Do you ever wish that you can get more out of your battery? Maybe you would need just a few minutes to finish that long document you have been working on? You may already be carrying the power cord and an extra battery, but if you won’t be near AC power for the next several hours, wouldn’t you like to get the most out of you battery?
This post will provide several easy tips that can help you get more time out of your battery.
Change your power plan. Windows allows you to select various power plans for when your laptop is plugged in or when you are connected to AC power. These plans will usually include the ability to power down the display or the entire PC after a specific length of time.
Reduce display brightness. The display consumes more power than any other hardware in your laptop. You can reduce the amount of power consumed by the display by reducing the brightness. Just make sure that you are still able to clearly read the screen without difficulty.
Turn off WI-FI if you don’t connect to the Internet. Turning off your WI-FI connection if you don’t need it will help reduce the amount of battery that is needed. This is also a security method as no one can then connect into your computer.
Turn off sounds. If you are working in a public place, have sounds play on your laptop can be annoying to those around you. The sounds also require CPU and power to play, so turning off the sounds can save your battery.
Switch to classic Windows. Many people like the look of the new Windows Vista, but I’m not one of them. I prefer the classic gray-coloured Windows, which is what I run on most of my computers. The new Windows Vista Aero look requires more graphics processing to display, so it uses more power. Switching to the classic look is much easier on the battery.
Disable background processes. There are many processes that run in the background to help maintain your computer. Processes such as a virus scan (disable the actual scan, but not the program), defrag program, and others that are running consume CPU resources, which in turn drains your battery. You can run these processes once you have access to AC power.
Turn off devices that you aren’t using. Any USB device that is connected to your laptop uses power just be being connected. Disconnect any of the devices that your aren’t using to conserve your battery life.
To help with conserving battery life, you should download Vista Battery Saver.