OT: WinXP Pro battery power settings

[Muggles]

I have an old WinXP Pro laptop, and it still runs like a top. When I turn it off, the battery keeps running until it runs low. Then I have to boot up the laptop for it to charge again.

I'm guessing there's a setting I need to adjust so the batter won't run when it's off, depleting the battery life. I want the battery to only run if I have the laptop turned on. I've tried different settings, but am just not sure which one will work correctly.

Any ideas of how I can set it to turn off battery usage when the laptop is turned off?

[Brian]

It makes no sense to say "the battery keeps running".

If you are saying the battery is not holding a charge when the computer is shut off, the odds are you need a replacement battery.

If you are not saying the above, please explain the indications of a battery running, other then it being out of breath?

[Dean Hoffman]

So why not leave it on the charger?

[trader_4]

+1 Highest probability is that. It could be some defect with the PC where it's continuing to draw power when off, but that's very unlikely compared to it being a battery going bad, especially if it's an old battery. That's assuming of course that it is actually shut off and not put into hibernate.

[Muggles]

I leave it plugged in to the charger all the time. It acts more like a desktop since I don't take it elsewhere very often.

There is a blue light on the right side of the laptop that is lit up blue when it is on, and another light that is lit up blue when it is running on battery power.

You'd think when I turn off the laptop that it would turn out all the lights, but, the battery light says on even when it is turned off.

[Muggles]

When I turn it off, I go to start > turn off computer, and it turns itself off, but the blue battery light on the right side of it stays on.

[Muggles]

I do.

There is a Power Schemes tab in the power options properties, and I'm thinking some setting there is all I need to change, but I'm just not sure what to change it to.

[gfretwell]

Go into the BIOS and be sure the remote power options are off. (Power up on LAN, key stroke, mouse etc) Then be sure it is really set to power off and not one of the sleep modes. I agree you may be buying a battery tho.

[Muggles]

I d Settings for Home/Office Desk power scheme:

When computer if: Plugged in Battery: Running on batteries Turn off monitor: #mins/never #mins/never Turn off hard disks: #mins/never #mins/never System Standby: #mins/never #mins/never System Hibernates: #mins/never #mins/never

I was hoping adjusting settings here would fix the problem.

[Brian]

Make and exact model of the notebook?

[Brian]

What happens to the light if the power supply is unplugged?

Is this behavior different then in the past?

[Muggles]

Dell Inspiron 1520 Intel(R) Core(TM) 2 Duo CPU T7250 @ 2.00GHz

1.99 GHz, 2.00 GB of RAM Win XP Pro 2002 version Service Pack 3

Is that what you need?

[Brian]

If the computer is literally turned off, the Windows operating system power scheme settings will not effect the lights on the computer.

[Muggles]

When it is on and I unplug the power supply, it just goes to running on the battery power.

When it is off and I unplug the power supply, the light goes out.

When it is off and it is still plugged in the battery light stays on as if it is using battery power, and blinks red when it is needing a charge. It doesn't charge unless I turn on the laptop even though it is plugged in to the power supply.

It used to just turn all lights off when I turned off the laptop even though it was plugged into the power source, and it would charge if it needed to if it was turned off. Now, it'll only charge if it is turned on.

[Muggles]

ok thanks

[Brian]

Here is a link to your owners manual:

Page 25 of the manual clearly states:

If the computer is connected to an electrical outlet, the battery light operates as follows: ? Solid blue: The battery is charging. ? Flashing blue: The battery is almost fully charged. ? Off: The battery is adequately charged.

If when off, the battery light is always blue and never goes off, that tells me your battery is most likely worn out and never reaches a fully charged state.

If you never use the machine on battery, I would ignore it. If you do need to use it on battery, I would replace the battery.

[Clare Snyder]

The "ac connected" or "charge indicator" light remains litwhenever the computer is plugged in. That is 100% normal. If the battery is not holding a charge you need a new battery.

[Muggles]

hmmm Seems the battery charges fine when the laptop is turned on, and the battery light went out when I unplugged the power chord after it was turned off.

When it was still on and charging, I unplugged the power chord that was charging it and it ran on battery power like it should.

Now, it's charged up to 92% and the battery light is slowly blinking blue. It's still charging and, if it behaves like it has before, will keep charging until it gets to 100%.

Previously, it was blinking red and much quicker.

Do you think that is normal behavior, and I should just unplug it from the power charger when it's off? I'm not sure how being plugged in would drain the battery, but that kind of looks like what is happening.

[Muggles]

Will that indicator drain the battery power?

I guess my next thing to try is to see if it holds a charge when I turn it off and unplug it from the power chord.

[trader_4]

How long will it run on the battery? If it lasts a couple hours, that's normal. If it runs out in just 15 or 30 mins, the battery is bad. How long it lasts also depends on what the power settings are, if it's set to hibernate, etc. The above is if it doesn't hibernate.