Computer Laptop Battery Care and Usage Tips for getting more from a notebook battery.

1. Turn off Wi-Fi and BlueTooth – Most laptops have shortcut keys to instantly disable wireless networking.

2. Don’t play computer games, music or DVD movies – Multimedia activities drain laptop batteries.

3. Disconnect all external device like PC Card modems, Firewire, USB devices and optical drives. Use the notebook touchpad instead of an external mouse.

4. Adjust your screen brightness – Dimming your display saves battery power.

5. Tweak Windows Power Options – Choose a Laptop power scheme that turns off the notebook monitor and hard disk after 10 minutes of inactivity.

6. Decrease or mute the Laptop Speaker Volume.

7. Turn off all scheduled tasks.

8. Turn off Auto-save features in Microsoft Office and other applications.

9. If your PC has a built-in wireless card, turn it off or disable it when not in use.

10. Programs that are run from a CD or DVD can be copied to and run from the hard drive, which typically consumes less power than an optical drive.

Looking for the longest battery life laptop ? Actually, many factors affect the amount of time that a laptop battery can deliver power before it must be recharged.

How to extend laptop battery life? Here are some more tips to improve your notebook’s battery life:

1. If you do not use your laptop for extended periods of time (a week or more), remove the battery pack from the laptop.

2. Do not expose the battery to high heat or freezing temperatures. Do not leave your battery in your car in the summer. Hot batteries discharge very quickly, and cold ones can’t create as much power.

3. Make sure to plug your laptop charger adapter into a UPS and not directly into a power outlet or surge protector.

4. If you have a nickel-metal hydride battery, completely drain and recharge the battery once a month to maximize its capacity to hold a charge.

5. Fully charge new battery packs before use. New pack needs to be fully charged and discharged (cycled) a few times before it can condition to full capacity.

6. For laptops that work as Desktop Replacement, the battery should be re-installed every 3-4 weeks and allowed to fully discharge.

7. Leaving a battery in a laptop while using an electrical outlet for long periods of time will keep the battery in a constant state of charging up and that will reduce the life cycle of the battery.

Battery-saving sleep modes: Should I use Stand By or Hibernate

Standby mode
Use standby to save power when you will be away from the computer for a short time while working – your monitor and hard disks turn off, all applications and open files are stored in RAM. When you want to use the computer again, it comes out of standby quickly, and your desktop is restored exactly as you left it.

Hibernation Mode
Use hibernation to save power when you will be away from the computer for an extended time while working – your computer shuts down to save power but first saves everything in memory on your hard disk. When you restart the computer, your desktop is restored exactly as you left it.

When you choose Start, Turn Off Computer in Windows XP, your options are Stand By, Turn Off, and Restart. To Hibernate, place the cursor over Stand By, then hold down Shift and click.

Have you ever had a virus or spyware attack? Or have you ever downloaded an innocent looking piece of software, only to end up with a vicious Trojan or dreaded worm on your computer and loads of spyware? If you do anything online you will very likely know exactly what I am talking about. However what you may not know about is the damage that can be done to your registry files when your computer is attacked by viruses and spyware. This is when registry repair software can help you.

Firstly let us briefly examine what the registry really is. It is actually a database on your computer. It stores vital configuration data about the software and hardware on your computer. Just imagine what happens when these files get corrupted!

If you are like most of us you are probably not very technical and you may not even be aware that your registry has gotten corrupted. The most common cause of registry damage is, as mentioned, viruses and spyware. Some of the most dangerous are worms and Trojans. They literally eat into your computer operating platform configuration; destroying the vital codes and files that your computer needs to function. In a very short time they can make your computer completely dysfunctional. Spyware is a close second as their files usually sit in your registry and attach themselves to your registry files. This will also corrupt your files.

The first thing to do when you want to fix registry errors safely is to assess the damage. Your first indication of anything being wrong will be if your computer slows down or if your graphics do not look or function correctly. Trouble with your browser is another indication. Odd pop ups suddenly coming, especially when you start your computer, sudden crashes, are also warning signs. When you see any or all of these signs it is time to take action.

In order to assess damage you will need to have a good virus and spyware scanner. There are free ones like Google’s PC tools spyware doctor. This will help you with spyware detection. If you are doing anything online you should be equipped with good antivirus software. This will scan your computer on a regular basis and show you the problems. These scan and report spyware and viruses on your computer. They will also tell you were the virus is hiding. Most of them are hiding out in your registry. Specific software is specially designed to fix, isolate or recode as necessary to keep your computer operating correctly.

Once you know that there are problems with your registry you can take steps to fix them. Much good antivirus or antispyware software will remove the corrupted files safely, without damaging them. However some of these programs will not be able to do this. This is especially true if you have viruses like worms and Trojans. Files can also be lost when you remove viruses or software. When you remove the bad files, from the infection, they will be sticking to your good files and literally take your files away with them. This results in loss of files and data, and this is when you will need good registry software. This software will repair your files that these viruses and spyware have damaged. They will also put back ones that may have been lost. Software is like any marketed product; there is bad, good and best available. You need to compare the various software package capabilities, functions, warranties, ease of use, costs, etc.

As you learn, grow and discover the capabilities of your computer take time as well, to learn how to keep your computer operating system working efficiently (optimized) and your personal and financial information safeguarded. For available articles, tools and user friendly software and their comparisons among one another.