Laptop battery discharges quicky when laptop is off.

[4evermaat]

Well, I have a brand new battery for my emachines 2010 laptop from advice.co.th . Battery is good for about 3.5 hours depending on what I do with it.

I just gave the older battery to a friend whose acer battery had not been working for some time. Still holds a charge for 3 hours, less if video or browser with many tabs are open.

I leave my laptops plugged in all the time, except when traveling. I disabled hibernation, but I do use sleep from time to time and shut down the older laptop sometimes when all is finished.

http://www.cnet.com/news/microsoft-pays-woman-10000-over-forced-windows-10-install/

"....in an older version clicking the 'X' actually started the upgrade" (video). Well, I'm in no hurry to give the NSA....errr Microsoft unnecessary access to my computer. Windows 7 64 bit + SSD drive is working just fine.

[Generalchaos]

HP Software is complete junk! They cannot even make a decent download page to update your software / firmware, it is like looking through a forest trying to find a tree! Their website is junk!

I mainly bought this HP laptop for its build quality. It's built like a house brick. This one is all metal, no plastic lid and case. I normally travel with it, that's why I wanted a sturdy laptop that can take some knocks.

I am usually away for long periods of time, and use it everyday at home, so I have never had a chance to notice this issue.

I totally agree, the build quality is great, the software and updates are terrible. Try and find support for Windows 10 on an HP Pavilion 15 - They have just dumped everyone. and their website for updates is a joke. Lenovo used to offer a download install that would go and check your machine and then install all the relevant updates. HP....not a hope in hell.

[MyFriend You]

Your battery is knackered. Get a new one or better still buy a MacBook (I know Apple are a horrible company, but their computers are good). I bought an HP for the wife a few months back, the screen detaches to become a tablet. I regret the purchase and she won't use it. Windows 10 is a shambles, a dreadful operating system. I had to buy her a MacBook.

I have had Mac's for fifteen years, I left a MacBook Pro in storage for 3 months while I was in transit, it had been turned off, plugged it in and the battery level was still 33%, date & time was still accurate, It was a shock. My entire household is Apple, in fact I am typing on the MacBook Pro afore mentioned, it is five & a half years old (early 2011 model)and still accepts the latest IOS. and has the original batery in it. I also use Windows on my Mac for work, because my Office is still using Micro-Crap. Yes, they are expensive but like the Every Ready Bunny, takes a lickin and keeps on tickin.

[Pib]

The computer time & BIOS setting are kept by a separate lithium battery usually about the size of a baht coin and installed on the motherboard...a battery similar to like you see in wrist watches. And usually it's also rechargeable which means it can last many, many years. The main/large laptop battery is not in play in the BIOS/real time clock maintaining it's settings.

[Jai Normous]

You do not need to worry about Fast Boot since you are on Windows 7. Fast boot is on Windows 8 and above.

From a quick search on the net, it looks like a BIOS issue/corruption. You have to be brave and update it I guess.

Modern BIOS upgrade is so easy now compared to a decade ago. Just make sure you get the correct BIOS for your model.

I opened the HP Support Assistant program and checked for updates. It was a couple of days ago but I remember there was an audio update, a graphic update, and for sure a BIOS update. I have no idea what any of these updates did because I haven't noted any changes in functions.

I considered the BIOS update carefully before proceeding. I also made sure I had my current settings backed up.

All the updates went through without a problem.

See how it goes when next I leave the computer for a week or more without using it.

[Jai Normous]

The computer time & BIOS setting are kept by a separate lithium battery usually about the size of a baht coin and installed on the motherboard...a battery similar to like you see in wrist watches. And usually it's also rechargeable which means it can last many, many years. The main/large laptop battery is not in play in the BIOS/real time clock maintaining it's settings.

So, is there any problem just taking out the main battery for short term storage, or long term storage, for that matter?

[extercy]

BIOS update or any updates should be done with at least 75% battery and with power plug in. Being cautious is always good since BIOS corruptions means a trip to the repair shop

I don't see any issues with taking out the main battery for short term but for long term, if you forget to charge the battery, it might get damaged. Every 2 - 3 months, I will check the battery level.

