How to check the battery on a laptop for performance: ways to check the status

Despite the fact that batteries are an essential component of mobile devices, they eventually expire and need to be replaced. However, it is possible to extend the service life by following the care and maintenance measures that must be followed, especially when the operating temperature is exceeded, which has a huge impact on laptop battery life and calibration. In order to maximize the use of all battery resources, you need to periodically test. Before you check the battery on a laptop, you need to know the basic operations and software utilities.

Battery deterioration

Laptop batteries gradually lose capacity, slowly reducing autonomy. The device registers wear, which is expressed as a percentage of the original capacity. In laptopsit is usually measured in milliwatts per hour, mWh. The battery is shipped from the factory with the calculated maximum load. For example, 30,000 MWh. Let's say these 30,000 MWh are enough to keep the laptop running for three hours. Over time, the battery loses its capacity, so at some point its maximum capacity will be 15,000 MWh, then it will have 50% wear and can continue to charge the laptop for an hour and a half.

This calculation is quite approximate, because the run time will also depend on factors such as the energy consumption of the task being performed, which will require more or less energy. For example, a 3D game consumes much more battery power than writing a text document. These features must be considered before checking the battery on a laptop.

Thus, wear is a measure of the maximum capacity lost by a battery. This is a percentage that starts at 0% for ideal condition and goes up to 100% when the battery can no longer perform its function.

Lifetime

It is not determined by years or months, but is set based on recharge cycles, given that each cycle is equivalent to a charge that the user carries out at a rate of 20%. Thus, the default battery has a maximum number of recharge cycles. This number indicates how much the user can theoretically charge the device. Previously, this indicator was affected by the period of inactivity of the battery, but today this problem is not relevant, because there is no moreno memory effect, and the problem is in the past.

Non-genuine chargers are still a threat to batteries and shorten battery life. The original device contains all the technologies that, according to the manufacturer, are necessary for the correct operation of the equipment. These circumstances must be taken into account before checking the battery on a laptop.

High temperatures also endanger battery life and significantly shorten battery life. It is necessary to avoid heat in the PC as much as possible, which affects the proper functioning of all elements, causing all kinds of failures that can even lead to explosions. It is recommended to keep the temperature below 28 degrees to avoid shortening the service life.

Control in Windows

Batteries tend to wear out faster than other laptop components, typically degrading after only two or three years of use. A good host will periodically conduct testing to monitor the operation of the device. It is enough to simply check the battery charge and general condition and thereby avoid unwanted surprises.

Windows battery he alth check:

1. Before checking the battery on a laptop, press the Windows button to open the start menu.
2. Find at the bottom of the Start menu the search bar that says "Search programs and files".
3. Enter "Windows Mobility Center" in the search field. When the results come outClick "Windows Mobility Center" under "Programs" at the top of the results. It has various indicators to show if the laptop is mobile.
4. Find "Battery Status" showing what % of battery power is left.
5. Measure the voltage after 20-80% discharge to compare it with the value of full charge. The device reading will not be 0V, but will still show a few volts. When the battery drops below the minimum voltage, the computer will automatically turn off.

Instrumental Methods

You can test the battery with a multimeter, but you need to fully charge your laptop before doing so.

Algorithm of actions:

1. Before checking the laptop battery with a multimeter, turn off the computer and remove the device.
2. Find the nominal voltage printed on the battery. This will be a number. which will need to be compared with the readings of the multimeter. Many laptops are 9.6V, 10.8V, 11.1V, 14.4V, or 14.8V. Some have lower or higher voltages.
3. Find the connector where the battery interfaces with the PC. When connected to a network, it will be closer to the center on the side of the device that faces the computer. It is about an inch long and should resemble a series of five very narrow identical slots. The outermost one will be the positive and negative battery terminals.
4. Before checking the battery on a laptop for performance,turn on the multimeter and set it to measure DC voltage on a scale of 20 volts. Settings are marked with V, DC with straight lines next to V, and wavy for AC.
5. Insert one end of the multimeter into the outermost slot on one end of the battery connector, and the other end into the next outermost slot on it. It doesn't matter if plus and minus are reversed - it will just change the sign of the voltage, not the actual number.
6. Compare the readings on the multimeter. A fully charged, he althy laptop battery will show close to the passport value.

Working control utilities

In order to check the battery status on a laptop, utilities are widely used, free of charge, with visual effects and informative, outputting the results to a text file.

