1. Keep unused devices off. Use the battery power wisely. If you are not using your laptop make sure it is in sleep mode or your computer notebook's equivalent. Set the sleep mode activation time to be short as possible without it becoming annoying. The sleep mode maintains a trickle of power to make sure that when you do want to use your notebook that it starts up with a minimum of delay.

2. Keep your hard drive activity to a minimum. You can reduce hard drive seek times by regularly defragmenting it. Schedule Defragmentation on a regular basis by navigating to Start/Programs/Accessories/System Tools. Select the Disk Defragmenter program and follow the prompts.

3. You can condition your battery to perform optimally by following these steps. When you first purchase your computer notebook, charge the battery to its full capacity and then make sure you discharge it completely before recharging. The battery actually learns how much electrical charge it can store by following this method. When recharging always make sure the battery reaches 100% of charge.

4. Disable Startup items that you are not using. Every time Windows starts up it loads startup items into the primary memory. These programs place additional power demands upon the CPU and RAM . This means a bigger power drain on the battery. You can disable programs that are not currently being used by navigating to Start/Run and typing MSCONFIG in the Run box. Follow the prompts to disable programs you are not using.

5. The LCD screen on your computer notebook is the largest single user of battery power. Adjust your screen brightness for the lowest setting that you can comfortably view. At night for example, the LCD screen is a lot easier to see even on the dimmest settings. Almost all LCD screens allow the user to adjust the brightness of the screen. If you have trouble consult your user's manual for directions.