Your laptop may start out with several hours of battery life when you first buy it. But the lifespan can get shorter as time goes by and battery health takes a hit. Sometimes this can be due to a lack of PC maintenance. Other times, it’s due to the environments the laptop is subject to (such as a hot car).

Seeing your laptop’s battery capacity shrink can be frustrating. But there are several things you can do to increase the time you can go without needing to plug it in.

Lower the Display Brightness

The brighter your display is, the more battery power it’s taking. Have you ever hit the automated low battery mode on a laptop? Then you know you immediately notice a difference in brightness. This is because that setting turns down the brightness. It’s one of the ways to reduce battery consumption.

You can turn down the brightness of your screen in your display settings. You can also use the brightness keys that are usually in the top row of keys on a laptop keyboard.

Reduce PC Battery Use in Power/Sleep Settings

Here’s one way to increase the time you can use your unplugged laptop without a power source. Adjust some of its power and sleep settings.

If you’re using Windows, open the search on the Task Bar. Type in “power settings.” This directs you to the power, sleep, and battery settings in your system settings.

Look for any tips at the top for increasing battery longevity. Such as, making the time your screen goes dark after inactivity and the time it goes to sleep the same.

Then review the settings, such as Screen and sleep, and Power mode. Find the ones that will reduce your PC’s battery consumption. This will extend the time you can go without a new charge.

Enable Battery-Saver Mode

You don’t have to wait until your PC hits 10% for it to go into battery-saver mode. You can control this and enable it yourself in your system settings.

Do you know you’re going to be without a power source for a while? Put your PC in power-saver or battery-saver mode right away, so you can extend the charge as long as possible.

Use the Manufacturer’s Battery Calibration Tool

Manufacturers will have their own PC maintenance tools installed. You can use for battery calibration. Sometimes calibrating the battery can correct an issue with a battery life. Especially if life has gotten shorter than when you first purchased your laptop.

Look for a manufacturer’s built-in maintenance app. It will usually be on the Task Bar unless you’ve hidden it. When you open that, you may find that you need to do a calibration or other maintenance task.

Get a Computer Tune-up

If you have processes running in the background it can sap your battery life. Processes that aren’t needed can often run anyhow. Getting a computer tune-up from ComputersPlus can solve a lot of different issues. This includes such as computers that get sluggish, and often, the battery life too.

Consider Using Microsoft Edge Browser for Its Efficiency Settings

If like most people, you keep a lot of browser tabs open while you’re working on your PC. They could be sapping your battery power.

Consider trying Microsoft’s Edge browser. It has been gaining in popularity ever since it incorporated the Chromium engine. This is the same one Chrome uses.

The browser has several power-saving features that you can enable in your settings. Search “sleeping tabs” in Edge settings to find these. They include:

• Enable efficiency mode (choose from the available options)
• Enable Sleeping Tabs and fade them when asleep
• Choose when you would like to put inactive browser tabs to sleep to conserve battery power.

Turn Off Unnecessary Apps Hogging Battery Power

Check the apps that are running on your PC in the Task Manager. Do you really need them all to run when you’re unplugged and trying to conserve battery power?

Often processes that aren’t 100% necessary all the time will be running. Such as an update service or cloud storage syncing app. Close the apps you don’t need to use at that time to lengthen battery life.

Keep Your PC Out of Too Much Heat or Freezing Temps

Both excess heat and freezing temperatures can be bad for a computer. This includes shortening the battery life.

You should never leave your laptop in a car on a hot day or when it’s freezing outside. Also, it might not seem particularly hot to you, but if it’s sunny, the inside of a vehicle can heat up pretty quickly. Be aware of the temperature extremes that your laptop is subject to.

Looking for a PC Tune-Up or Battery Replacement?

We can help you with a full system tune-up or a laptop battery replacement if needed. Don’t struggle with short battery life when you can have that fixed in no time! Give us a call today and let’s chat.

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This Article has been Republished with Permission from The Technology Press.

But having the additional display real estate that a second screen provides can benefit anyone, even if you’re doing accounting or document work all day.

We get used to being boxed in by the screen size we have. This can lead to us struggling when trying to fit two windows next to each other or continuously clicking between layers of windows on the desktop.

Most of us have experienced clicking around to find the window we actually need in a layer of different applications. This is one of the things that eats up time during the day and that using dual screens can help eliminate.

According to a study by software developer Mavenlink, 73% of surveyed businesses say they spend over an hour per day on average just switching between different apps.

Productivity Research on Dual-Screens

So just how much can using a second monitor improve productivity? Probably more than you realize.

Jon Peddie Research looked at the benefit of using two screens connected to a desktop computer or laptop for several years. It found that overall, employees in all types of jobs can improve productivity by an average of 42%.

From three studies conducted over 15 years, it also found that between 2002 and 2017, there’s been a significant rise in the use of two monitors, with a compound annual growth rate of 10%.

The company’s namesake put it simply saying, “The more you can see, the more you can do.”

What Are the Advantages of Adding a 2nd Screen?

Do More in Less time

The biggest advantage to using a second monitor is that you can do more in less time because you’re not struggling to get to the windows you need when you need them.

With an additional monitor, you can keep programs like email always open on one screen while you work in other programs on the second screen. You’re able to work more fluidly, getting to all your apps when you need them.

Expands Screen Space for Laptops

Laptops are great for portability, especially when traveling or moving between home and work (as many employees do these days). But the more portable the laptop, the smaller the screen space.

