Battery Meter is Wrong

[skidude108]

There are a couple threads that seem to touch on the subject but I didn't find any that resolved the issue.

I got a laptop from my dad, and I don't know exactly how old it is. It's a dell inspiron 600m.

The battery meter in windows does not seem to have a good grasp on the actual state of the battery. When the battery is fully charged, it says so, but then the meter falls slowly until a little below 60%, then the computer shuts off. I haven't timed how much time I actually get but it's somewhere between 30 min and an hour. Windows reports much more than that when it's at 60% It reports 1:13 hours when it's at 100%.

Any ideas? Can I calibrate the battery meter, or condition the battery or something?

I know I probably need a new battery, but for the amount I actually use the battery, just knowing how long I have left would be helpful.

Oh, and because the battery meter never says anything low, I never get any warnings, and the computer doesn't go to standby like it is supposed to, it just shuts off; killing whatever I am doing. When I turn it back on, I have to clear the standard window that says my battery level is critical or whatever, and I should switch to AC power.

 

[adarsh]

Have you looked around in Power Options, in Control Panel?

 

[skidude108]

Yeah, I've checked out the power options. Nothing in there about calibrating the battery. I also checked the bios and I can't find anything in there about it either. There are a few options having to do with the battery but none of them seem like they'll fix the meter problem.

 

[NiteShdw]

What's probably happening with your battery is that it is worn out.

As you use your battery, it's not able to hold as much of a charge as when it was new. Most batteries die after about 600 charge/discharge cycles, or 1.5 to 2 years.

I've written a battery meter that keeps track of how long your battery ACTUALLY lasts when you use it and uses that data to tell you how long your battery will last. It will also tell you the battery "wear", which is what I described above.