How To Make Notebook Work Longer

What we need to know about battery?

Notebooks usually use Lithium Ion Battery. It is light, has a big capacity and recharges fast. But they are not cheap and get old very fast. After about 2-3 years Lilon will work only half time.

You should always fully use your battery; never leave your notebook on direct sunlight. Optimal battery work temperature is +22. Max is +30. You also should remove battery from notebook if you have plugged it to electricity.

How to make battery work longer?

First of all, remove all discs and memory cards. Also disconnect all devices, which are not used. Most of the battery is used by screen, cooler, graphics card. By changing few “Windows” settings, you will save much battery power.

“Windows XP”

1. Go to Control Panel. Switch to classic view and select POWER OPTIONS.
2. From the list select MAX BATTERY and press OK.

Our computer will become slower, but it will save much power.

Turning of unused devices

If we don't watch movies or music, we should turn off sound. Press the volume icon on right corner of the screen (next to the clock) and select MUTE.

If you are listening music or watch movies alone, you should use headphones. They will not only save power, but the sound will be better.

Computer screen uses much battery power. We should reduce its brightness.

Now we should turn of unused devices.

1. On your keyboard hold button WIN and press PAUSE. In new window select HARDWARE, after that DEVICE MANAGER.
2. Here we can turn off unused devices. For example, I don't need my modem right now. Select MODEMS. Then, with your right mouse button, press on our modem device.
3. Now press DISABLE. After that, YES.
4. Now turn off all unused devices. If you will need them on, do 3 step and select ENABLE.

Saving power with graphics card

If we are playing games or watching movies often, we shouldn't do this.

For “Ati Catalyst” drivers:

1. On your desktop press right mouse button and select PROPERTIES.
2. Select SETTINGS. Then find and press ADVANCED. Now press CATALYST CONTROL CENTER.
3. In new window press ATI CATALYST ® Control Panel. In new window select Advanced and press NEXT. After that, press YES.
4. Select POWERPLAY™. If we can't find this, that means our graphics card can't work with power saving.
5. Select ENABLE POWERPLAY™ and high battery, low battery move to left.

For “Ati Catalyst” drivers:

1. On your desktop press right mouse button and select PROPERTIES.
2. Select SETTINGS. Then find and press ADVANCED. Now press POWERPLAY™.
3. Now select ENABLE POWERPLAY™ and press APPLY.

“Nvidia” graphics card

1. On your desktop press right mouse button and select PROPERTIES.
2. Now find and press SETTINGS. Then press ADVANCED.
3. Now select your graphics card. Now find and press POWERMIZER.
4. Now move the arrow to left (Maximum Power Savings).

I also recommend reading Free-CD-and-DVD. There you will find more info how you can save notebook power by using CD/DVD emulators.