Ever faced a situation where your laptop battery has run out, especially when you need it most?

It’s not the best situation to be in, quite frankly, if there isn’t any power outlet in sight, and you have an important task to complete.

 

So, in order to avoid the stress that comes with not being able to use your laptop when you absolutely need to, here are 4 tips to increase the battery life of your laptop:

 

#1: Keep it plugged in whenever possible

Don’t think that keeping the power cord connected to an AC outlet all the time will reduce the battery’s life. That’s not true. In fact, keeping the battery charged will ensure that you maximise the laptop’s run time but most of all, will reduce the wear and tear on the battery, thus lengthening its lifespan.

 

#2: Deal with ‘rogue’ apps

Allowing rogue applications to run means that they suck disproportionate processor cycles, and in turn, drain the battery faster than it ideally should. Apps that hang or even unnecessary utilities that run in the background also causes the battery to drain. But that’s not all – these apps also slow down your computer as well. For this, hit Ctrl-Alt-Del, and look for apps that are using up a lot of memory and terminate them.

 

#3: Disable unneeded devices

While not all laptops can disable unnecessary hardware devices or ports, most of them can. Start with wireless devices such as Bluetooth or Wi-Fi. Make sure you don’t leave a DVD or CD in your optical disc-drive as this will drain power too. Some laptops has switches for these devices that you can turn off. You can even disable the backlit keyboard feature if you don’t need it either.