Battery Life: CD Vs. HD Vs. External HD
Apr 1, 2009
I'm going to be sitting on an airplane for too many hours. I'd like to watch some videos on the laptop and am wondering the best way to maximize battery life. Which uses the least power?
- Playing the DVD in the DVD drive
- Ripping the DVD to the hard drive and playing it from there (if I have enough free disk space)
- Ripping the DVD to an external hard drive and playing it from there
- Ripping the DVD to a big memory key and playing it from there
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Apr 19, 2008
I've baught a notebook pc. It has T8300 CPU, and Intel GMA 3100 Graphics. The battery has for cells and it says its capacity is 2400mAh. With Windows Vista x64, I did some normal tasks such as surfing the internet a little and some file copying, application installing. But the big problem is the battery life. After fully charged the battery, I could only use about 1 hour and half. I've searched the internet and found that the main culprit is the Aero interface. So, I guess, using Vista Basic when in battery mode, and Aero when in A.C. mode would be more reasonable. Manually changing between them in "Personalization -> Show classic..." is quite a task. Is there any easier way? How do you save battery?
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Apr 29, 2008
I've had my laptop for 3months and now, although the laptop is running off the mains fine, it wont charge via the mains charger. the small battery symbol is indicating that my laptop is plugged in, but is at 0% battery and is not charging. would this be a problem with the battery or with the charger?
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Jul 18, 2009
I understand the point of a "maximum processor state." You can lower it to restrict the CPU and gain battery life. The CPU consumes less energy and the fans consume less energy from a cooler thermal load. I've never really understood the need for a "minimum processor state" though or what it even does for that matter.
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May 19, 2009
Mankind uses speech extensively to communicate. Imagine how your life would be affected if you did not have the power of speech. You would carry your handy dandy keyboard and instant printer around with you daily. If a friend were about to step off the curb and get run over by traffic, you would frantically whip out your keyboard, type WATCH OUT! in big bold letters, and wave it in front of his face. Imagine your frustration at the local grocery store, as you and the checker exchange notes about the on-special price of an item, while the line builds up
behind you..............
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Jun 13, 2009
Is anyone as tired as I am of staring at the Vista Spinning Circle of Microsoft Incompetence? From boot-up to shut-down and everything in between I am utterly tired of staring at this spinning circle. Vista, SP1, SP2: nothing changes. The best anyone can say about Vista is that at least it works, sort of. The computer I write this on boots to XP, Vista and Win 7: only the middle OS spins and spins and spins waiting to do anything while the hard drive thrashes like a an out of balance clothes dryer.
Vista apologists need not respond. If you only run Vista on a machine you cannot see how utterly lousy it really is and what you are missing in performance from your hardware. Linux propeller heads can sit in a corner and spin their beanies. Some of us have to accomplish real work instead of endless futzing with an OS. On this machine Win7 has become my default OS and I will gladly pay for the final version when it goes on sale so I can recover the hard drive space wasted on Vista. The performance of the XP virtualized OS in Win7 is nearly as fast as Vista on its own.
If Microsoft had any honor (or business acumen) they would offer Win7 for a limited time as the free service pack it should be for users stuck with the utter kludge that is Vista. However Microsoft has demonstrated it would prefer to pay billions to the EU in fines rather than treat its customers fairly. It is indisputable that dead and buried General Motors executives from the 60s and 70s psychically control Steve Balmer. There is no other rational explanation for the performance of Microsoft under his direction.
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Jun 24, 2008
I recently updated my XP to Vista and bought a new webcam Lifecam VX 1000, after downloading the Cd, when i connect through USB and try opening the camera, it shows a msg saying that APP Crash and hence check online solutions.
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Apr 20, 2009
I bought the Half Life: Game of the Year Edition off of Amazon a few days ago. I didn't go the Steam or Source route, because I need a game I can play via LAN and not have to be connnected to the internet. I'm not 100% on how either of those work, but after talking to a few guys, I decided to go with what I know.
So I got the game today, and installed it without issue. I was excited and went to open the game to give it a run through. Then. it happened. The first error said something to the affect "you only have -6242.00K of physical memory, Half Life requires 16MB to run." Now I have 4GB of RAM. and wasn't running anything else, so I didn't know what was going on. I looked around and found out that if you have over 2GB it rolls over or something. Solution? Either run it in XP Compatibility mode or shut off the DPE off for Half Life.
After trying both seperatley and even at the same time, nothing works. I don't get the error message any more, but the screen flashes like it's going to start running, then the screen goes black. and that's it. CTRL+ALT+DEL, hl.exe is "Not Responding". That's all that happens.
I've tried restarting the computer, I've tried uninstalling it, then putting the setup.exe in compatibility mode then running it (also stops responding) and nothing works. Can anyone offer up another course of action or help me out?
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May 7, 2009
My msn messenger or windows life messenger cannot detect my front mic in a voice call i.e. the caller cannot hear my voice although i can hear his. In my windows Sound Recording properties, the status of front mic button is Working. Besides, i also can record sound using Sound Recorder with my front mic. Anything to do with the setting in MSN/Live messenger?
