Tips for Prolonging Battery Life

Going mobile with your Windows 8 device means that you would greatly depend on its battery power and all the juice that it can give off to keep your machine running. Windows 8 is the only Windows version that works perfectly on mobile devices at present. Its touch-friendly interface makes it very suitable for tablets, smartphones and other devices that can run touch-enabled operating systems.

Even before Windows 8 was developed, Microsoft already had included some settings, tweaks and options on older Windows operating systems so the battery can last longer than usual. These tools in prolonging battery life are all easy to setup and configure and once they are employed on any Windows 8 device, you’ll notice a significant change in the length of time that your machine will endure in each charging cycle so if you are planning to bring your Windows 8 computer to a long journey then you need to learn some tweaks that will help prolong its battery life.

Using Windows Mobility Center

Once of the places where you can do some quick adjustments in how your computer uses up its battery juice is the Windows Mobility Center. This feature has been around since Windows Vista and it has proved to be a very effective tool in tweaking aspects such as screen brightness, volume, Power Plan and even monitoring how much power is left. To learn more about the Windows Mobility Center, simply refer to the screenshot below.

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Make Some Tweaks on a Power Plan

As I have mentioned earlier, you can actually make some tweaks on your computer’s set Power Plan. If you don’t know how this is done then the easiest way to set your computer to consume less battery power is by setting the “Power Saver” plan active but if you want to make the battery last longer, you would need to access the Power Options section. To do this, simply access the Start Screen then start typing the word “power”. The “Search” screen will then appear on the right edge of the screen and below the search input box, you’ll see the “Settings” category which you’ll need to click.

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The “Power Options” Window will then appear. From here, all you need to do is click the link at the right of the “Power Plan” that you want to tweak which says “Change plan settings” and you’ll now be able to access the Window where you can tweak some aspects of the “Power Plan” you selected.

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Access Some Advanced Power Settings

When you click on the “Change advanced power settings” link, you will see a small Window that would appear containing all the sections where you can make some tweaks on. From here, you’ll have access to hard drive, USB, PCI, Multimedia and other settings on the stuff that composes your system. If you are not sure with what you’re going to be dealing with then it would be best if you just leave these settings as they are but if you made some changes in it, be sure to click on the “Apply” then “OK” buttons found at the bottom.

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If in case you changed your mind and want the old settings back then just click on the button that is labeled “Restore plan defaults” located at the bottom-most part of the options box.

Create Your Own Power Plan

Another option that you can take is to create your own custom “Power Plan”. To do this, simply go back to the “Power Options” Window and click on the “Create a power plan” link found at the left navigation pane. After clicking on it, you’ll be taken to a Window which will ask you to name the “Power Plan” that you are creating. Once you entered your desired name, simply click on the “Next” button at the bottom then on the Window that follows, you’ll now need to make some adjustments on the duration of time before your screen dims, or how long before it will be turned off, the screen brightness and other stuff just like you’re doing a customization step on a “Power Plan”. After setting things to your desired duration and level, simply hit the “Create” button at the bottom of the Window.

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Turn off the Wireless Feature

If in case you are using your machine in a place that is far from a WiFi network then you can turn off its “Wireless” feature. The wireless signal receiver also consumes a significant amount of battery juice and leaving it on even if it is not used will make your battery drain faster. Most laptop computers have a dedicated switch button for turning off its wireless receiver while others would require a keyboard combination (usually a including a function key) to turn off wireless. In Windows 8, you can do this by accessing the “Settings” Charm, clicking on “PC settings” and once its screen appears, simply click on the “Wireless” menu found at the left. Once it contents opens at the right side of the screen, you can simply turn on “Airplane mode” or turn off “Wireless devices”.

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Enjoy a Longer Battery Life

All the settings I have shown above would really help prolong your computer’s battery life. If you want to really enjoy longer hours of using your PC without plugging it in then you can purchase an extra battery for it or have your own battery bank which will add more hours to your usage. You also need to take good care of your laptop battery/s by making sure that you’re not charging it when the power level it is not yet low and plugging it out when battery level is already 100% charged. Cleaning the battery terminals once in a while will also preserve your battery and extend its life span.