All of us would like to own laptop batteries that last forever. Well, at least until the laptop itself dies. If one is lucky, one will have to replace one’s entire notebook by the time the battery dies. Unfortunately, this is rarely the case. If you are not using original batteries like the hp-battery, one’s laptop battery’s death can seem like a pretty sudden event at times. Major operating systems like Windows will warn you when the battery is at critically low capacity levels. As a rule of thumb, always keep an eye out for your battery’s status. Let’s focus on how to recalibrate your laptop battery.
Windows to the rescue
Naturally, the Windows OS will not go out of its way to warn you of your battery’s latest capacity levels. The more you run your laptop, the more the battery weakens. You will notice that your laptop battery does not store as much charge as it used to before.
Windows is designed to let you know what is happening when the battery capacity reaches alarmingly low levels. A red X often appears on the standard battery icon in the system tray. As soon as you click on this notification, Windows lets you know that it’s probably time to get yourself a new laptop battery.
The warning also informs you that your machine may shut down unexpectedly due to PC battery deterioration.
How to check our battery’s capacity
If you are using an original battery like the hp-battery, all you need is a third-party tool like NirSoft’s BatteryInfoTool to show your battery’s approximate charge capacity. Such tools offer you the battery’s original designed capacity and its current fully charged capacity.
How to calibrate your laptop battery
At some point, you may have been using your laptop, only to have it die on you without warning. To further complicate things, Windows may not show any notifications. Note that no matter how well you treat your laptop’s battery, its capacity will still decrease over time. The internal power meter determines how much juice is left over and how much time you have before the battery dies.
It’s advisable to let your battery discharge for some time before plugging it back in. However, it is a delicate dance because this can also confuse the built-in battery meter. Regardless of how well you take care of your battery, it will still deteriorate due to age, heat, and usage.
Here’s the catch: if the battery is not allowed to drain down to zero every once in a while, then the power meter won’t know how much juice remains in the battery. This is what it means to calibrate your battery. According to manufacturers, you should calibrate the battery once every two or three months.
PC battery Recalibration is as simple as letting the battery run down from 100% to almost zero then charging it back to nearly full.
Conclusion
Most laptop batteries naturally weaken over time. This is highly common in machines that incur heavy usage daily. To correct this situation, you should calibrate your hp-battery regularly.
