Efficient use of laptop battery: (Tips for users)

Steps to extend the life of laptop battery:
Normally laptop batteries have lifetime of 2-3 years and after that they start showing signs of aging and you may have to change them. A 9 cell battery which gives backup of 4-5 hours don’t come cheap so instead of looking to have new set of batteries every few years, you may look to follow these simple steps to extend the life of laptop battery.

• Always keep the battery full charged and avoid using battery support if you can use direct power line
• At least once or twice a month, discharge the battery completely (as much as possible before the System goes off) and then charge it full.
• Recharge the battery after a long period of inactivity.
• Don’t leave the fully charged battery dormant for a long. Once charged, you should use the battery at least once every two to three weeks.
• Clean your battery’s metal contacts every couple of months with a cloth moistened with rubbing alcohol. This keeps the transfer of power from your battery more efficient.
• Keep operating temperature down. Your laptop operates more efficiently when it’s cooler. Clean out your air vents with a cloth or keyboard cleaner.

How to Increase Battery Backup Time of Laptop:
There are few tips on how to increase the battery backup time of Laptop in hours. Say if you have a 6 cell battery, which normally gives backup of 2.5 hours, you can stretch it by 30 minutes following these tips which can be really handy.

• Dim your screen - Almost all laptops come with the ability to dim your laptop screen. Always dim the screen while working in battery mode as the brighter screen consumes more battery.
• Use Hibernate – Sometime, we need to leave for short sessions and in such situations, most of us use the Stand by or Shut down option. But it is suggested to hibernate your system if you are going outside for 20-30 minutes as it consumes lesser power and saves and image of your all open applications.
• Close all Unwanted Applications – Often we open 4/5 programs and left them inactive. But these are consuming physical RAM as well as page file and CPU in background which requires continuous power. So, never left any program open if you are not using them.
• Avoid Multitasking - Do one thing at a time when you’re on battery. Rather than working on a spreadsheet, letting your email client run in the background and listening to your latest set of MP3’s, set your mind to one thing only. If you avoid multi-tasking, it will give you more backup as CPU requires more power on multi-tasking.
• Cut down on programs running in the background - ITunes, Desktop Search etc. all these add to the CPU load and cut down battery life. Shut down everything that isn’t crucial when you’re on battery.
• Cut down external devices/disks – While working on battery try to avoid using the following devices or activities: CD/ DVD: Actually CD/ DVD consume huge power especially while continuous uses like watching movies, listing songs or burning CDs. If possible, try to perform these tasks while connected to direct power. USB devices: USB devices including your mouse, Wi-Fi, infrared, IPod etc. drain down your laptop battery. Close all unused hardware when not in use.
• Avoid CPU intensive Tasks – Never perform any CPU intensive tasks if your laptop is running on battery. These applications are like Games, Virus Scanning, Defragmenting, CD/ DVD copy, Installation Applications etc.
• Defrag regularly - The faster your hard drive does its work - less demand you are going to put on the hard drive and your battery. Run defragment of your system regularly as it reduces the pressure on hard disk and save power. (Note: But not while it’s on battery of course!)
  Set up and optimize your power options - Go to ‘Power Options’ in your windows control panel and set it up so that power usage is optimized (Select the ‘max battery’ for maximum effect).