How to Save Laptop Battery Power When You Really Need it
by: Kara Glover
You?ve got a five-hour flight from Los Angeles to New York City, and one battery in your laptop. You?ve got work to do, DVDs to watch, and games to play. How are you going to get that battery to last? Well, hidden inside (and outside) your computer are lots of tricks to help you.
Dimming Your Screen
Your screen and hard drive use up more battery power than any other parts of your computer. You can dim down your screen to a point where your eyes still feel comfortable but you also save energy. On most laptops, you first dim the screen by holding down the ?Fn? key (go ahead and find it because you may never have used it before). Then you look for a key on your laptop that either has a picture of a sun or a half-moon. (On my Sony Vaio that key happens to be F5.) If you find it, go ahead and hit it while still holding down the Fn key. A brightness adjustment box should show up on your screen. If you can?t find a key with a sun or half-moon on it, try hitting your various arrow keys while holding down Fn, to see if that works.
Turning Off Your Screen Altogether
If dimming your screen is good for saving battery life, turning it off when you?re not using it is even better. To turn off your screen, we?re going to have to go into some settings in the Control Panel. You?ll soon see these settings are not only good for turning off screens; they perform a whole host of battery saving functions.
Click on Start, then on Control Panel. If your Control Panel is shown in the ?Category View,? click first on Performance and Maintenance, then on Power Options. If your Control Panel is in Classic View, simply click on the Power Options icon. Next click on the Power Schemes Tab. Underneath where it says Running on Batteries and across from where it says Turn Off Monitor, choose how quickly you?d like your monitor to shut off when you?re not actively using it.
That Power Options Properties box we just opened brings us to a whole host of other enticing options we can employ on our cross-country flight!
Choosing a Power Scheme
Windows XP offers two Power Schemes appropriate for laptops on the go. These are Portable/Laptop and Max Battery. They can both be chosen in the Power Schemes tab of the Power Options Properties box. Both power schemes conserve battery power. But Portable laptop adjusts what it conserves to the amount of power you need at the time, while Max Battery is much less flexible. It keeps your computer at a very low constant power rate no matter what you may be doing. So if you are planning on watching a DVD on that flight, which uses a lot of battery power, I don?t recommend using the Max Battery power scheme. It might not give you enough power.
Each power scheme also has its own settings for when the monitor and hard disks should be turned off. Remember that both are huge energy hogs, and that both the monitor and hard disk remain on longer under Portable/Laptop than they do under Max Battery.
The power scheme you choose also determines how long the computer will wait to go into Standby mode or Hibernate after remaining idle. Standby conserves energy because it turns off your hard disk and monitor. However, whatever you were working on at the time stays in memory (RAM) instead of being saved safely to your hard drive. The upside of Standby, though, is that when you press any key your computer will come out of the mode rather quickly.
Hibernation saves even more energy because it saves your work to the hard drive and then shuts your computer down almost all the way. Inherently, of course, this means it takes the computer longer to wake up to its normal state, but when everything does come back on, it looks the same as before. To switch your computer to Standby mode manually, click on Start, then on Turn off Computer, then on Standby. To make your computer Hibernate manually, click on Start and Turn off Computer again, but this time hold down the Shift key down afterward. The Standby key switches to ?Hibernate.? Click it and your computer will go into Hibernation mode.
Creating Your Own Profiles
Maybe you don?t like the two power saving choices Windows gives you. Maybe you want to create custom ones to suit your own needs. You can do that! I created one for ?Long Plane Rides.? I adjusted the settings in the Power Options Properties box. For instance, I indicated I wanted my monitor to turn off after only 2 minutes of idle time, and my hard disks after 3 minutes. Then I clicked on Save As, named my profile, and clicked OK. Now maybe the battery will last even longer on the flight.
Let?s go through some other choices in the Power Options Properties box. Under the Alarm tab, you can check boxes to either be alerted when your battery is low and/or when your battery is critical. You can even use the slider to make your own determination of just what is low and what is critical. Then you can click on Alarm Action to tell your computer to, for instance, sound an alarm or go into Standby mode when those moments are reached.
Under the Advanced tab, you can choose what you want your laptop to do when you close the lid. You can choose it to go into Standby mode, Hibernation, or even do nothing if you wish. You can also choose what you?d like the computer to do when you hit the power button.
If you?re interested in using your laptop?s Hibernation feature you should check the box under the Hibernation tab that says Enable Hibernation.
Turn Off Wireless Network Card
Your wireless card can also be a drain on your battery?s resources, so disable it if you don?t need it. (You don?t need it obviously on a plane, for instance.) If your laptop has a wireless card, simply take it out. If your laptop has wireless built-in, you can disable it in Windows XP by clicking on Start and going to your Control Panel. In Category View, click on Network and Internet Connections, then Network Connections. In Classic View, simply click on Network Connections. Once you?re there, right click on the wireless connection you?re using, and click on Disable. You can also disable your wireless network card through the Device Manager. Right click on My Computer and left click on Properties. Click on the Hardware tab and then the Device Manager button. Next, click on the small black cross next to where it says Network Adapters. Locate your wireless network adapter, right click on it, and left click on Disable.
You can also left click on Properties instead (after you right click on your network adapter), click on the Power Management tab, and check the box that says ?Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power.?
Some newer laptops with the Intel Mobile Pentium? chip have a button somewhere on the laptop itself, for instance on the front, to enable you to easily turn your wireless on or off. You may have to check your laptop?s manual to find out if you have a button and if so, where it is.
CPU Throttling
The Intel Mobile Pentium? laptops also sport a feature known as CPU Throttling (and named SpeedStep? by Intel), that actually slows down your processor when you?re running on the battery. When you?re plugged into your AC, your processor runs full speed ahead. But when you unplug that cord, it shifts into a lower gear. A processor running at a lower speed and using less voltage saves your battery even that much more juice.
