Laptop Battery Information Question.

Mods I hope this is the right forum to ask this question. If not please move it to where it should go.

I have a Dell Inspiron 2200. Under "power options properties" what would you recommend that I have my setting on for the following items?

Turn of monitor - Pugged in / Running on batteries

Turn off hard disks - Pugged in / Running on batteries

System standby - Pugged in / Running on batteries

System hibernates - Pugged in / Running on batteries

WOW 18 views and know one can answer my question.

It's an odd question.

There is no recommended settings, set them to YOUR preference.

Then please explain why there are any settings at all?

If there would be no harm to you Laptop or battery shouldn't everyone just want their setting to be at never?

The Dell I have listed in the first post has defective battery plugin ports, that to my knowledge has never been recalled by Dell. I know of 5 people with this model, and all of them have the same trouble. You have to wiggle it to get it to work, and then when move the laptop, many times it unseats, and you are on battery only sometimes without even noticing the battery pic in the tray. Then in a short period of time you get a message saying the following message, and then it hibernates shortly afterwards if you you do not wiggle the plugin and get it seated correctly again. Below is the message:

! Low Battery

"You should change your battery or switch to outlet power
immediately to keep from losing your work."

P.S. I have noticed that this message comes up in much less time then the settings are set at, and lately it comes up even more often than it has ever come up before. Would that mean the battery is going bad?

Thanks in advance for any reply.

The settings are there essentially to preserve battery power.

For instance I have mine set to lower the screen brightness and turn things off when there is no activity for a few mins, when on the road this conserves battery.

When plugged in never ever turns off anything as I don't want to have to wait to wake the PC when I come back to it.

You can also set the laptop to power off after no activity and ask for a password on wake up for security reasons.

But like i said, it's all personal preference isn't it.

David Hybird,

Thank you for your reply.

Could you please tell what you have all your setting below on?


Turn of monitor - Pugged in / Running on batteries

Turn off hard disks - Pugged in / Running on batteries

System standby - Pugged in / Running on batteries

System hibernates - Pugged in / Running on batteries

I don't have them options, mine is set to.

Plugged In:

Turn of display - 20 mins
Sleep - 1 hour

Unplugged:

Turn of display - 5 mins
Sleep - 15 mins

What are the signs of your battery going bad?

If it won't hold a charge. EG: If you don't get a lot of use off a full charge.

I think that is my problem, Dave.

Is there instructions in the website on how to install a battery to your laptop?

Every model is different consult your manual or manufacturers website.

Than you Dave for your help.

Batteries normally start to get old after about 2 years. New ones will last a lot longer.

Thank you for your reply. I ordered one today.

Coincidence, I bought one on eBay yesterday as well. I ordered a much higher capacity one to give my laptop a longer battery life.