I forgot to charge one of my old laptop battery .. I think it was about 8 months and it was dead... actually the smart chip was dead but I manage to salvage some of the batteries for other use

By the way, as far as I know, those BIOS battery are not rechargeable type for a long time. Mainboard manufacturer just use a non rechargeable / watch battery since those battery last the lifespan of the mainboard.

Edited July 3, 2016 by extercy

[bendejo]

OP, here's an experiment:

Some night, when you shut down the laptop, take note how much charge the battery has. Then remove the battery. Then next day run the laptop off the mains. Try to not use the battery for 24 hours (arbitrary number, of course, but try to make it at least 12 hours). Then put the battery back in and see how much charge it has. You can use a VOM if you have one instead of putting it back in. Rapid discharge without a load means the battery is going, and fast. This is how I check on my rechargeables.

[Pib]

The computer time & BIOS setting are kept by a separate lithium battery usually about the size of a baht coin and installed on the motherboard...a battery similar to like you see in wrist watches. And usually it's also rechargeable which means it can last many, many years. The main/large laptop battery is not in play in the BIOS/real time clock maintaining it's settings.

So, is there any problem just taking out the main battery for short term storage, or long term storage, for that matter?

Nope...no problem.

[Jai Normous]

OP, here's an experiment:

Some night, when you shut down the laptop, take note how much charge the battery has. Then remove the battery. Then next day run the laptop off the mains. Try to not use the battery for 24 hours (arbitrary number, of course, but try to make it at least 12 hours). Then put the battery back in and see how much charge it has. You can use a VOM if you have one instead of putting it back in. Rapid discharge without a load means the battery is going, and fast. This is how I check on my rechargeables.

Thanks for this suggestion. I completely forgot the laptop will work without the battery connected.

I've taken it out and will leave it out for a few days. After this, I should have an idea if the battery is dying or not.

If the battery is fine, that means something in the laptop is fast draining the battery when it is shut down. What could use so much power is 12 days when shut down?

[Jai Normous]

The computer time & BIOS setting are kept by a separate lithium battery usually about the size of a baht coin and installed on the motherboard...a battery similar to like you see in wrist watches. And usually it's also rechargeable which means it can last many, many years. The main/large laptop battery is not in play in the BIOS/real time clock maintaining it's settings.

So, is there any problem just taking out the main battery for short term storage, or long term storage, for that matter?

Nope...no problem.

Ok. I have looked into the things that members have suggested and tweaked or disabled some features.

If the battery is fine, and the things I have done doesn't stop the rapid discharge, I will just have to keep removing the battery for storage. No big problem, but still a mystery what is draining the charge.

[Jai Normous]

Update.

Laptop battery was removed for 4 full days. After 4 days it only lost 2% of power. Looks like the battery is ok.

Do members know of any other features or processes that might run whilst the computer is off?

[Pib]

If you haven't tried already I would just recommend one more thing. Check the battery charge percentage...remember it. Now, turn off the computer and ensure you are not just letting it go into sleep or hibernate mode....completely power down the laptop.

Now, also unplug the laptop from the wall and remove the battery. After about one minute, plug the computer back into the wall power and reinsert the battery, but do not power up the laptop. Just go to bed...get some sleep...and check the battery charge the next morning.

The next morning turn the laptop on and see what the charge level is. If it didn't discharge any except maybe a percent or two, then maybe the problem is your computer is not truly powering down 100% even thought the power-on lite goes out.

I know you have Win 7 installed but from some googling where other folks had similar problems with Win 8 and 10 which has "Fast Boot," some of them said by disabling Fast Boot fixed their battery drain with computer powered off problem. Fast Boot was truly not letting their computer power down 100% versus just saving some Fast Boot files which allow faster bootup when turning the computer back on.

Some folks could even turn back on Fast Boot after accomplishing one power down with Fast Boot disabled.... and thebattery drain problem didn't reoccur.

