To run the battery down, just work with the laptop unplugged until you get the message to plug it back in because the battery is almost out.  If you always work plugged in, the battery is constantly charged.  I save my battery use for when I can't plug in, especially for during power outages.  I try not to run on battery too much because they are so expensive to replace once they wear out. As for VISTA.  I simply hate it.  I have programs I have been using since I was running Windows 95 and which I love and which are easy and do what I need them to do.  Most will not run with VISTA so instead of using my laptop all of the time, I have to go back to Hanks desktop which means sitting in his office instead of my nice cozy chair with my laptop.  Wish I could go back to XP.  I still have trouble finding things I have saved since it seems to put them in places I didn't ask it to.  Oh well.... Jane --- On Fri, 1/16/09, Lynn Vondran <[email protected]> wrote: From: Lynn Vondran <[email protected]> Subject: [PD-LIFE] Battery Life of a Laptop :o) To: [email protected] Date: Friday, January 16, 2009, 7:39 PM 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!!!! Joan wrote: > Connie- > > You should run the battery down in that the battery is RECHARGEABLE and > recharges whenever you plug in the laptop. So you are NOT wearing it out > by > letting it run down--you are giving it a longer life. It is best to unplug > the > laptop when you have it turned off also. That will help to run down the > battery > a bit. The thing with the rechargeable batteries is that they "learn" so > if > you never use them they will lose their charge but if you run them down > (just > like a phone battery) then they will take a full charge the next time you > plug > in the computer. > > The battery isn't to keep a backup when the computer is off--that is a > different battery--not the one that powers the laptop when it is > unplugged. > In a message dated 1/16/2009 1:53:24 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, > [email protected] writes: > > I vaguely remember the only batteries to let run down were phone > batteries.? > I never use my lap top without it being > plugged in.? The battery is to keep back up for when the machine is off > or > for short uses.? They are too expensive to run down completely.? That is > just > my take on it.? Connie > > > > > ------------------------------- > 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 ------------------------------- 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

Thanks, Jane. How often are you supposed to do this? My sister-in-law said that her manual says once a month? Does that sound right? Yes, I don't like the way my scanner works, with VISTA. I don't have near the options when I hook it up to my laptop, so I have to go back to my old XP, which is in my office right now, but will soon be upstairs in Mike's office, once he gets a week off work. My old 98 is going to my brother-in-law, if Mike has a place to put some sort of drive (don't know what kind) in the XP. Either way, I still have to use my old XP. He said he is getting me a new scanner and printer someday. Maybe they will work better with the VISTA. Thanks again. :o) Lynn Jane wrote: To run the battery down, just work with the laptop unplugged until you get the message to plug it back in because the battery is almost out. If you always work plugged in, the battery is constantly charged. I save my battery use for when I can't plug in, especially for during power outages. I try not to run on battery too much because they are so expensive to replace once they wear out. As for VISTA. I simply hate it. I have programs I have been using since I was running Windows 95 and which I love and which are easy and do what I need them to do. Most will not run with VISTA so instead of using my laptop all of the time, I have to go back to Hanks desktop which means sitting in his office instead of my nice cozy chair with my laptop. Wish I could go back to XP. I still have trouble finding things I have saved since it seems to put them in places I didn't ask it to. Oh well....