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Mar 23, 2008
Have just discovered that my new laptop, an Advent 9315 2GB mem, Vista Home etc, contains a SiS graphics system which is not supported by Second Life. What can I do? Also I have loaded Call of Duty 4 but it too won't run.
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May 24, 2008
I have been having a problem with "Half Life 2 Engine" When ever I try to play CS:S (Why is this crashing because of HL2 Engine?) I start playing for awile everything is perfect and then a random crash. Vista tries to find the problem and comes up with this: Problem caused by Half-Life 2 Game Engine This problem was caused by Half-Life 2 Game Engine, which was created by Valve Corporation. Microsoft has been unable to contact the manufacturer and has no further information available at this time. How can I fix this? It's very annoying to randomly crash every little bit.
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Dec 28, 2009
I recently received The Orange Box, and wish to play Half-Life 2. I am running a Vista Home Premium x64 machine updated to SP1. However, whenever I run Half-Life 2, either from within Steam or from a shortcut, Half-Life 2 starts, adjusts the screen resolution, and freezes on a black screen with a frozen Taskbar at the bottom of the screen. I have added "-32bit" to the shortcut line and have set the program to run in Windows XP SP2 compatibility mode. This fix has made Portal run fine, so I don't know why it won't work for Half-Life 2.
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Feb 6, 2009
I built a new system, installing Vista Business 64bit to take full advantage of DX10 and large amounts of memory. Not having many games lying around, I decided to download steam and install Half Life 2. If you are reading this, and using a 64bit edition of windows, then my guess is you are having problems with Half Life 2. I encountered two problems, and after a few hours was able to solve both of them.
GAME HANGS ON INITIAL LOAD (BLURRY IMAGE SCREEN)
"64-bit" message was at top of screen game never loaded Potential cause: It seems that while steam intended HL2 to have a 64bit edition, with an update along the line (maybe with the release of Left4Dead according to others) the support was broken and the game doesn't load.
Fix:Unfortunately, the fix removes the 64bit potential. In steam, right click half life 2, and select. From the dialogue box, click Enter "-32bit" and select This got HL2 to load, where upon playing I encountered problem number 2.GAMEPLAY CAUSES FULL SYSTEM HANG- Symptoms: After playing for less than 5 minutes, the game would crash and the three fingered salute (ctrl+alt+del) couldn't get me out of it......................
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Dec 22, 2009
I have downloaded a program called battery bar that shows how much energy is left. This has disabled the option to show the 'Power' meter in the taskbar. see pics below: i want the windows power meter back, but there is no uninstalling option in the battery bar file documents, or in add or remove programs. i have tried revo uninstaller (which also has no option to uninstall from main tab), tried hunter mode, pointed the target at the bar, and it says there is no uninstall program. I can't delete battery bar unless i recycle the battery bar file and its contents, which still leaves the windows power meter 'greyed' out.
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Mar 23, 2008
(My laptop is a Dell Inspiron E1505 w/ Windows Vista Ultimate)Vista states that no battery was detected, yet i have one inserted. I've tried pulling it out and putting it back in, even the BIOS settings detect no battery. When I remove the power cable, it still runs off battery, but the battery light turns red. Also, I am trying to upgrade my BIOS and as a requirement, you must have your computer connected to the battery AND to the charger
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Nov 27, 2009
i have just reinstalled a clean vista but vista saying. "No battery is detected "! even it was detected before installing it!
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Mar 23, 2008
I have HP NW8000 laptop running Vista Ultimate. I installed SP1 a few days ago. After the upgrade, the battery is not charging anymore. Right now it is completely drained out and it says 0% available plugged in, not charging. I uninstalled the Microsoft ACPI-Compliant Control Method Battery drivers (there were two) from the Device Manager and install them again with scan for hardware changes. I tried unplugging and plugging the battery back but nothing helps. The can't get the battery to charge. What gives?
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May 3, 2009
I used to get ample warning before the battery became empty. Not so today. Where can I check for this sound setting? I searched under energy settings...
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Jul 7, 2008
I'm using windows vista on a notebook, and today I discovered that the icon that used to be in my notification area next to the clock, that showed me how much battery I had left is missing. I've tried looking through the control panel and other areas, and can't figure out how to get the icon back.
