The black box is the power supply, or at least that's what it is called.  I expect it changes the voltage to work on the laptop from what comes out of the wall - since it also works on a battery, the voltage would have to be changed.  Hope that makes sense.  I am also careful to leave the plug in the laptop and not to unplug that any more often than I need to because the more you do it the more wear you will get on it and it will not fit as well.  Unfortunately, the wear seems to be on the part in the laptop, no in the plug and so you will find, after a few years, that it will switch itself to battery and not be recharging.  Replacing the cord helps a little for awhile, but eventually you have to have the part on the laptop replaced.  At least on my old Dell, this wasn't a simple repair because the idiot that designed it made that thing you plug into a part of the motherboard, so when it went bad, I had to replace the whole motherboard which was a very expensive repair, though not as expensive as buying a new laptop.  If the plug in had been connected to the computer to stableize it, it probably would have been all right, but it was just attached to the motherboard by a very flimsy piece of plastic.  Needless to say, when it died, I didn't get another Dell.  Jane --- On Fri, 1/16/09, [email protected] <[email protected]> wrote: From: [email protected] <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [PD-LIFE] Battery Life of a Laptop :o) To: [email protected] Date: Friday, January 16, 2009, 11:06 PM Hi, Lynn- Jane gave the instructions for running/using your battery which does extend the battery life. But you can also run the battery down a bit just by having the laptop unplugged when you have it shut down. When you plug it in and reboot you should see the battery status icon in your systray next to the clock. That is the reading you get by hovering the cursor that you mention below. I'm not sure what the "little black box" is that you refer to...perhaps it is a laptop surge suppressor? Joan In a message dated 1/16/2009 9:30:35 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, [email protected] writes: Hi Joan :o) I unplug my laptop every time I turn it off, during the day, and all night it is unplugged, as well as that little box that plugs into the computer and outlet. I'm a little bit confused then. So, letting the battery run down, isn't unplugging it from the little black box it comes with. The little black box unplugged from the outlet is what they mean? Then how do you know if it is run almost completely down? Isn't the little battery w/plug, at the bottom of the screen, what they are talking about. The one that measures the charge of the battery in the laptop? That's what my sister-in-law read in her book she has with hers. I, too, like Connie, work with my laptop plugged in all the time. Most of my friends do, too. They don't know what I am talking about when I asked if they let their battery run down once a month, and if they do, how do they do it. I guess I'm asking how does one do it? I know you all are going to pull your hair out explaining this to me, because I just don't get it. Okay, sooooo, if it's NOT the same as running down the battery, that gives a reading when you hover over the icon on the lower task bar, then what do they mean? I have so much to learn, with this laptop, but I love it, mind you!!!! I hate to ask Mike to explain these things to me, since he is about sick of computers by the time he gets home from work. I probably have you spinning in your chair, right now, too, huh :o( Confused Lynn, in Columbia LOL!!!! ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message