I know with one of my laptops (a Lenovo) when running Win 8.1 (I now have Win 10) on about 1 out of 20 power downs the computer would not "completely" shut down...the power lite button would stay on even though the computer was dead. I would then have to press and hold down for approx 15 seconds the power button to get the laptop to completely power off. Fortunately, my power button is lighted and I easily noticed when the computer just didn't shut down 100%, but I know a lot of laptops the power button is not lite or a separate tiny light on the side/front of the computer which might be hard to see. A person selects Shut Down in Windows, the computers appears to power down, and unless you confirm the computers power light is off (which might be hard to see) a person may not notice the computer is not shutting down 100%.

Anyway, I disabled Fast Boot, powered down, the computer completely shut down, and over the next few days I intentionally shut down the computer numerous times to see if I got the problem again....never got the problem again...computer would always, always completely power down. I then re-enabled Fast Boot and the problem stayed away...didn't come back.

Reading up on Fast Boot it indicated Fast Boot can cause a variety of problems, including intermittent problems, on some computers. And some so called computer experts recommended disabling Fast Boot periodically (for one power down & power up), powering down which clears Fast Boot files when Fast Boot is disabled, turn the computer back on, re-enable Fast Boot, turn computer back on which recreates the special Fast Boot files that helps to boot your computer faster if using Win 8/10. Now, just as periodic maintenance I disable and re-enable Fast Boot every couple of months just for gee-whizzes since doing so fixed the problem I had and apparently fixed the problem other Win 8/10 users had.

Once again, I know you are not running Win 8/10, but running Win 7. This Fast Boot tale was just mean to show an example of the computer not truly powering down 100%.

So you might want to run the steps I mention at the beginning to ensure your Win 7 computer is definitely completely, completely powering down. If the steps and ensuring battery charge check indicates the computer was not completely powering down, now you need to work the issue of why the computer does not completely power down which would result in battery drain.

Easy enough to try...maybe worth a try...good luck.

[Jai Normous]

If you haven't tried already I would just recommend one more thing. Check the battery charge percentage...remember it. Now, turn off the computer and ensure you are not just letting it go into sleep or hibernate mode....completely power down the laptop.

Now, also unplug the laptop from the wall and remove the battery. After about one minute, plug the computer back into the wall power and reinsert the battery, but do not power up the laptop. Just go to bed...get some sleep...and check the battery charge the next morning.

The next morning turn the laptop on and see what the charge level is. If it didn't discharge any except maybe a percent or two, then maybe the problem is your computer is not truly powering down 100% even thought the power-on lite goes out.

I know you have Win 7 installed but from some googling where other folks had similar problems with Win 8 and 10 which has "Fast Boot," some of them said by disabling Fast Boot fixed their battery drain with computer powered off problem. Fast Boot was truly not letting their computer power down 100% versus just saving some Fast Boot files which allow faster bootup when turning the computer back on.

Some folks could even turn back on Fast Boot after accomplishing one power down with Fast Boot disabled.... and thebattery drain problem didn't reoccur.

I know with one of my laptops (a Lenovo) when running Win 8.1 (I now have Win 10) on about 1 out of 20 power downs the computer would not "completely" shut down...the power lite button would stay on even though the computer was dead. I would then have to press and hold down for approx 15 seconds the power button to get the laptop to completely power off. Fortunately, my power button is lighted and I easily noticed when the computer just didn't shut down 100%, but I know a lot of laptops the power button is not lite or a separate tiny light on the side/front of the computer which might be hard to see. A person selects Shut Down in Windows, the computers appears to power down, and unless you confirm the computers power light is off (which might be hard to see) a person may not notice the computer is not shutting down 100%.

Anyway, I disabled Fast Boot, powered down, the computer completely shut down, and over the next few days I intentionally shut down the computer numerous times to see if I got the problem again....never got the problem again...computer would always, always completely power down. I then re-enabled Fast Boot and the problem stayed away...didn't come back.

Reading up on Fast Boot it indicated Fast Boot can cause a variety of problems, including intermittent problems, on some computers. And some so called computer experts recommended disabling Fast Boot periodically (for one power down & power up), powering down which clears Fast Boot files when Fast Boot is disabled, turn the computer back on, re-enable Fast Boot, turn computer back on which recreates the special Fast Boot files that helps to boot your computer faster if using Win 8/10. Now, just as periodic maintenance I disable and re-enable Fast Boot every couple of months just for gee-whizzes since doing so fixed the problem I had and apparently fixed the problem other Win 8/10 users had.

