Should I Remove My Laptop Battery to Increase its Life?

Rita Bread maker wants to preserve her laptop's battery. Should she remove it before functioning the computer happening AC power?

Doing indeed is probably the best practice, but it's a hassle that most people, including me, don't want to incommode with. My laptop spends almost of its fourth dimension plugged into AC power, with a fully-charged battery inside.

Heat from the running computer canful shorten the stamp battery's life. For that matter, the heat from the battery doesn't do the computer any good, either. And depending on how smart your laptop is about power issues, it whitethorn make up draining and recharging the barrage fire as it runs–which could further wear it out.

That's why the best possible practice is to do work most of the time on AC power with the battery out. Then, few hours before you plan to hightail it the PC unsatisfactory the battery, shut cut down the laptop, unplug it, put in the stamp battery, plug in the AC power, and let it charge for a couple of hours. But really, World Health Organization's organized enough to do that?

So Here's what I advocate: If your laptop is likely to remain obstructed for the next workweek or more, shut it down, slay the stamp battery, and stick AC magnate. (You should never withdraw or introduce the battery while the laptop is on, even in sleep OR understudy mode.) However, if you use it unplugged with any sort of oftenness, support the battery in.

There's something other to consider: If you live in an area with patronise power outages, the battery is also protective you from sudden crashes caused by loss of power. In that situation, you may want to keep the battery in–or invest in an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS).

Line: This post was altered happening November 9. I corrected a typographical error. My thanks to Michael Scott for bringing IT to my attention.

Contributing Editor Lincoln Spector writes around technology and cinema. Email your technical school questions to him at answer@pcworld.com , surgery post them to a community of helpful folks connected the PCW Answer Line forum . Keep an eye on Lincoln on Twitter , or subscribe to the Answer Line of merchandise newssheet , e-mailed weekly.