As a laptop gets older, it starts to slow down a little. You may notice that pages load slower, videos take longer to start playing, and general slowness of the machine. Unfortunately, thousands of people a year replace their laptop batteries without performing any monthly recalibration on it at all. If you want to get the best performance out of your laptop, here are a few steps to follow.
- Charge your laptop’s battery all the way to 100%.
-Once the laptop is fully charged, unplug it and let the battery drain. Feel free to use the laptop during this period, as it will help it drain more quickly. Once you see that the battery is almost empty, save your work and close any open pages. Then let the laptop shut itself off.
-Let the dead battery sit for about 5 or 6 hours, or overnight. This will help eliminate any leftover charge the battery may have, and lets the battery start over from zero.
-After you’ve let your laptop sit, plug it back in and let it charge all the way to 100% before using it again.
Battery maintenance is an important process that many people neglect. Recalibration should be done monthly if possible to ensure best results. If done on a regular basis, you should notice greatly extended battery life on your computer, and hopefully postpone the purchase of any replacement parts.
~Michael Rabalais
Xcellent Tip Michael Rabalais.
Doing As You Said To Do As We Speak (so to say)
Thank you. This is very helpful information.
Perhaps this article explains the short life I’ve had with my laptop batteries? I’ll sure try your tip.
I thought the newer batteries didn’t have to calibrated anymore.
Good info here. I just drained it last month on my new notebook, but I didn’t know about letting my dead battery sit for 5 or 6 hours or overnight. tks for this tip. Will pass it on
S
This tip is misleading. Lithium-ion batteries do NOT require maintenance. In fact, you should avoid any full discharges. 80% maximum depth-of-discharge is recommended. These batteries have no memory. Frequent recharging from partial discharges makes the battery last longer.
Excellent Tip. I will forward to my friends.
This is a terrible suggestion, you should NEVER let your battery run down to nothing, that is if you want to have a battery left. Not only is it bad for the computer but the battery can be damaged. Here is one reason. The battery is made up of several smaller batteries. IF only ONE of the smaller batteries drain too far. it could reverse polarity, if so, charging will/might kill the battery. For other information please read about charging batteries. I’m sure the writer of the article did not mean to discharge the battery to the point of damage, but he failed to mention it also. I am not sure but I don’t think the batteries have a memory to them anymore, and also watch out for the heat generated.
glad you gave this tip.actually i never thought much of my battery and i never heard of re-calibration
I disagree with the writer’s tip from experience. Unlike NiCad batteries,
Lithium Ion don’t have a “memory.” In addition, if you discharge your cell
phone battery completely, I’m sure anyone will agree it is NEVER the same
again, and will never hold the charge capacity it did before. The battery
life and functioning is greatly decreased by doing this! Batteries have a
“reserve charge limit” which if you go under by depleting it, cannot ever
be restored again no matter how you try to condition it. There must be a
minimum chemical reaction reserve to restore a battery. Completely discharge
a battery, and you lose that reserve capacity forever.
I have been discharging my batteries to about 50%, then fully recharging it.
My cell phone batteries last 5 years or more, and expect the same out of my
notebooks and laptops following this regimen. I advise everyone else to do
the same and get the results and extended battery life I do in my devices.
THANKS FOR THE REMINDER. I PRINTED THE “PRINTER FRIENDLY VERSION”
IMMEDIATELY.
BEING A HAM RADIO OPERATOR FOR MANY YEARS, I KNEW THIS, BUT WAS’T DOING IT UNTIL MY DAUGHTER-IN-LAW MENTIONED IT TO ME AGAIN.