Odd power/battery issue.

[Paddy]

I have a HP DV6174ea laptop which i purchased about a year ago. When the laptop was new the battey would provide enough power to watch a DVD from the drive.

A few months ago I noticed that the battery would last ~15mins MAX!!! I assumed the battery was dead as the power saver modes made little difference. I happend to rebuild Vista and the battery was back to it's normal level. Odd. All of a sudden it is back to lasting 10-15mins. I've trawled though the power options but I can't find out what's wrong.

I assume it is a related to an update that I am installed... I'm at a loss as to what to do.
I am reluctant to wipe everything and start again, but I'm currently tied to a power socket...

Any thoughts?

[cjolley]

...
Any thoughts?

Switch to XP?


(Sorry, couldn't help myself)

[Paddy]

I would if vista wasn't so pretty! Anyway, I'd have to retrain the wife...


Interestingly it reaches 100% charged very quickly...

[cjolley]

Isn't it pretty clear the comp thinks the battery is full when it isn't really?

That would explain both the short run time and quick charge time.

(not that I know anything at all about: vista, laptops, power save modes, batteries, or pretty much anything else)


Though, can you load the original mb drivers, or whatever controls the power?

[Paddy]

i'll have a poke around HP's site...
I could time how long the laptop sits at the BIOS screen on battery???

[Gurm]

There are probably updated power drivers... uhh... yeah.

[rylan]

Disable the hibernate/shutdown stuff on low or critical battery, and let the system drain completely until the system shuts off. Then plug it in and let it charge fully before turning it back on.
I've seen some Dell laptops do something similar, where it said 100% when plugged in, and then went to 65% immediately when unplugged.

[SteveC]

Sounds like it needs calibrating - is there an option in the BIOS or a utility from the website?

Otherwise yeah as Paddy how long does it last in just say the BIOS screen - leave it to run flat and then fully charge it.

[Fat Tone]

I'd retrain the wife for XP, then the battery would last a long time and the laptop would be twice as fast

[VJ]

Otherwise yeah as Paddy how long does it last in just say the BIOS screen - leave it to run flat and then fully charge it.

Just wondering if all the battery optimization aspects are up and running in the bios screen (e.g. does it throtle the CPU?)...

I'd retrain the wife for XP, then the battery would last a long time and the laptop would be twice as fast

retrain the wife: can that be done?


Jörg

[Fat Tone]

Good point. Maybe not...never had much success myself

[Paddy]

Sounds like it needs calibrating - is there an option in the BIOS or a utility from the website?

Otherwise yeah as Paddy how long does it last in just say the BIOS screen - leave it to run flat and then fully charge it.

Thanks guys. HP contacted me today and said the same thing
I'll try it tonight.