Once again, I know you are not running Win 8/10, but running Win 7. This Fast Boot tale was just mean to show an example of the computer not truly powering down 100%.

So you might want to run the steps I mention at the beginning to ensure your Win 7 computer is definitely completely, completely powering down. If the steps and ensuring battery charge check indicates the computer was not completely powering down, now you need to work the issue of why the computer does not completely power down which would result in battery drain.

Easy enough to try...maybe worth a try...good luck.

Pib, thanks for your detailed reply.

I have a couple of questions.

I power off the laptop, then remove the charger from the wall and the battery, then after a minute or so plug in the wall charger, and then insert the battery, but I don't understand what information this will give me. The wall charger will just charge the battery and it will be full in the morning.

Am I missing something, or do you mean shut it down, remove wall charger and battery, then only replace battery? This way I will know there was no power to anything except coming from the little BIOS battery, and the battery should be in a completely shut off laptop.

When the battery and wall charger are out, would it help to hold down the on/off button for a few seconds?

Next question is, does Windows 7 have something similar to Windows 8 and 10 Fast Boot. If it does, what is its name and can I disable it?

[Pib]

Yea...my bad....do not plug the computer back into the wall after reinserting the battery....leave it unplugged after reinserting the battery...then check battery charge the next morning....see if it drained off more than a couple percent. This is all done to ensure the computer is completely powered down.

Win 7 does not have Fast Boot...Fast Boot is in Win 8 and later.

[Jai Normous]

Yea...my bad....do not plug the computer back into the wall after reinserting the battery....leave it unplugged after reinserting the battery...then check battery charge the next morning....see if it drained off more than a couple percent. This is all done to ensure the computer is completely powered down.

Win 7 does not have Fast Boot...Fast Boot is in Win 8 and later.

Ok. I'll try this soon.

Do you know what holding down the on/off button for a few seconds does when the laptop is not on the wall charger and doesn't have a battery?

Would you suggest doing this as well?

[Pib]

Holding down the power button on a computer for approx 15 seconds will force a power off when it hangs-up during shutdown or during normal operation...and the computer is completely unresponsive...frozen in time. You don't want to do this unless you have to....but sometimes it's the only way to get a computer to shut down completely especially when the computer locks up on you.

Usually with Windows if you have to do this forced shutdown because the computer hung-up on you, when it's powering up after this type of forced shutdown Windows will show a screen saying the computer did not shut down normally and give you the option of starting in safe or normal mode. Just choose normal.

If your computer has been shutting down completely when you power it off, pressing the power button may not do anything other than delay the startup until you release the power button.

Holding down the power button for 15 seconds or so if not plugged into the wall or having a battery installed shouldn't do anything.

I am going to guess your computer has been shutting down completely when you power it down based on your earlier posts. If above mentioned test does not help, then you still just have something eating battery power when the computer is off...or a defective battery circuit. The battery/charging circuit on a laptop is split between a circuit on the motherboard and within the battery. Either could have a problem, but it's more likely the circuit on the battery has a problem. Just because it charges OK and still has good battery life does not mean the circuit on the battery can still not have a problem.

Edited July 25, 2016 by Pib

[Andrew Peterson]

I think i might have to take some advice from these answers and get me a new laptop O_O my battery can only last atleast an hour before shutting down, even worse it over heats a fair amount, is it time to let my baby go?

[Pib]

If you are talking your laptop overheating, that has nothing to do with the battery....that's probably just a dirty fan/ventilation/heat sink system....clean the fan system/heatsink and the laptop should run normal temperature again. And if you battery is say around 2 years old, it probably has significantly less battery life time than when new...maybe only half (or less) the original amount...a lot depends on the size and quality of the battery.

[sirocco]

you been using your PC as a portable or do you still at home?

For over a year since my battery is empty but my computer is always connected and the battery inserted, and it works.

Just find an electrical outlet.