Laptop Battery

[Lipp]

The internet links I looked into were inconclusive, so giving it a shot here in case we happen to have a computer wiz lurking around.

Basically I've got a Sony Vaio (specifically the model VGN-NR11S/S) and it works perfectly well apart from the battery.

The longevity of the battery power has shrunk to ridiculous levels, I just tested it before this post and it lasts for about 15 minutes (appliances disconnected, no CD running, network off, screen fully dimmed, sound muted, and just letting it run on the desktop without doing anything) as opposed to the 4-5 hours it lasted upon purchase about a year and a half ago. Okay, batteries deteriorate, but this is well beyond going down to lasting for 1-2 hours.

I think the issue is related to vista, basically I found information on how the OS misreads the battery levels and shuts down at the critical battery level notification despite that plenty of power remains. While it works in XP it doesn't seem to be possible to disable the critical battery level notification in vista, nor instruct it to not shut down, so I'm looking for a way to circumvent this.

I know that going beyond the safety threshold is bad for the battery (that it's not really empty at 0%, but keeps some to keep the battery safe), but really the battery just acts as a safety measure if the plug gets pulled when Im working with it and is otherwise useless, so it's worth the risk if it means that I can actually use it properly.

So, does anyone know how to go around the "critical battery level" response to hibernate/shut down in windows vista home?

Cheerio.

[BillyGalbreath]

Vista is not the culprit. Batteries do indeed deteriorate. Some moreso than others. For example, my phone's battery dies during radio transmissions lasting around 5 minutes, even on a full battery charge. Once I turn the phone back on after initial shutdown I find the battery level is indeed reading 3 bars again. Upon resuming radio transmission the bars drain quickly until shutdown. When I kill the radio transmission before it shuts down then the bars will slowly grow back to 3 again. This is due to the battery being very old and dropped countless number of times. A battery has multiple cells in it, with the device only draining 1 cell (the cell closest to the terminals). The other cells will drain as they recharge the first cell. Older batteries have a hard time recharging the first cell as quickly as when they were new due to deterioration. Disabling your Vista's critical bettery level feature will indeed get your more uptime, but only meere minutes or seconds. The key solution is a new battery. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

[BillyGalbreath]

Wrong.

Assuming your battery is a lithium ion battery, you just need to cycle it a few times. You need to do this about once a month.

I don't appreciate being called wrong, Gottfried. Especially when the OP stated the battery is a year and a half old, so its too late and the damage has already been done.

[Yggdrasil]

I think the issue is related to vista, basically I found information on how the OS misreads the battery levels and shuts down at the critical battery level notification despite that plenty of power remains. While it works in XP it doesn't seem to be possible to disable the critical battery level notification in vista, nor instruct it to not shut down, so I'm looking for a way to circumvent this.

So, does anyone know how to go around the "critical battery level" response to hibernate/shut down in windows vista home?

You'd have to use the group policy editor to turn off those notificiations and change the behaviour.

See [URL="http://articles.techrepublic.com.com/5100-10878_11-6184380.html"]http://articles.techrepublic.com.com/5100-10878_11-6184380.html[/URL] for more details.

[Lipp]

Cheers for the responses, I'll cycle it, though that's probably something that should've been done since the initial purchase. And if that doesn't work I'll go for Ygg's response and see where it takes me.

[Yggdrasil]

Ygg's wrong, too, as usual.

and you're a douche.

[lesa]

Maybe I can help make your laptop battery work.

[Lipp]

Maybe I can help make your laptop battery work.

Drop by my place this sunday, I could use some relief.

[lesa]

Drop by my place this sunday, I could use some relief.

You got it. If you want, I can have your battery running well past 15 minutes. Your battery can keep going, and going, and going.

[Yggdrasil]

Your battery can keep going, and going, and going.

Are you fluffy, pink, have long ears and bang on a drum? LOL

[lesa]

Are you fluffy, pink, have long ears and bang on a drum? LOL

I can if you want me to.

[Yggdrasil]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxafIhYFOr0"]YouTube - Energizer Bunny® - Darth Vader - 1994 Commercial[/ame]