Checking The Battery Status; Charging The Battery; Maximizing The Battery Life - Lenovo ThinkPad E450 User Manual

– A new battery is installed.
– The percentage of power remaining is low.
– The battery has not been used for a long time.

Checking the battery status

Move your pointer to the battery-status icon in the Windows notification area to check the battery status.
The battery-status icon displays the percentage of battery power remaining and how long you can use
your computer before you must charge the battery.
The rate at which you use battery power determines how long you can use the batteries of your computer
between charges. Because of different user habits and needs, it is difficult to predict how long a battery
charge will last. There are two main factors:
• How much energy is stored in the battery when you begin to work.
• The way you use your computer. For example:
– How often you access the storage drive.
– How bright you make the computer display.
– How often you use the wireless features.
Enabling the battery alarm on the Windows 7 operating system
For the Windows 7 operating system, you can program your computer so that when the battery power falls
below a certain level, three events occur: the alarm goes off, a message is displayed, and the LCD is
turned off.
To enable the battery alarm, do the following:
1. Start the Power Manager program.
2. Click the Global Power Settings tab.
3. For Low battery alarm or Critically low battery alarm, set the percentage of the power level and set
the action.
Note: If your computer enters sleep or hibernation mode when the battery is low, but the alarm message
has not yet been displayed, the message will be displayed when the computer resumes. To resume normal
operation, when the message is displayed, click OK.

Charging the battery

When you find that the percentage of power remaining is low or when the power alarm alerts you that the
remaining power is low, you need to charge your battery or replace it with a charged battery.
If an ac outlet is convenient, plug the ac power adapter into it, and then insert the connector into the
computer. The battery will be fully charged in about three to six hours. This is affected by the battery size
and the physical environment. You can check the battery charging status at any time through the battery
status icon in the Windows notification area.
Note: To maximize the life of the battery, the computer does not start recharging the battery if the remaining
power is greater than 95%.

Maximizing the battery life

To maximize the life of the battery, do the following:
• Use the battery until the charge is completely depleted.
28
User Guide