Popular Utilities 2019:

1. BatteryMon. More focused on monitoring, it monitors laptop battery capacity and download speed and displays the results in real time.
2. BatteryCare. Another free, informative and specialized tool for periodic calibrations.
3. Powercfg for Windows console gives complete information without the need to install additional applications. To access the command line, type cmd (Windows hotkey + R) and type powercfg /batteryreport to generate a report in html version. Which can be accessed by the path C:\Users\username\battery-report.html. teamcan be performed with the -energy modifier to evaluate efficiency and view configurations.

Checking the battery when buying

When a laptop is purchased, the seller claims that everything functions well and the battery lasts for hours. However, sometimes this is just a marketing ploy, and in reality everything is not so great, and the service life is drastically reduced. You need to be able to check the deterioration of the battery.

BatteryBar is a small free software that has a professional version that shows the download percentage and remaining minutes on the taskbar. In order to check the battery on a laptop with a program, you will need to choose between the floating version or the built-in taskbar. In addition, skins and additional languages can be installed. After unpacking, click on the new panel to display the information window. They check the wear, the higher the indicator, the worse.

This percentage shows the battery's current capacity relative to the factory standard when it was new. If the value is too high, it means that the battery will have little autonomy and a replacement should be considered.

Check batteryreport battery

For this verification method, you will need to open the terminal console in Windows 10, run it through the right administrator button and select from the list. Next, write the following line on the screen: powercfg / batteryreport.

Press the Enter button and get an HTML file. If you double click on it, it will open in the browserdefault. The document contains information about the three most important parameters that will tell the user about the "he alth" of the battery:

1. Capacity for which the device is designed in MWh, the maximum value at the time of testing. The closer the actual load is to the limit value, the better its condition.
2. History of battery charging. From this information, you can judge how often the equipment was recharged, see the charge that it accumulated in each of them. If a regression is noticed, then this is bad, since a ditched battery requires frequent charging.
3. Average battery life based on all load cycles since operating system installation.

BatteryCare for resource measurement

There are computers such as Hewlett Packard, Sony, Acer and others that already have this option for battery life diagnostics. On the other hand, when the PC does not have this tool, you can use various free programs or test versions to check the battery condition.

Such software can check the assigned, total and current capacity of the laptop battery and the level of battery wear caused by computer loads and loads.

Experts recommend BatteryCare, which can be used to measure PC battery life. In order to check battery wear on a laptop, download the program from the official website.

Specifications:

1. Requirements: Windows 8/7 / Vista / XP.
2. Price: Free.
3. Designed to optimize laptop battery usage and performance.
4. Controls discharge cycles and helps to extend its lifespan.
5. Represents complete battery information.
6. Measures CPU and HDD temperatures.
7. Performs automatic change of energy plans.
8. Controls Windows Aero and other services.
9. Performs automatic software updates.
10. Data is stored in a file so it can be visualized and analyzed.
11. It is fully compatible with multi-core and multi-threaded processors.

Battery Optimizer for duty cycle

This is an advanced portable optimization utility that uses advanced diagnostics and tests to prolong device life. Monitors laptop battery and provides all data about it.

The program shows the evolution during load and unload cycles with some important battery parameters such as wear rate and number of discharge coils. It continuously reads data, predicting the remaining time, and has two alarms for capacity low and critical. In order to check the deterioration of the laptop battery, download it from the official page for downloading the program: Battery Optimizer.

Another utility Aida 64 Extreme Edition 2.50.2000 with testing and touch control for Windows 8/7 / Server 2008 / Vista / 2003 / XP /2000/Me/98/Windows NT. It has unique capabilities for evaluating processor, memory, and disk performance. The program is paid, but has a 30-day trial, which is enough to test the laptop battery.

Testing and operating tips

When buying a laptop, the seller will warn the buyer that the first charge must be made after the battery is completely discharged. And this will be the first mistake, because the battery comes with a charge of about 40%, which is ideal for its condition, does not suffer during long periods of inactivity. That's why you don't have to be afraid to start working and boot up your device at the right time, without waiting for it to fully load.

It must be remembered that, except for battery calibration, it is not recommended to use battery values below 20. The optimal data is from 20% to 80%. You will need to completely discharge the battery once or twice a year. This will calibrate the charge meter to provide accurate information.

Always Connected is one of the bugs that other users are commenting on. The downside of this process is not universally agreed upon by all manufacturers, as when the battery is being charged, the charging process stops and does not resume until it falls below the minimum level.

Start the computer on battery at least once a week, discharging up to 20-80% of the total power. These "trainings" help the chemistryThe battery stays efficient longer, which means it lasts longer.