So now you have a number of tools to implement in order to save your computer?s precious battery power. But maybe instead on that next long distance flight, you might want to think ahead and book a seat with a power outlet.
©2006 by Kara Glover
Feel free to reprint this article in newsletters and on
websites, with resource box included. If you use this
article, please send a brief message to let me know where
it appeared: kara3334@yahoo.com
About The Author
©2006 by Kara Glover Kara Glover is a Computer Tutor and Troubleshooter. You can find her tips, articles, and tutorials on topics such as Microsoft Word?, Excel?, and PowerPoint? at her website: http://www.karathecomputertutor.com
|
Create a Great Computer Work Station in a Small Space
Create a Great Computer Work Station in a Small Space
by: Aldene Fredenburg
Don't have a separate room you can designate as a home office? You can create a comfortable and functional computer work station in remarkably little space. A corner of your living room or bedroom, even a spare closet, can provide plenty of room.
First measure out the amount of space you can allocate for your work station. Then, start to plan. You need a surface for your computer monitor or laptop, and room underneath for your hard drive. If you have a printer and/or a scanner, this also needs a work surface, ideally with storage space underneath for printer paper and other supplies. You may also want space for an additional external backup hard drive. Measure all your equipment and furnishings and play with a floor plan.
If you can find a ready-made work station that fits into your space, great. If not, make one. A 24- to 30-inch core door thrown over a couple...
Create a Great Computer Work Station in a Small Space
Laptop > Create a Great Computer Work Station in a Small Space
Used Laptops and Accessories
Used Laptops and Accessories
by: David Perlmutter
Today's technology is moving at lightning speed and it's an expensive prospect to keep up and keep all of your own personal technology up to par. For instance, you may love taking digital photos with your camera, but do you have a computer or laptop that is compatible? Do you have a digital camcorder and you want to play around with digital video editing or that you'd like to hook up to your TV at home? Maybe you love your webcam, but your computer doesn't have sufficient memory to keep up?
If you plan to buy, or have bought an inexpensive refurbished laptop, what do you need to power all of these nifty features? Once you have everything ready, how do you actually use everything together?
Here is a quick guide to using various components and accessories with your refurbished or used laptop computer!
Using Your Camcorder with Your Used Laptop
You can if you have an S-Video connector....
Used Laptops and Accessories
Laptop > Used Laptops and Accessories
Used Laptops and Accessories
Used Laptops and Accessories
by: David Perlmutter
Today's technology is moving at lightning speed and it's an expensive prospect to keep up and keep all of your own personal technology up to par. For instance, you may love taking digital photos with your camera, but do you have a computer or laptop that is compatible? Do you have a digital camcorder and you want to play around with digital video editing or that you'd like to hook up to your TV at home? Maybe you love your webcam, but your computer doesn't have sufficient memory to keep up?
If you plan to buy, or have bought an inexpensive refurbished laptop, what do you need to power all of these nifty features? Once you have everything ready, how do you actually use everything together?
Here is a quick guide to using various components and accessories with your refurbished or used laptop computer!
Using Your Camcorder with Your Used Laptop
You can if you have an S-Video connector....
Used Laptops and Accessories
Laptop > Used Laptops and Accessories
The Secret to Self-Motivation:Tips for Online Entrepreneurs & Network Marketers
The Secret to Self-Motivation:Tips for Online Entrepreneurs & Network Marketers
by: Jamie Jefferson
If you are a home business owner, you know the importance of staying motivated.
And you also know that, some days, it's more difficult than others.
But success is based on consistent and persistent effort, so staying inspired and enthusiastic
is an essential key to success.
Here are four important tips for keeping motivation high:
1. Write out your "why" and read it often.
I like to call this my "Vision Statement." The Laptop
Lifestyle really is so rewarding. I often wonder how
anyone can be entirely satisfied without it. To have
a completely mobile and flexible business offers a pretty
amazing quality of life. Get excited about this every single day.
Imagine what changes in your life will result from this
level of success. You can be home with your children, never
miss...
The Secret to Self-Motivation:Tips for Online Entrepreneurs & Network Marketers
Laptop > The Secret to Self-Motivation:Tips for Online Entrepreneurs & Network Marketers
The Meaning of Solstivus: The Traditional Winter Celebration
The Meaning of Solstivus: The Traditional Winter Celebration
by: R. Paul Wilson
Arg shivered as he finished the last of the boiled weasel skin he brought for his lunch. His daily hunt had taken him to the end of the Tall Deer creek-bed. No luck, so far, no game at all. He turned back down the valley, not looking forward to his evening meal of the rotting wolverine meat in the bottom of the cellar. His wife Erg and the kids would be disappointed to have...
How to Save Laptop Battery Power When You Really Need it
Laptop > The Meaning of Solstivus: The Traditional Winter Celebration
financial planning How to Save Laptop Battery Power When You Really Need it
How to Save Laptop Battery Power When You Really Need it televisions Laptop
Home Loan Closing Costs May Be Surprising
Home Loan Closing Costs May Be Surprising
by: Charles Essmeier
The whole purpose of taking out a mortgage is to borrow the bulk of the purchase price of a house. Most houses sell for prices that are well beyond the amounts the people keep in their bank accounts, so taking out a loan to buy a home is pretty much inevitable. And yet many homebuyers are astonished to discover just how much cash they are required to bring with them when it comes time to close on...
How to Save Laptop Battery Power When You Really Need it Home Loan Closing Costs May Be Surprising life insurance
Laptop > Home Loan Closing Costs May Be Surprising
How to Save Laptop Battery Power When You Really Need it life insurance