How to know the wear and tear of a laptop battery

User question ...

Hello. I have been using a laptop for more than 3 years, recently the battery has started to drain quickly - if it used to hold for 3-4 hours, now it is 1 hour maximum.

I myself am inclined to change the battery, but one moment is alarming: suddenly, after the change, nothing will change, and the reason was different.

Tell me, is it possible to evaluate the degree of deterioration of the battery programmatically (without service centers and masters)?

Good day!

In general, on average, a laptop battery (during normal use) lasts about 4-5 years. The fact that yours has served for 3 years is already good. By the way, your fears about changing the battery are not in vain: it is quite possible that the battery itself is not to blame, but a couple of applications that began to "eat up" the entire charge (I will say a few words about this in the article).

It is possible to evaluate the degree of deterioration programmatically, but I will immediately note that these data approximate ! You can estimate more accurately, perhaps, only on specials. equipment.

And so, about everything in order ...

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To help!

By the way, if your battery is not charging at all, check out the following article: //ocomp.info/zaryadka-ne-vyipolnyaetsya-pochemu.html

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Ways to check the battery

You can evaluate it using special utilities for PC diagnostics, and the command line.

Option 1 - AIDA 64

There is one irreplaceable utility for determining the characteristics of a computer - AIDA64 (I mentioned it in this article: //ocomp.info/harakteristiki-kompyutera.html, in general, I recommend it!).

When you run the utility, open the section Computer / Power Supply ... Next, notice a few important lines (see screenshot below):

1. Passport capacity - 41440 mWh (this indicator does not change over time, this is the capacity that the manufacturer of your device has laid down);
2. Full charge capacity - 41440 mWh;
3. Current capacity - 41440 mWh (but this figure may change. Usually, with active use of a laptop - the current capacity decreases);
4. Degree of deterioration - estimated as a percentage. If the degree of wear is more than 30-50%, you can think about changing the battery.

AIDA64 Extreme / Power supply, battery deterioration

Option 2 - command line

The command line must be run as administrator (this is important!). This can be done in different ways, one of the simplest:

• call the task manager - keys Ctrl + Shift + Esc ;
• to push File / Run new task ;
• to introduce CMD , put a tick in front of the item "Create a task with administrator rights" , press Enter .

Run Command Prompt as Administrator

Next, enter the command line: powercfg energy. Then press Enter and wait about 60 seconds. (see screenshot below).

Powercfg energy

Further, if everything went well, you will see a message that in the folder C: \ WINDOWS \ System32 a report was generated (see arrow-2 in the screenshot above).

Note!

You can immediately highlight the address C: \ WINDOWS \ system32 \ energy-report.html and copy it into a browser (IE or Microsoft Edge recommended), or better open this file with Word.

To select with the mouse in the command line: right-click on the title bar of the window and go to properties ... There, put a tick in front of the item "Edit-Select with Mouse" .

Mouse selection on the command line

How to open a report from Powercfg Energy:

1. We start the explorer (just open any folder) and insert into the address bar C: \ WINDOWS \ System32,press Enter;
2. then we sort the files in the order of date (see the screen below - date of modification) - our file will be on top;
3. right-click on the file energy-report.html ;
4. in the context menu, open the tab "To open with" and select Word.

How to open information about energy report

This document will contain a lot of information about your laptop, but we are interested in the section on batteries. There will be a sign - Battery Information (I give mine below).

Notice the two lines here: Estimated capacity and Last full charge ... Knowing them, you can estimate the degree of deterioration of the battery. For example, in my case: (41440-41440) / 41440 = 0%.

If in the line "Last full charge" I had a different number, say 35000, then the formula would take the form: (41440-35000) / 41440 = 15% (ie, the degree of wear would be about 15%).

Option 3 - special software from the device manufacturer

Some laptop manufacturers supply their devices with special settings managers, among which there are those that control power supply, battery charge, and monitor its condition.

For example, the screenshot below shows such software from LENOVO. Pay attention to two quantities: the nameplate capacity, and the capacity when fully charged. By comparing these values, you can quickly understand the condition of the battery.

Almost new battery ... And already the wear rate is about 5%!

How to find out which apps are eating the most energy

1) In laptops, special drivers often come with drivers. utilities from the manufacturer that help assess the degree of wear and tear of the battery, as well as monitor the applications that spend the most charge (one of the screenshots was given above).

2) If you do not have such a utility, you can use third-party applications, for example, BATExpert ... By running the program, you will receive information about the battery of your laptop: the degree of deterioration, the exact operating time from the current charge, its type and temperature, manufacturer, information on charge cycles, etc.

3) In Windows 10, it's even easier to find out which apps are using up your battery! First you need to open the START menu and click on Parameters .

Settings / Windows 10

Then open the section "System" , and its subsection - "Battery" ... Then follow the link "Battery usage by specific applications" (see screenshot below).

System / Charge Usage

Actually, then Windows will show you the full picture (for example, Firefox eats me the most, but this is not surprising ✌).

Pay attention to those applications in the list that you hardly use, you need them:

1. either do not start (and if they are in Windows startup, then delete them from there, the same AIDA64 will help you);
2. or just delete.

Charge usage by specific applications

Thus, evaluating the degree of deterioration of the laptop battery, as well as those applications that "eat up" the battery charge, you can come to the conclusion that it is advisable to replace it.

By the way, I also recommend paying attention to the screen brightness parameters (especially in a dark room - high brightness and contrast not only eat up the battery charge, but also overwork your eyes - //ocomp.info/ustayut-glaza-pri-rabote-za-pc .html).

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That's all for me, long battery life!

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