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May 19, 2009
I'm running Windows Vista on a Gateway NX570X laptop. About a year after I bought it, it slid off the table and bent the connecter for the original AC adapter, so I bought a new adapter online. It's an off-brand adapter, but the voltage outputs and inputs are the same as my old adapter, and it charged the battery fine for about two months. Then the battery started charging halfway and then less and less until finally it reached 0% available (plugged in, not charging). Now, this still wasn't an immediate problem for me because my laptop is stationary most of the time; however, since last October the adapter has had to be plugged in at a certain angle or it won't power the laptop at all, and now it has taken to shutting off randomly or whenever the connecter is nudged. Highlights:
* Gateway NX570X laptop with Windows Vista
* Off-brand AC adapter worked for about two months before malfunctions began
* Battery life reads 0% available (plugged in, not charging)
* Adapter must be inserted into the laptop at just the right angle to turn it on
* Computer shuts down randomly, ranging between minutes, hours, and days after starting it up
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Jul 29, 2009
i bought a hp pavilion about 6 months ago and ever since i have been experiencing battery problem, first i have 2 over heat, did the battery calibration thing it said the battery need to be changed, so i bought a new one. The new now after about 75% discharge it plug it in, battery indicator said it's plug in but it not charging. for me to charge the battery i have to shut the system down for a while and let the battery cool other wise it wont charge..have any one experience this problem before.
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Mar 14, 2010
For some reason my battery Icon seem to disappear. I was wondering if it's because I have a APC Battery back up that my computer is plugged up to? I hope my battery in my computer is not going bad..
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Feb 23, 2009
I'm a very capable user running a Dell E1505 here. The battery lasted less than a year, and then I replaced it with a brand new battery. This has been in there for at most a month now. The past two days I have had an interesting situation going on. The computer is running Vista Home Premium, and it's running on AC. The battery seems to be working fine. It's detected fine, the PC runs off of the battery, and it charges as well. It's not set to suspend, hibernate, or anything like that at any time; these features are all deactivated because I am never in a situation to use them.
However, for the past few days, I have closed the lid and then gone to sleep at night, but when I have opened it up the next morning, I have the red X icon that says the battery is not detected. I've unseated the battery and clicked it back in each time, and it is immediately recognized and operates completely normally as described above after that.
The first time that this happened, I thought it may just have been some odd thing as can happen now and then with computers, and I ignored it. I went through my day using the E1505 as usual: leaving it unattended for minutes or hours while doing other things, closing the lid before going to the store, opening the lid again, etc., and it worked fine. However, when I awoke this morning the X was there with the no battery message. I again unseated and reseated the battery, and all seems normal.
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Aug 8, 2009
got a Lenovo X61t laptop/tablet with built-in SD card reader and I'm using the reader mainly with a 4G sdhc for readyboost. Often readyboost decides to reorder/refresh the cache with lots of SATA drive activity for 5 minutes or so. On AC this is fine. But it also happens on battery which is drains the battery faster. So is there any method (say, even some 3rd party prog) to conditionally tell readyboost not to refresh cache while on battery?
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Jul 3, 2008
Last night I installed the service pack 1 for Vista in my laptop (Compaq Presario V3617LA) and it deactivated the energy bar for the battery. how to make it appear again in the task bar?
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Aug 3, 2009
I haven't used my laptop for a while as I'm home for the summer from University and have been using the home computer. I turned my laptop on for the first time in a couple of weeks today and for some reason I can't get it to charge. The battery light is staying green all the time despite there being 0% battery available. The laptop (on Vista home premium) works fine when plugged in but as soon as I removed the cable or turn the plug off the laptop just goes off. This hasn't happened before and I'm baffled.
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Apr 21, 2008
I am currently using a laptop that is approx one year old - it's a toshiba tecra A6. It belonged to a friend and I have only received it recently, so I do not know its history. When I hover above the 'power plan' icon on the bottom toolbar, it says "0% available, (plugged in, not charging)" and, accordingly, cannot run the computer on battery power. Is this definitely a problem with the computer's battery, despite it being only one year old?
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Apr 9, 2009
I am using a HP Laptop, 6314tx. It has been 1 year and 9 months since I am using it. In the past couple of months, I have experienced a battery problem. My laptop battery doesn't charge more than 33%. It was 67% first, then came down to 43% and now 32%. Sometimes, it shows '100% available (plugged in, charging).' But, when I click on the battery icon, it again shows as '32% available (plugged in, charging).'
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Aug 1, 2009
To keep the battery for a longer life what is the best:
1. using the mainpower : removing the battery and performing regularly a decharging and recharging?
2. using the mainpower : keeping the battery into the PC and performing regularly a decharging and recharging?
3. only working with the battery and of course performing the charging when needed?
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Feb 25, 2009
On my Acer lapto, vista battery status shows it is 100% charged, but only 30 minutes working time remains. The working mode has been set to 'balanced', but even changing it to 'power save' it only gains a couple of minutes.
I have my laptop for almost a year. Is it normal that the battery practically used up within a year? Or is perhaps something else wrong here? In the beginning it could almost last 3 hours. But with only 30 minutes you can't get any work done.
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Jun 22, 2009
The last set of updates I did SP2 and all the ones that came with it seemed to have changed something in the sleep mode. When I put my HP to sleep at night, it seems that the battery backup is lost. I know this because when I wake the computer in the AM, it says that the computer lost communion with the battery backup and then says very quickly that it has been restored! My concern is that if we have a storm and the battery backup is not working right then it won't allow me to safely shut down the computer!
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