Make your laptop battery last longer in Windows 8 - Techradar

Hello Windows 8 forums!

I've been on this forum for quite a time and I've had a blast learning more about the OS. With this, I would like to contribute something to the forums. This is an article from Techradar on tips on how to make your battery last longer. Trust me, these are common tips, but sometimes, we seem to forget the simplest things. Now, without further ado, the article.

PS: Here's the source

• Adjust screen brightness - To do this, bring up the Charms bar and select the 'Settings' charm. Click or touch 'Screen' and a draggable bar appears, where you can quickly adjust the brightness of the screen.
• Adjust Center settings - To get to it, type Mobility into the Start screen and select 'Settings'. Click on 'Windows Mobility Center' to open up the program. From here you can change a number of settings that will help prolong your device's battery life.
• Change the power settings - The Windows Mobility Center lets you change your laptop's power settings quickly and easily. The default choices are 'Balanced', 'Power saver' and 'High performance'. 'Power saver' tweaks the settings for a longer battery life, but at a slight price when it comes to your device's performance. The 'Balanced' plan lowers performance only when you won't notice the difference.
• Advanced power settings - You can tweak the power settings by going to the Start screen and typing in power. Select 'Settings' and then 'Choose a power plan'. Select the power plan you want to edit, then select 'Change plan settings'. You can then alter various settings, such as how long it takes for the screen to dim when not in use, or how long it takes for the laptop to go to sleep.
• Create your own power plan - From the Power Options window, you can also create a new power plan to suit your specific needs. Select 'Create a power plan' on the left-hand side of the window, then select a power plan to use as the basis of your new one. Give your new plan a name, then select 'Next'. Now you can adjust the settings to your liking. Once you've finished, click or tap 'Create'.
• Turn off wireless - Bring up the Charms bar in Windows 8 by swiping from the right-hand side of the screen. Now click 'Settings', then 'Change PC settings'. Click or tap 'Wireless' and then change 'Wi-Fi' to 'Off'.

Again, the tips mentioned above are quoted from Techradar. I've placed the source above.
Simple right? Then again, we seem to forget the simplest things.
Good luck!

 

What about preserving the battery? By that I mean, what would you do to make sure it can retain its charge? My current laptop battery (years of uncaring for it) can last like 30 minutes if it isn't plugged in. I'm going to get a new laptop in the coming months and I want to make sure it doesn't happen again. I've read online that it's best to drain the battery completely every few weeks, and then charge it back up to full.

 

I think I may have somehow messed up my laptop battery. When I got it it lasted like 4 hours, this was about 5 years ago. It now lasts 30mins max, so I just leave it charging all the time. I don't think this problem is software related though and I may just need to get a new battery. Thanks for these tips though!

 

I am no laptop battery expert, but I can assume that losing battery life over time is very common. I guess the best thing that you could do is to replace the battery, itself. Good luck!

 

Thank you so much for these tips! In some ways, it's like the same process to go through when you're trying to make your smartphone's battery last longer. I'm definitely going to have to try this because my netbook dies really fast, especially in the middle of my workouts which is really annoying!

 

Yes, it good occasionally drain your battery. I do not know why it is, but it just is. My old laptop that recently died on me was not originally mine, and whoever had it before me didn't care about it, and never drained the battery, and as a result is was only good for about 15 minutes without power; not long enough to do anything productive. Now I have a new laptop and a battery that can last anywhere from 4 to 6 hours, and rather than draining it every few weeks, I do it every day.

By the way, the only reason that I upgraded to Windows 8 from Windows XP is because a Windows 8 install CD came with my new laptop (Windows 7 was installed from the factory). If my old one didn't die, I would still be running XP.

 

I'm glad this post was able to help you. I don't have any gripe with my laptop except for it's short battery life span. If it'd last longer while I'm gaming, or watching movies, then that would be really great.

 

These are great tips, I always make sure to remove my battery if I'm going to be playing with my comp plugged in for a prolonged amount of time.

 

No problem! I'm glad I was able to help you. The technology we have right now is fast advancing, yet I'm wondering why no one has invented a more efficient battery system. If there is, please correct me.

 

I read that Windows 8 stops passing energy to a 100% charged battery, but my concern is leaving the battery or remove it because I'm connected to the AC all day long, so basically the battery is being used as power backup in case of black out.

Should I remove the battery or there is no problem having it installed despite it's not used?

 

The best thing to do is to completely cycle your battery. Use the computer until the battery is completely dead, let is charge all the way, and then use it again. Doing this helps your battery live to its full extent.

 

I'm actually wondering if this is the right thing to do! Because as soon as I got my new laptop home I took the battery out, because I did very wrong with my last laptop and completely killed the battery. I was wondering if just storing it somewhere safe was enough, but I don't think so... I might need to put it back in and drain it from time to time. I heard draining them to 0 is bad for the battery life.