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How to extend laptop battery life or revive dead battery?


The working life of a battery pack usually exceeds 500 to 600 complete charge/discharge cycles. If you run your laptop using a mix of AC and battery power, the battery will typically last up to three years, maybe longer. Always refer to the laptop's documentation for specific battery life and replacement recommendations.

As a rechargeable battery wears out, its charge time decreases. For example, the new battery that used to be able to power your laptop for eight hours may now only provide five to six hours of running time. Usually you can see an icon running in your System Tray, showing the amount of charge time remaining. If you notice short charge times while using a fully charged battery, the battery itself may be wearing out. The following is how to extend laptop battery's life.

1. The effective way to extend the working life of your battery pack is to reduce the number of charge cycles. For example, try to run the laptop fom its AC adapter whenever you can. You should also remember that when you use the battery, utilize all of the laptop's power-saving features to get the most time from every charge and run the battery until it's almost exhausted before recharging it.

2. Defrag your computer regularly. The faster your hard drive does its work, less demand for the power of your battery.

3. Lower the brightness of your laptop's screen as much as possible.

4. Close the programs or utilities ( services) running in the background. All these add to the CPU load and cut down battery life.

5. Remove external devices like USB sticks or external hard disk that are not in use.

6. Clean your battery¡¯s metal contacts every couple of months with a cloth moistened with rubbing alcohol, which will keep the transfer of power from your battery more efficient.

7. Do not leave a charged battery unused for a long time. Once charged, you should at least use the battery at least once every two to three weeks. Also, do not let a Li-On battery completely discharge. Discharing is only for older batteries with memory effects.

8. Better to use Hibernate instead of Standby.

9. Keep the laptop temperature down. Clean out your air vents with a cloth or keyboard cleaner.

10. 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.

11. Don't multitask your laptop. Do one thing at a time when you¡¯re on battery.

12. Lower the graphics use.

13. Turn off the active wireless communication when not in use.

How to revive dead battery

1. Put the dead laptop battery in a sealed plastic bag.
2. Put the bagged battery in the freezer for about 12 hours or even several days.
3. Take the bag out of the freezer, and let the battery warm up to room temperature, drying it occasionally with a towel if it appears damp and it is recommended to leave it overnight.
4. Put the battery back into your laptop. Do not power on your laptop!
5. Charge the battery as much as possible, then leave the laptop on in order to discharge it completely. Repeat this step 3-4 times.
6. Your formerly-dead battery should now be much more usable, if not totally restored.

Battery Type and Characteristics:

Nickel-cadmium (NiCad):

1. Heavy 
2. Last 2-4 hrs
3. Up to 12 hrs to charge
4. Memory effects
5. 1000 charges
6. Environmentally poisonous

Nickle-metal hydride (NiMH)	

1. 50% more power than NiCad
2. No memory effects
3. 500-1000 charges
4. Not environmentally poisonous

Lithium-ion (Li-ion)
	
1. Light
2. Poisonous
3. Longest lasting (2x NiCad)
4. No memory effects
5. Now available in AA, AAA, etc.
6. Explosion/fire hazard
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