Recently the battery went on my PC , spares are unobtainable here, and I was advised that it was not cost effective to try to replace,, so rightly or wrongly I am now the proud owner of a brand new one.

I recently transferred to a "dongle" which has the added advantage I can move it anywhere in the house without messing about with a router, but I dont like carrying a PC about as not only am I naturally clumsy but have three dogs whose main ai m in life appears to be to trip me up.

The old PC still works off the mains, so I hope the silver lining is that I can situate it permanently in the lounge, and use it to watch DVDs in winter by the fire (and as a spare). The new one will stay permanently in the study where there is desk and chair designed and situated to minimise RSI and eyestrain when typing.


My questions are as follows and I hope you dont find them too naive

1. Presumably I should leave the old PC switched off when not in use and disconnected from the mains. Should I also remove the dud battery (a) permanently or (b) when not in use? Will it corrode or leak like an ordinary battery?

2. I am a bit miffed that the battery went s o soon (about three and a half years). Normally I pride myself on caring for equipment and keeping it a long time. - I drive a 20 year old car and she still goes like a bird* . Have I been misusing due to ignorance or is it just "planned obsolescence" ? Has anyone any advice on the best way to prolong battery life and generally care for computer hardware. For instance I tend switch off , rather than go on standby, when not in use to save electricity, but does this mean the battery has not been charging?

I live near the sea in a Mediterranean area. Ambient temperatures over the year vary from -l or 2 to +150 degrees F. \Humidity is high all the year round. Obviously I keep the PC out of direct sunlight.- actually in summer I keep everything I can (including myself) out of direct sunlight, plastic melts and warps , fabrics have a very short life etc.

Because the electricity supply here is unreliable I have an "inverter" system. This consists of a bank of large batteries which come into operation immediately the electricity fails so there is no interruption to power supply, and no power surges when it is reconnected, so I actually very rarely use the PCS own battery. Should I actually deliberately run it from time t time.?



* Admittedly a rather small and slow bird - a wren rather than a swallow - but thats engine size not maintenance

Wow, wish I had some knowledge to impart, Pen, but not much luck here. I'll check with hubby and see if he has any insight. There might also be a few geek sites I know that may have some suggestions. I'll let you know if I find anything useful. Hopefully one of the brains around here will have some suggestions.

HI LP,

When you say the battery died, what exactly do you mean? Just so I don't give you duff advice...also whats the make and model of both old and new?

In the meantime, generally speaking the battery should have lasted a lot longer than three and a half years. In years gone by, they were notorious for being effectively useless after 2 or 3 years. I had an old dell which got to the point of holding barely enough charge to get from the plug upstairs to the plug downstairs before it ran out of juice, and that was when it was about 4 years old. Modern batteries are a lot better. I bought a netbook two and a half years ago and it has been subject to pretty high use, and the battery has not noticeably degraded in performance at all.

Laptops are pretty rugged these days, and your setup sounds like it's fine, in terms of how you're using the laptops. Your local environmental conditions do sound like they could cause some stress, though, especially to the central processor rather than the battery. It might be worth setting some sort of temperature monitor up to track when its in danger of overheating. Don't worry, its a fairly fuss-free process and mostly software-based, and again, they will often detect an imminent problem and shut down to avoid cooking themselves, but it's useful to get a warning when that happens! Once I know your models I should be able to point you in the right direction.

Also I wonder if being close to the salty coast is playing a role in your failed battery. If its possible, take a look at the contacts on the battery and the equivalent contacts in the laptop. If they look like they have discoloured patches ie the colour of the metal isn't consistent, get an ear-bud and give them a rub. I've resurrected several friends mobiles by doing this when they were complaining that the mobile would loose power inconsistently, eventually to the point where they wouldn't power up.

As for leaving the thing in standby and that sort of thing, if the laptop is plugged in it will charge till its full, regardless of weather you're using it or not, even when its 'turned off'. Paradoxically, you're also using the battery when the things plugged in. I may be wrong, but as I understand it modern laptops *always* run off the battery, and the plug simply charges the battery up. The only time this isn't the case is obviously when the battery is removed and it switches to a direct feed from the plug. So even if you think you're not using it, you are.

The Brains come through! Great information, Rick.

Yeah! That's super handy Rick, thank you for the crystal clear clarification.


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