extend its life "> calibrate the battery of the laptop with some programs described in another article.
- It is not necessary to let the battery discharge completely before recharging it.
- The battery should not be exposed to heat
- You must always keep the laptop cool and with the vents clear and clean (READ ALSO: How to clean the laptop inside and out)
READ ALSO: Will the laptop battery be damaged if it always remains attached?
2) Optimize your computer
Keeping the laptop fast also allows it to be more energy efficient.
As already written, it is important to have a general basic laptop maintenance plan that includes:
- disk defragmentation performed regularly
- reduction of programs in automatic execution
- avoid filling the disc and using cleaning programs
- Uninstall all heavier programs unless strictly necessary.
3) Replace the hard drive with an SSD drive.
The hard disk is a mechanical hardware component with head and disk that rotates while the SSD is a solid, firm memory, like a chip.
The SSD consumes much less energy than a traditional hard disk so if you have 70 or 100 Euros to spend, you can buy one of these among the best SSD disks.
The SSD is not only effective in consuming less energy but, as seen, it also leads the computer to become faster as if it were a tablet.
READ ALSO: differences between SSD and Hard disk to understand how much more effective it is.
THIRD: Programs (Windows) to increase battery life
1) Battery Optimizer is a program designed specifically for this purpose, which performs a diagnostic of the laptop battery at first startup and analyzes the optimization capabilities and options.
Make sure that the battery life of the laptop is sufficient to run the test, as it is necessary to disconnect it from the power source before starting diagnostics.
In a completely automatic way, it optimizes the battery so that the charge lasts longer.
After use, it can also be uninstalled.
Battery Optimizer has been a shareware program until recently that has now become free and without limitations right away.
2) Battstat allows, from its icon on the systray (bottom right) to manage the use of the battery in a more accurate and intelligent way.
The program shows information on the use of PC power, battery power, speed and CPU usage.
Truly a program that goes to the bottom of the PC's performance and that can also monitor: the CPU temperature (Intel Core through internal sensors, or ACPI thermal sensors), the temperature of the hard disk (if the unit supports).
The program file weighs 270KB and requires no installation.
It can be put into automatic execution by placing the file inside the Start -> Automatic execution folder.
At the same time, the icon on the systray shows the battery capacity, AC power status, and CPU speed.
By clicking on it you can see the other values in the rather spartan window of values and graphs that appears.
From the program window you can also set the settings to automatically turn off the PC, to hibernate or to standby or turn off the monitor.
3) In another article we had reported, and it is still good, a program to control the temperature of the laptop and consequently also the energy consumption .
4) BatteryCare, in addition to creating profiles for energy management, replaces the poor Windows counter of the remaining battery life.
The good thing is that it provides a whole series of information on the manufacture of the battery so that you can know its power, the brand and all the technical characteristics.
Obviously it also contains a thermometer to check the heating of the processor and notifies you of the need to perform a full charge with the computer off.
Basically, this happens after a few charging cycles to keep the battery in good condition and make it last longer.
READ ALSO: Guide to check if the laptop battery is still good
