As if I didn't disable enough lights already on this beast

[dj_ultima_the_great]

Hey, I Googled this a bit, but I didn't quite find the answer I was hoping for, so I'll throw it out to you guys.

I have a Dell laptop that's running Windows XP, and my battery has been faulty for a while. I don't actually care about that. The laptop is always plugged in anyway. What I do care about is the fact that when I restarted it today, the battery light started blinking orange. It's like the idiot lights in cars. It doesn't actually hurt anything, but damn it, it's distracting.

So what I'm wondering is this: is there a setting in the computer that I could change to disable that light? I don't want to remove the battery (or tape over the connections for it) if possible, but if that's the way it goes, then it's okay. I just figured I would ask before physically changing the thing.

Thanks, techies.


- Jen

[ZephyrStar]

Electric tape over the LED >___>

[BasharOfTheAges]

I highly doubt it, but there might be a BIOS setting for it.

[EvaFan]

Just in the odd case you buy a new battery... You can keep your battery in good shape by running it empty atleast once a week. Don't leave the laptop on the charger all the times cause its bad for the battery over the course of months/years.

[BasharOfTheAges]

Just in the odd case you buy a new battery... You can keep your battery in good shape by running it empty atleast once a week. Don't leave the laptop on the charger all the times cause its bad for the battery over the course of months/years.

That was true with Nickel Cadmium and Nickel Metal Hydride batteries, which exhibit "battery memory" where the battery would forget what full and empty are if it never hit those states for a while. After a period of time of going through half cycle charges, half-full would be the new empty. It's not an issue with lithium Ion batteries, though. They're designed differently.

[EvaFan]

Just in the odd case you buy a new battery... You can keep your battery in good shape by running it empty atleast once a week. Don't leave the laptop on the charger all the times cause its bad for the battery over the course of months/years.

That was true with Nickel Cadmium and Nickel Metal Hydride batteries, which exhibit "battery memory" where the battery would forget what full and empty are if it never hit those states for a while. After a period of time of going through half cycle charges, half-full would be the new empty. It's not an issue with lithium Ion batteries, though. They're designed differently.

hmmm, thats strange. I was told to let it run empty a week from a company techy. It would appear those guys don't know what they are talking about anymore either.

Well, I'll just run mine half empty from now on. Thanks for info.

[Dr. Derpface, J.D.]

Lithium batteries don't have a "memory" per se, but they don't have an unlimited shelf-life, either. When you leave the computer plugged in and running for prolonged periods of time, it does tend to wear on some of the cells. After a while, this can start to reduce battery life. Just because it's plugged in doesn't mean the battery isn't being used at all. Just look at the meter after about a week, and it will still be down to about 95%.

Which reminds me I need to get a new battery for my laptop, but I really don't want to spend $200 for one (I just HAD to get the 9-cell version, lol).

[Dr. Derpface, J.D.]

batteries are very tricky, and i hate that. this is why i hate laptops with a passion. all my friends who own laptops complain about how their batteries last for like two hours, so what's the point in even owning one? i prefer the ipad to be honest, you can do most of the stuff you can do on a computer, granted you are not a gamer, and the battery lasts so much longer (plus it's cheaper). so yeah...i know that mac computers are sort of the exception, as they last longer, but i am not sure of that. could somebody confirm?