Sunday, July 11, 2010
3:22 PM | 
Posted by
Sunil Bhaskar |
1)Defragment your System:Always make sure that your system is defragmented.It improves the response time between the Operating system & the Hard-disk.This will definitely improve your hard-disk performance & ensures efficient space utilization.Remember to schedule it once a week to ensure optimum performance.
2)If you want more battery life better go for Power plan than High performance plan.The former saves battery,the latter improves performance.You can select the appropriate plan by going over to your Display settings.
3)Dim your laptop display if not in use.This will drastically improve your battery life.Simply move the slider all the way down or to the required level.
4)When you are on Battery better stay away from applications which consume heavy amounts of Ram,as it tends to heat up the device & also sucks battery charge @ an unprecedented rate.Its advisable to stay away from Games,Framework applications,Dvd devices and even movies.
5)If your laptop has less Ram then ,the Os will try to use the hard-disk as a virtual Ram.This not only slows the system down,but also drains battery.Equip your laptop with more memory sticks if possible.More the amount of memory lesser the strain on the device & thus improves the system performance there by reducing the strain.This improves the battery life.
6)Use a laptop cooling fan like the one I use(The Usb type).It helps to lower the laptop temperature & prevent battery drain.Remember battery life drain and temperature go hand in hand.
7)Go to your Task-manager & stop all the unnecessary programs running in the background.There are a few programs which tend to load up automatically like Itunes helper,Tune up utilities etc.You can disable the programs from loading by going to Start>>Run>>Enter msconfig >>then head over to services tab & select the ones you want to disable.Don't even think about stopping processes like Svhost etc.This will trigger an automatic system system with a 1 minute countdown.
8)Wireless devices continuously transmit data when switched on.So its advisable to switch it off if it is Idle.By wireless I refer to Wi-fi(internet),Bluetooth devices,Infra-red devices.Generally it can be turned off by the switch available in the keypad.
9)Remove External devices connected to the laptop: Remove all the external flash drives,External hard-disks Ipods etc if not in use.They will tend to use the laptop to get charged.If your laptop is connected to a power source,then you need not disconnect them as they wont drain the charge.Also its better to use your keypad instead of an optic mouse.
10)Run apps from hard-disk rather than from Cd/Dvd:If you need to run an application from Cd or Dvd drive its advisable to move it to the hard-disk & run it from there.This will reduce the power consumption by the optic drive(when it spins & reads data.).These devices consume enormous amounts of power and its advisable to minimize its usage when not applicable.Use virtual drive softwares like Power iso,Alcohol,Daemon tools etc to run the applications.
11)Lower the system volume when not in use.If possible,mute it to save a few minutes of power.
12)Disable scheduled maintenance tasks like Anti Virus scan or Tune up defrag etc.They run in the background without any indication.So its advisable to run these tasks when the laptop is plugged in.
13)Always keep your laptop clean.Clean it regularly and take the battery out & make sure its kept clean.Clean it with dry cloth.WATER SHOULDN EVEN COME NEAR LAPTOP.
14)Hibernate or Stand By?: A lot of people are still unclear when to hibernate or when to go to sleep mode.
Stand By:Use this mode if you are going to be away from keyboard for a mere matter of minutes.Your monitor screen & the hard disk is turned off & your data will be stored temporarily in your Ram.When you press any keypads or use the laptop again,it snaps out of the Stand By mode and restores the system just like it was before Stand By.
Hiberante:This mode is preferred if you are going to be away from Keyboard for a longer period of time.The system will be shut down to save power but before that it saves everything in the memory of the hard disk.So it takes some time to Hibernate.On system restart its restored exactly as it was before hibernating.
15) Disable Auto save features in most applications like Ms Word 2003 etc.This will slow the system down & will drain battery.
16)Charge N Discharge your laptop battery atleast once in 3 weeks.This will ensure maximum battery life.Incase you are using laptop as a stand by for Pc,then the battery should be re-installed every 3-4 weeks and allowed to fully discharge.If your laptop comes with a nickel-metal hydride battery, then completely drain and recharge the battery once a month to maximize its capacity to hold a charge.
17)Prevent Memory Effect: This effect is predominant in older laptops .This occurs in Nickel Cadmium batteries,also Lithium Ion batteries.What this means is that if a battery is repeatedly only partially discharged before recharging, the battery "forgets" that it has the capacity to further discharge all the way down.Keep the battery healthy by letting the laptop charge completely & then drain it down completely.
18)If your laptop comes with a built in Graphics card,then there is a very good likeliness that your battery will drain @ a faster rate.So try to reduce your graphic settings N turn off advanced visual effects.
19)Dont keep your laptop plugged in at all times.Allow it to discharge too.Dont connect laptop to the power supply directly.Preferably connect via a Ups.Sometimes power fluctuations can damage the adapter which will burn the laptop chip.
20) Incase you are connecting to a direct supply make sure your Earthings are fine.I used to get mild shocks from selected laptop areas(like screen,keypad).It damages the battery.
Well I guess that covers it all.Incase you feel i may have skipped something,feel free to comment.Your views are always welcome.
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