One big drawback of using a laptop is that they will have a smaller monitor. There is also the difficulty in positioning. When using them on a desk, people will often try to prop them up, but the person is still staring down at the screen in most cases.

Connecting your laptop to a monitor can significantly improve the experience and make it like working on a normal desktop PC. You can either choose to mirror your entire screen or still make use of the laptop screen for some activities while using the larger screen for others.

Side-by-Side Comparisons Are Easier

There are a lot of tasks that require looking at data in two windows. You may be editing and comparing a finished design with the original instructions. Or you may have to pull details from notes to include in a PowerPoint presentation.

Trying to get two windows up on a single screen side-by-side can be frustrating. You may try to resize the windows just so, only to have your configuration lost when you have to maximize a screen to click a menu item or scroll.

With two monitors, you have the screen real estate you need to fully open both windows and have them right next to each other so you can easily do your work.

More Freedom During Video Calls

Have you ever been screen sharing on a video call and needed to check an email or review notes? It’s difficult to do that when everyone can see your screen. We often “sanitize” our screens (like turning off alerts, etc.) before we go into a meeting to ensure nothing that should not appear is popping up.

With dual screens, you can choose which screen you want to share during meetings, and still have apps open on the other screen that no one can see. This is a big advantage if you need to check for an email or message someone while you’re sharing your screen.

Fairly Inexpensive Productivity Booster

Purchasing another display is a fairly low investment when looking at technology. A monitor can be purchased from anywhere between $125 to $250 on average. And with a 42% average productivity boost, it can have a pretty sweet ROI.

There is also no big learning curve with this upgrade. Once the monitor is plugged in and the PC is set to see the additional screen, it’s good to go. Users can simply drag apps and documents from one screen to another as if they had one large screen.

Need Help Improving Productivity?

There are several productivity boosts that you can get using the right technology tools, and they don’t have to cost a fortune. Ask us how we can help you!

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This Article has been Republished with Permission from The Technology Press.

Have you found yourself banging on your keyboard in frustration? Have you tried every tip and trick you found online, only to still struggle with a slow PC? 

There are some promising upgrades you can do that will cost much less than the price of a new computer, while making your PC feel like new again. 

Here are some of the options you can try to improve the performance of an older computer.

Upgrade to a Solid-State Drive (SSD)

Prices for solid-state drives have come down quite a bit in the past few years, making them an affordable upgrade that can breathe life back into an older PC that might be slowing down.

Unlike hard disk drives (HDDs), SSDs do not have any moving parts and use a flash memory that allows for a quicker response time. You can improve your time to boot and your experience when searching files, opening applications, and other activities. 

Some of the advantages of upgrading your computer’s hard drive to SSD include:

• SSD read/write speeds up to 2500 MB/second compared to HDD at up to 200 MB/second
• SSD access time of 0.1ms as compared to HDD at 5.5-8.0ms
• SSDs use between 2-5 watts of energy compared to HDD at 6-15 watts

Increase the RAM (Memory)

One upgrade that is very low-cost and can mean a significant increase in performance is a memory upgrade. If your PC was one of the cheaper ones that only had 4GB of RAM when you bought it, you likely have trouble opening too many tabs in your browser or using any graphics-heavy program.

Upgrading your RAM, if your PC has available memory slots, to 8GB or 12GB can make it seem like you have an entirely new computer due to the big increase in speed.

Upgrade the Graphics Card

If you play computer games or work in any type of video, imaging, or 3D software, an outdated graphics card can ruin your experience. 

Instead of replacing your entire computer, just upgrading the graphics card to a more robust model can improve your PC’s performance and give you several more useful years from it.

Replace Your PC Cooling System

Heat is an enemy of your computer’s internal parts. If your cooling system is getting worn out and not working the way it should be, then excess heat can be building up inside your device.

When this happens things can get strange, with programs crashing or your system rebooting on its own.

If you suspect excess heat may be an issue, have your computer’s fan and cooling system checked out to see if it needs replacing.

Connect an External Monitor to a Laptop

If you’re working on a laptop and having a hard time multi-tasking due to limited screen real estate, consider getting an external monitor rather than replacing your entire PC.

Monitors are just a fraction of the cost of computers, and having a screen twice the size of the one on your laptop can make all the difference in the world and improve productivity due to the additional screen space.

Replace Your Keyboard

Older keywords can stick, lose keys, and have the writing rubbed off the keys, making it more difficult to tell a “prt screen” from a “delete” button. If the performance of your PC is hampered by a frustrating keyboard, an upgrade can be a very inexpensive way to improve your equipment.

Get an External Hard Drive

Computers can slow down and be more difficult to use when the hard drive fills up with data. Over the years, files build up, and many users never take the time to go through and delete those that are unnecessary.

Buying an external hard drive can allow you to offload files that may be slowing you down, while still keeping them easily accessible.

Another benefit of an external hard drive is that it’s portable and can easily be carried between home and work and used in both places.

Get a Professional Computer Tune-Up

Those free PC cleaner tools you find online aren’t going to give you the type of tune-up that a professional IT provider can give. We will go through things like the Windows Registry, duplicate system files, internal errors, and more to clean up your system and remove all the “junk” that has built up over the years.

We can also do a maintenance check for things like failing parts, and provide expert guidance on your most impactful upgrade options. 

Get Help Improving Your Computer’s Performance Today!

Don’t struggle with an older PC! We can help you with cost-effective upgrade options that will fit your system and budget perfectly.

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Featured Image Credit

This Article has been Republished with Permission from The Technology Press.